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Artist Jill Basham unveils a new chapter in her creative journey with “Another Side of Jill Basham,” exploring new mediums, techniques, and subject matter in a bold artistic evolution.
Renowned for her expansive impressionistic landscapes and signature low horizon lines, artist Jill Basham invites viewers to experience different directions in her upcoming exhibition, “Another Side of Jill Basham,” which opens November 1 at The Trippe Gallery.
This show reveals the artist’s exploration into a variety of techniques, subject matter, as well as medium, allowing her to tap into an emotional depth and range. While Basham is best known for her sweeping skies and expansive vistas, this exhibition offers a glimpse into a broader creative vision. The works on display range from her signature oil landscapes to more abstract realism, as well as intimate still lifes, dynamic city scenes, and rugged cliff sides and waterfalls. Some pieces feature gouache, a departure from her usual medium of oil.
While Jill has built her career on impressionistic brushwork, several pieces in “Another Side of Jill Basham” take a more abstracted approach, reflecting the artist’s desire to push beyond her established comfort zone. “Exploration is necessary for growth as an artist,” Basham explains. “With exploration comes new ideas, and these ideas can build on one another, leading to new ways of expressing emotion and perspective.” This sentiment is echoed by Trippe Gallery owner, Nanny Trippe, who shares, “I have known Jill a long time and watched her growth as a significant contemporary artist. I approached her with an idea of an exhibition tapping into another side of her creativity, giving her the freedom to paint from perhaps a different vision/version of inspiration. I am really excited to share these works!”
In the first of many salon talks, Nanny talks to Jill about this unique shift and the unique freedom that the show allowed her to experience.
The exhibition runs through November 30, with an opening reception with the artist on Friday, November 1, from 5 to 7 p.m. The Trippe Gallery is located at 23 N Harrison Street. For more information, please call 410-310-8727.
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George Caleb Bingham (1811-1879) is a well-known American painter of jolly boatmen who transported furs and other cargo on rafts along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. He also painted several portraits. He is lesser-known as a politician and soldier. His political paintings convey his strong belief in Democracy with all its flaws and that slavery was immoral and a threat to the future of the Union.
He was born in Augusta County, Virginia. When the family lost their mill, they moved to Missouri. Bingham was educated by his mother. He was mostly a self-taught painter. By age nineteen he was painting portraits for $20; by age twenty-two he supported himself with his art. He opened his first studio in 1838 in St. Louis. He moved to Philadelphia to study at the Pennsylvania Academy of Art, but he remained there only for three months before moving to Washington, D.C., where he studied with Benjamin West and Thomas Sully from 1840 until1844. Bingham married his first wife, and they moved in 1845 to Arrow Rock, Saline County, Missouri. Their home is now a National Historic Landmark.
“Canvassing for a Vote” (1852)
Bingham became involved with politics as early as 1840, during the race for president between Martin Van Buren and William Henry Harrison. Over the next several years he painted six canvases in his “election series.” “Canvassing for a Vote” (1852) (25”x31”) (Nelson Atkins Museum, Kansas City, MO) is one of the earliest. In front of the Arrow Rock Tavern, in his hometown, Bingham poses five men, a sleeping dog, and a horse’s rump, all within a triangular composition.
The candidate wearing a top hat, explains his position to the city gentleman with the cane, the country gentleman smoking his corn cob pipe, and the worker in the leather apron. The fifth man turns his back on the conversation; either he does not care, or he opposes the candidate’s thinking, or he could represent those who felt disenfranchised. These attitudes were prevalent at the time. Historians and art critics suggest that the sleeping dog may represent voters’ lack of enthusiasm, or the attitude toward the issue of slavery by the Missouri Legislation: “Let sleeping dogs lie.” One other idea has been proposed, that the approximate placement of the head of the candidate and the horse’s rump may represent Bingham’s estimation of politicians. Nevertheless, he knew the value of democracy, even with its flaws. Bingham ran as a Whig for the Missouri House of Representatives in 1848. The initial count resulted in three votes in his favor. He lost the recount and suspected vote tampering. He ran in the following year and won by a large margin.
“Stump Speaking” (1853-54)
“Stump Speaking” (1853-54) (43”x58’’) is a depiction of a politician trying to persuade a group of Missouri citizens to vote for him. The three figures dressed in white form a wide triangle. They are Bingham’s key to the painting. The Stump Speaker represents the current issues to be decided, and he reaches out to the crowd. The Outstanding Citizen, as Bingham refers to him, wears a white suit and top hat, and he sits across from the Speaker. He leans forward, one hand on his hip, and listens to the Speaker. He represents the past, and he is rigid is his opposition. The future is represented by the young, bare footed boy in the white shirt. He sits at the front of the composition. Both hands in front of him, his finger points into the palm of the other hand as he counts some coins.
