Kate McConnell’s 365 Days by the Sea
by Steve Desroches
Artists frequently have muses. And at times they can fall madly in love with the source of artistic inspiration, even if the model is tempestuous, fidgety, refuses to sit still, and is constantly changing their look, sometimes in one sitting. But that’s how it goes when you’re in a mad love affair with the ocean and sky, a temperamental lover who can break and heal your heart all before noon. That aching affection and devotion for the natural world, in particular the spectacular beauty of the Cape tip, is at the core of Almanac: A Year by the Sea in 365 Variations by artist Kate McConnell, now on display at The Commons.
McConnell began the project in 2017 as a daily warm-up before heading into the studio to paint. She’d head most mornings to a spot on the beach at the foot of Allerton Street in the East End of town. Capturing the sea, sky, and the tides created an intense sense of focus with little time to be overly precious about decisions on brush strokes and artistic approach. It was rather a jolt to the creative impulses within, creating an electricity that lasted throughout the day. But this practice became the work after a while and by 2023 McConnell had completed over 400 studies, 365 of which make up the installation Almanac. Each painting features a note of that day’s weather, the time, temperature, as well as the occasional current event like the death of Queen Elizabeth II or her parents’ wedding anniversary.
“It was a part of the day that was incredibly important, like a cup of coffee,” says McConnell. “I just had to stay with it. It’s all about showing up. Whenever I didn’t go out and paint, I missed it, very much.”
This wasn’t one of those intensive artistic pursuits, like when a photographer captures a shot of a mountain at the same time every day for a year or documents a child from birth to adulthood. Rather, it was more of a documentation of a beloved spot in nature and the meditations it inspired, producing a larger body of work that collectively tells the story of a spot on the sand and the vantage point it provided. Painted in oil on 300# Fabriano cold-pressed paper and hand torn to keep rough edges, Almanac is proof that Provincetown is an endless font of inspiration. It’s fascinating and inspiring that in a town that has been captured by so many artists over the years, each work shows that there is always a new perspective to be found…in this case 365. No matter the weather, McConnell would claim her spot and connect with nature as well as that internal world in which an artist shepherds what the mind’s eye sees and gets it out on to the canvas.
“If it’s an energetic sea then my brush was energetic,” says McConnell. “If it’s a foggy day I’m in less of a rush. The sea and the sky inform the process.”
McConnell, who divides her time between Provincetown and Washington, DC, shows locally at the AMZehnder Gallery in Wellfleet, is delighted to have the big room at The Commons as it lent itself to fully take in this massive installation. Almanac is presented in three loops that circle the room in chronological order. McConnell explains that she “wanted it to feel like you’re walking the wrack line.” The circular nature of the show also allows viewers to participate in their own meditation with these representations of the natural world, feeling the energy of McConnell’s love of plein air painting, an experience that she says is like religion to her as she feels small in the vast expanse of the ocean and sky. But nevertheless, she has a place in the wild open expanse.
Almanac is a finished work and McConnell has taken a break from painting in that specific spot be it in the blazing sun or blustering rain, but like a siren’s song, that tiny speck of earth in the East End still beckons. McConnell continues to explore both other outdoor subjects and the ever-expanding universe that is human creativity, but soon she’ll be heading to the harbor beach easel, brushes in hand.
“It will happen again,” says McConnell. “I may not do 365 days, but it will happen again.”
Almanac: A Year by the Sea in 365 Variations by Kate McConnell is at The Commons, 46 Bradford St., now through August 4. An opening reception will be held on Friday, July 11 from 5 – 7 p.m. For more information visit provincetowncommons.org or call 508.257.1748.
