Smith Cove has been my Walden’s Pond
(with an exit)
for the Last forty years
My newest painting under construction
Canvas #223
Current State 12.25.24
It has been a while since I’ve actually painted. A more normal early spring let me get my boatwork started early. March found me “beefing up” my port gallows support, inside work, I was going to reinforce the deck. Over the last 30 some years my inadequate laminated knee failed enough to put a sag in the deck, causing a single drip, drip, over my bunk (think motivation) … Long story short, a series of mishaps caused me to lose my boating season and brought my painting to a halt. …. but now … with a bright new computer screen , a new monitor, a new pair of prescription glasses, and new lighting … …. I can see again to work. The boat is hauled and covered, the coal and diesel stoves gone over, a ton of coal sitting outside my door … time to paint …
The title of the post card used was “Fisherman’s House and Fish Hut, E.Gloucester. the photograph was Probably taken about 1905, today, vastly changed, the original house sits at the end of Bickford way.
drawn to the scene : my Grandfather had bought the property at the bottom of Bickford Way in 1912. My father grew up here till about seven when the family moved cross town to the top of Hovey St. ,,, summit of the hill, overlooking the harbor, with only Roger Babson’s house blocking the view.
About 1973 I built my first boat on my friend’s porch, not a stone’s throw away.
One of my first paintings I did was from a woodcut … looking up Bickford Way. Over the years this area was a favorite for many painters.
the original post card
the layout
to get my approximate view today
top line, at about 2 o’clock … striking a line from the peak of the roof of the main house through roughly the inside of the corner post of the addition on the plan, stopping at a point not far from the uplands edge.
then the Middle line … extending to House #1
the Bottom line … extending to intersect Mt. Pleasant and East Main
Earlier on the Neck
Rocky Neck in 1851 with just eleven structures on it.
“It may be well to state right here that in 1849 undivided half of
this entire property was purchased by Mr. Cyrus Story for $500. It was then used as a sheep pasture.” (20)
Eastern shore of Smith Cove running along East Main
a small section of an amazing photograph showing the paddle-wheeler “Harlem” tied to Wonson’s pier off the causeway to Rocky Neck. Coming in from the left the trolley can be seen coming down Rocky Neck Ave. To the right of the “Harlem”‘s stern and across the street Bickford way rises up and the back side of the house in Canvas #223 Canvas #223 can be seen.
more of a close-up of Bicford Way
with the “Fisherman’s House” on the left
by John Sloan
by Fern Coppedge
by
In the Google shot above you can see the fill added for the additional house lots. Back in the day much filling was done, guessing, much came from the construction of rte 128, and the extension addition.
fromThe Gloucester Guide (A Retrospective Ramble)
By Joseph E. Garland
The stranger likes this picturesqueness, but not so the old fisherman. He clings to the olden days. These radical changes almost make him weep. He is oftentimes seen lost in contemplation of the ‘curse’ that has overtaken Rocky Neck. (14)
Canvas#223 from the start
To see more of my paintings of Gloucester
Art and photographs set into Gloucester’s History