The group of citizens includes men, women, and children of various ages and means. All are white. They surround the Speaker and sit or stand in natural positions. Bingham includes several portraits. The Stump Speaker resembles Erasmus Sappington, Bingham’s opponent in the previous election. The older, rotund figure wearing the green jacket resembles Meredith Marmaduke, the former governor of Missouri. The figure next to him is a self-portrait of Bingham, head down as he takes notes.
“The County Election” (1852)
“The County Election” (1852) (38”x52”) was the first painting in Bingham’s election series. Male citizens of all ages gather at the polling place. The inscription “The Will of the People, The Supreme Law” on the blue banner represents the artist’s belief. The scene is set outdoors in the light of day so that everyone could witness the vote. At the top of the stairs, the man in the orange shirt swears on a Bible that this is his only vote. Behind him on the stairs, the man tipping his top hat may be offering a bribe to the next voter. At the bottom of the stairs to the left, another man in a top hat drags a limp man, possibly drunk, toward the stairs so that he can vote. At the far right a drunk sits hunched over, his head bandaged, perhaps suggesting that elections could result in violence.
Behind the drunk, two men read a newspaper The Missouri Republican. When Bingham made a print of the painting, he had the title changed to The National Intelligencer to appeal to a broader audience. At the left front of the work, a man sits and drinks beer. Votes bought by liquor were common in the 19th and early 20th Centuries. Two boys play mumblety-peg with a knife. With splayed fingers, the boys stab between them as quickly as they can without cutting themselves.
“The Verdict of the People” (1854-55)
“The Verdict of the People” (1854-55) (46”x55”) was the last painting in Bingham’s election series. The crowd gathers in front of the courthouse to learn the election results. Bingham’s usual set of characters include farmers, laborers, politicians, and immigrants. However, he has included women and African American slaves. The African American pushing a wheelbarrow is prominently placed in the left foreground of the painting. The presence of women is not as obvious. White and African American women look on from a balcony at the top right. None has the right to vote.
“The Verdict of the People” is a depiction of two prominent issues in the 1854 election. Herman Humphrey’s book of 1828, Parallel between Intemperance and Slavery, explored the idea that alcohol and slavery were linked. The American Society of Temperance had been founded in1826, and the idea of abolishing alcohol was taking hold in several states by the 1850s. Bingham’s views were always anti-slavery; however, he considered abolishing alcohol to be wrong.
Bingham sent his election series to Washington, D.C., with the hope that the Library Committee of Congress would purchase the paintings. He wanted Americans to see his work and understand his ideas. The Library Committee of Congress did not purchase them. Bingham then lent them to the Mercantile Library Association in St. Louis, Missouri.
Abaham Lincoln was elected president in1861. Bingham was on the side of the Union during the Civil War; he fought and raised troops. The government of Missouri declared itself against slavery. The governor appointed Bingham to serve as Missouri State Treasurer in 1862. After the Civil War, Bingham was appointed President of the Kansas City Board of Police Commissioners. He became the first Chief of Police. He never stopped painting.
“To the beautiful belongs an endless variety. It is seen not only in symmetry and elegance of form, in youth and health, but is often quite as fully apparent in decrepit old age. It is found in the cottage of the peasant as well as the palace of kings.” (George Caleb Bingham)
Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years. Since retiring to Chestertown with her husband Kurt in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and the Institute of Adult Learning, Centreville. An artist, she sometimes exhibits work at River Arts. She also paints sets for the Garfield Theater in Chestertown.
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Front elevation of French Country home along the Tred Avon River
When I saw pictures of today’s featured house, I recognized the work of the Jack Arnold AIA, one of America’s leading architects of the French Country style. This house’s front elevation features elements of this style, from the brick exposed foundation that corbels into natural stone walls, slate roof with flared eaves, accents of wood beams set into stone facades, multi-paned windows, multiple gables of different heights and arched tops for windows and shutters that creates unique curb appeal.
The house’s site has a rich history. It is part of “Ratcliffe Farm”, named for “The Mannour of Ratcliff”, one of Talbot County’s great mid-century houses, patented in 1659, that was built on 800 acres along the Tred Avon River. Part of the property was sold for development in the early 2000s to create Ratcliffe Manor Farm’s fifteen single-family lots as well as the Easton Village neighborhood.
