"Frostbite Fleet at  Norwalk", 12x24, Oil on Linen, 2009

I’ve spent my entire life no more than a few miles from the sea – growing up in New Rochelle, New York; going to school at Tabor Academy on Buzzard’s Bay; vacationing on Martha’s Vineyard; and living for the past 30 years in Rowayton, Connecticut, a village on Long Island Sound populated by sailors, powerboaters and beachgoers. It’s no wonder that I prefer to paint what I know and love best – seascapes and sailboats. And I don’t have to wait until summer. I sketched the scene above on a bright wintry day at Rowayton Yacht Club. Most Sunday afternoons in the winter, there’s a fleet of frostbite dinghies out of Norwalk Yacht Club across the harbor, competing in a series of quick races off of Tavern Island. It's a beautiful sight and as a painter always looking for the perfect motif, I’m grateful they’re out there.