Fieldwork Week Four: Squire’s Pond

    Charles Heinz, Wellfleet Vista   So there’s a painting. It’s by Charles Heinz. For a year or so it hung in the lobby of Seaman’s Bank in Wellfleet. I fell in love with it. Abe Storer wrote about the painting in the Provincetown Independent. Given its view, I had assumed that it was painting from the bank of Hamblen Island. When I was recently talking with Abe, he said he’d made the same incorrect assumption, and that in fact the painting has been made from the back of Squire’s Pond — where a lot of Wellfleet artists used to paint. So on a rainy Saturday, a group of seven of us set out to see Squire’s Pond.       Squire’s Pond from the end of Squire’s Pond Lane.   Abe had warned me that it had become overgrown. On the town side of the pond, it’s basically become a marsh. And on the back side, where Heinz had made the painting, it’s been developed — leaving no clear view without serious trespassing.    My quest aside, Saturday’s walk was great for seeing parts of Wellfleet that are obscured in a car. In fact several of us commented that we were seeing the town in a new way — across low hedges, through stands of trees, and at a speed that allowed us to appreciate the built landscape. For my own part, walking the side streets is helping me better understand the topography of the town — and broadening my mental map. I’m also collecting more inspiration for new paintings.       In addition to its amazing collection, it’s a delight to see the ongoing restoration and growth of the Wellfleet Historical Society Museum.   We concluded our rainy-day walk by visiting the Wellfleet Historical Society Museum. It’s a really lovely collection and a visit with David is always a pleasure!   …   Fieldwork Saturdays in Wellfleet   Organized by Pete Hocking & AMZehnder Gallery   This summer, we’re inviting creative people — including visual artists, photographers, writers, and others — to join us for community fieldwork sessions in Wellfleet on Saturday afternoons from 2:30 – 5 PM. This is not a workshop and there will be no instructor. Spending time in a place, looking deeply, taking notes, and allowing the place to soak into memory allows one to bring meaningful experience into the studio — and to ultimately work more intuitively.  The sessions are also designed to strike up conversation and relationships among Outer Cape artists. You’re invited to look, to draw, to paint, to photograph, to take notes, to write — and especially to connect with other creative people in our incredible community. These sessions are free and you’re welcome to join us as your schedule permits. Come for one session or all sessions!    We’ll meet at AMZehnder Gallery at 25 Bank Street at 2:30 PM on Saturday and we’ll conclude the start of Gallery Night at 5 PM.    Questions? Contact phocking@gmail.com