I began my tour by turning onto a tree lined boulevard that leads to the turnoff for this house’s street, named for “Fort Stoakes”, a fortress built during the War of 1812. When I reached the point where the two streets to access Ratcliffe Manor Farm’s lots intersect the boulevard, I was impressed how well the new streets were laid out to maintain the Manor House’s privacy in its surrounding woods. As I turned down the driveway to this house, I appreciated the gentle slope of the lawn with a low stone retaining wall at the front of the house, how the driveway was accented by bands of color to define zones and the beautiful earth tones of the exterior color palette.
Partial side elevation shows barn-style accents on the triple garage doors and arched brick headers.
All of the elevations are exquisitely detailed, with this elevation’s arched brick headers above the garage doors and the triple window; the garage doors’ crisscross trim and wood accents around the recessed porch and the header over the triple window, and the variety of window shapes. The gable wing of the house juxtaposed with the façade of the garage creates a very pleasing massing.
From rear of home, the three-bay motif is repeated in the recessed porch. Beautiful lawn, hardscaping, and a pool sit between the home and the waterfront
The house reaches out to the water with the varied depths of its wings. I especially liked how the three-bay recessed porch echoed the three bays of the garage, the detailing of the chimneys with the stone changing to brick with chimney caps and the outdoor rooms of the main floor’s covered terrace, the pool’s hardscape and the second floor deck.
Relaxing view of water and lux yard from beautifully kept terrace
The spacious elevated brick terrace blends into the hardscape of the pool surround for views of the lawn and water beyond. The thin black fencing around the pool area offers serene, unobstructed views of the landscape and the river.
Upon entry, the foyer welcomes guests with bright natural light, a view through to the terrace and wide rounded casings leading to other rooms
One of the Owners greeted me for my tour as I was admiring the custom design of the wide front door that is recessed into the front façade. As I walked into the spacious foyer, I was immediately drawn to the view through the wide arched doors to the covered terrace. The foyer’s interior architecture is detailed with stone flooring, faux-finish walls that simulate stone and graceful elliptical arches for the doors and the wide wall openings on either side of the foyer to both the living and dining rooms.
High tray ceilings are warmed up with stained beam accents, and large, rounded windows repeat the soft curves on the doorways.
The living room’s high tray ceiling is accented with stained beams, and the chimney wall that projects slightly into the room creates delightful interior architecture. I admired the gas fireplace’s cast concrete mantel that simulates stone, the accents of red in the sofa and chairs and the antique posters. The arched top at the side wall’s opening frames the hall past the powder room and the primary suite beyond.
Between the primary bedroom and living room, a powder room boasts a charming Eastern Shore-inspired mural.
Powder rooms offer great opportunities to accentuate a small space. This beautiful painted wall mural adds perspective to the room and the painted accents of the lavatory and toilet repeat the mural’s motifs. The bow fronted lavatory cabinet and the round mirror in its “porthole” frame complete this charming look.
The home’s first-floor corner room, with arched doors opening onto the front lawn, is perfect for a home office.
The study is located at the corner of the house with arched front doors opening onto the front lawn. Another tray ceiling with wood beams adds height to this space. The writing table, TV and comfortable furnishings creates a perfect spot for work or to unwind at the end of the day.
Gas fireplace and wall-to-wall windows make the primary suite’s bedroom a sanctuary all its own.
The sumptuous primary suite begins with the spacious primary bedroom with its tray ceiling and wood beams for greater height. The rear wall of glass from doors and full height sidelights offers views of the landscape and water beyond. The gas fireplace that is set into the room also creates niches for a chair and chest of drawers.
The fully renovated primary bathroom does not disappoint. The soaking tub, tucked away shower/toilet area, and spacious dressing room with a center storage island check every box.
The current Owners undertook extensive renovations, including this transformation of the existing primary bath into a light filled oasis with a white tray ceiling to reflect the light. From the bedroom, a pair of paneled doors open to this vista of the soaking tub. The cut-outs in the wall behind the tub bring light into both the shower area and the toilet compartment. Off the bath is large dressing room with a center storage island whose countertop is convenient for packing/unpacking for travel. The surrounding walls of the dressing room lined with rods and open shelves provide ample storage.
