Vernal Equinox at Cattle Point

This could be titled "Lands' End" just as easily, except that it was painted on the first day of spring on San Juan Island, overlooking the historic "Cattle Point Lighthouse" where the Haro Straits meet San Juan Channel.

Cattle appeared at the point in 1853, when the Hudson's Bay Company established a ranch on the southern end of the island. This lighthouse was built in 1935, but a navigational lantern has been on watch here since 1888.

I love painting there (the lighthouse is a mere dot on the distant point of land below) as it offers so many possibilities subject matter wise . . . from calm bright sunrise conditions like this, to stormy seas combined with tide rips that have sunk many big boats out here. Nothing is predictable, living on the edge in the San Juan Islands!