Fishing boats cluster along a pale stone quay with nets drying on the wall behind them, one cornflower-blue hull bright among the whites and browns, the water chalky with reflections

Click the painting to stand closer, close enough to see the paper

The Working Shore

The Inner Harbor

Medium Watercolor on wove paper
Paper 140 lb rough cotton
Size 10⅜ × 14¼ in
Painted 2026

Every working harbor keeps one boat painted a blue that should not work and does. It holds the whole painting together; take it away and the picture goes to sleep. Painted sitting on the quay steps with the paper nearly dry, dragging the brush sideways so the stone and the water would both come out rough.

Placeholder artwork: “Boats” by John Singer Sargent, public domain via The Met.