On the other side of the foyer, a dining room with a full-height arched top window overlooking the front lawn softens the rich wood accents
After backtracking to the foyer, I looked forward to exploring the rest of the house, beginning with the dining room. I admired the flat ceiling accented with wood beams, the wood header to the adjacent hall and the full height arched top window that overlooks the front lawn. The round table, upholstered chairs and the etagere with cabinets below create an elegant space for dining with soft lighting from the chandelier and the sconces.
The bar and pantry area lead to an open-plan kitchen, breakfast, and family room, which are cozied up with flat-plane ceilings and deep, warm wood.
Between the dining room and the kitchen is a bar area that backs up to a large pantry behind the kitchen. The ceiling of the open plan kitchen-breakfast-family room has spatial variety from the flat plane over the kitchen that changes to the vaulted ceiling of the family room. At the exterior wall of the kitchen are two pairs of doors leading to the covered terrace.
The covered terrace, easily assessed from the foyer and kitchen, is a mix of natural textures and finishings.
My fave room is the exquisite covered terrace, accessed from both the kitchen and the foyer for easy indoor-outdoor flow from the house to the pool area. How could one resist the rich texture mix of brick, stone and wood and the white tray ceiling accented by stained wood beams, areas for sitting and dining and the gas fireplace?
Again, the tray-style ceiling brings a feeling of vast open space to the brightly lit family room area. One of many gas fireplaces helps to define the space as a “room,” within the open-plan area.
The dramatic space of the family room also has a bow-shaped area overlooking the pool area for breakfast or informal meals. I especially admired how the very high tray ceiling’s beams are detailed with an extra layer of wood trim underneath the break in the ceiling plane that adds great character to the space. The long windows that wrap around the corner of the room offer panoramic views of the lawn and water. The gas fireplace, millwork with TV and comfortable furnishings make this open plan kitchen-breakfast bay and family room the hub of the house.
The remainder of the first floor has a secondary entry with stairs to the partial second floor, the laundry, a bedroom ensuite and the three car garage with storage space.
Tucked under the roof on the partial second floor is one of the bedroom ensuites. The high knee wall, and sloped ceiling create a “below the bow” cozy.
The partial second floor has two bedroom ensuites and this clever boat shaped bed’s frame was left by the former Owners. The current Owners continued the nautical theme with the porthole mirror and added the sleek wood dresser and chest that match the color of the boat’s bow. Since the front wall of the bedroom is tucked under the roof, the high knee wall and sloped ceiling with a double window dormer opposite the bed create a cozy space for boaters of all ages.
The partial second floor also includes a bonus room with ample storage.
Between the two second-floor bedrooms is a bonus room furnished as a sitting room for guests. Several single dormer windows bring sunlight into the space, and the high-knee walls offer ample headroom. Built into the knee walls are doors to access storage space under the roof rafters.
The second upstairs bedroom features a small deck overlooking the Tred Avon River, perfect for guests to enjoy morning coffee.
No doubt, lucky guests who stay in this charming bedroom with access to the deck with bird’s eye views of the water may well be tempted to extend their stay!
This four acre property convenient to both Easton and St. Michaels offers a unique combination of a historic setting with approximately 300 feet of waterfront and a natural shoreline along the scenic Tred Avon River with a distinctive house design by one of America’s leading architects of the French Country style. Built to the highest level of construction with low maintenance, timeless exterior materials of stone and brick, this four bedroom, 4-1/2 bath French Country is tres’ magnifique!
From the centrally located foyer, the main floor plan is zoned very well with the living room, study/office and master suite on one wing and the dining room, open plan kitchen-breakfast- family room, laundry, guest ensuite and garage on the other wing. Tray ceilings of various heights trimmed with wood beams offer delightful spatial variety to the indoor rooms. Outdoor rooms of the irresistible covered terrace that flow into the hardscape around the heated salt-water pool and the second floor deck expand your living space and provide peaceful vistas of the current Owners’ extensive landscaping. Water enthusiasts will appreciate the dock with water, electric, boat and jet ski lifts with approximately 5 ft MLW. The house’s motto inscribed on the plaque in the kitchen that proclaims “If you’re lucky enough to live on the water you’re lucky enough” says it all!
For more information about this property, contact Cliff Meredith, Broker, with Meredith Fine Properties at 410-822-6272 (o), 410-924-0082 (c), [email protected] ; or Laura Carney, Senior Vice President with TTR Sotheby’s International Realty at 410-673-3344 (o), 410-310-3307 (c) or [email protected]. For more photographs and pricing, visit www.MeredithFineProperties.com or www.lauracarney.com ,“Equal Housing Opportunity.”
Photography by-Townsend Visuals, www.townsendvisuals.com, (443) 279-8309
Architecture by Jack Arnold AIA, www.jackarnold.com, 800-824-3565
Construction by Ilex, www.ilexconstruction.com, (866) 551-4539
Contributor Jennifer Martella has pursued dual careers in architecture and real estate since she moved to the Eastern Shore in 2004. She has re-established her architectural practice for residential and commercial projects and is a real estate agent for Meredith Fine Properties. She especially enjoys using her architectural expertise to help buyers envision how they could modify a potential property. Her Italian heritage led her to Piazza Italian Market, where she hosts wine tastings every Friday and Saturday afternoon.
The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.
Almost two years to the day of my writing an article in the Spy, “A Tribute to Peter Newlin, FAIA,” to celebrate Peter’s retirement, his wife Gale contacted me with the very sad news that Peter had passed away on October 22. Our small architectural community here on the Eastern Shore has grown smaller but Peter leaves a large legacy of outstanding work. Over the last eight years, Peter and Gale have become close friends so I am mourning Peter not only as a gifted architect but also as a treasured friend. To honor Peter, I have reprised the article to remind readers of his remarkable contribution to Kent County’s architectural heritage.
When I began writing articles for the Spy, my “beat” was both Chestertown/Kent County and Talbot County. Since I was a newcomer to the area, the Spy Publisher put me in touch with Peter Newlin, an architect and old friend of his. Before I met with Peter, I visited his website and discovered he had achieved FAIA (Fellow of the American Institute of Architects) status in 1996. I later learned he was the first architect on the Eastern Shore to become a FAIA, which is the highest accolade my profession can bestow upon a member. When I visited Peter’s office for the first time, the wall behind the stairwell to Peter’s office was filled with award winning projects from local and state AIA chapters. As I studied each submission, I began to appreciate the depth of Peter’s talent. He was clearly equally adept at designing either historical or contemporary architecture.
Before Peter entered college, he served in the US Army for four years and was a translator in Germany. Peter’s academic career began with his degree in Cultural History and Literature from Connecticut College. Taking a break from academia, Peter worked as a welder in his father’s machinist business and his carpentry skills led him to a mentor, Michael Borne, who lived in Chestertown and was a historian with Maryland’s Historic Trust. Peter worked for him as a carpenter and honed his skills in the art of historic restoration work. Peter then enrolled in the University of Virginia and after one semester he switched his major from Architectural History to Architecture and received his MA degree. His love for historic architecture drew him to Annapolis and after researching the historic buildings he most admired, he realized their common denominator was an architect named Jim Burch, FAIA.
Peter joined the firm which became Burch & Associates in 1978 and he established the Chestertown branch in 1978. Their best known projects from that time were the conservation/renovation of Chestertown’s Fire Hall into the Town Hall and the passive-solar Galena Bank which won an award for energy conservation. He purchased the office in 1982 and established his own firm as Chesapeake Architects to specialize in waterfront architecture and historically sensitive design which he operated for thirty-nine years until his recent retirement. Throughout his distinguished career, Peter was recognized for his design talents from local, state and international entities including Progressive Architecture magazine for a rural town planning project, the Maryland Historical Trust for preservation projects, Delmarva Power for energy conscious design and numerous “Excellence in Architecture” awards from chapters of the American Institute of Architects. It has been my privilege to feature Peter’s award winning work in The Spy as Houses of the Week. To honor Peter upon his retirement, I offer highlights of my favorite Houses of the Week designed by this remarkable architect:
The Ornithologist’s House
Aerie-The Ornithologist’s House: One of my readers recently told me she reads my “House of the Week” columns in both The Chestertown Spy and The Talbot Spy so I asked her which house was her favorite. Without hesitation, she replied “the Ornithologist’s House.” This property began its life as a weekend two-room cabin for an ornithologist, who asked for a three-story addition to better observe the birds since different species seek different heights for feeding or nesting areas. She explained to Peter that the conifers on the property provide shelter, nest sites, and food for birds who prefer high spaces. The wild grasses and weeds provide cover for ground-nesting birds and their seeds provided abundant food for many other types of birds. Trees that bore fruit in autumn such as dogwoods and berry plants provide food for migratory birds and allowed non-migratory birds to “fatten up” to face the food challenges in winter. The oaks and other trees provide food for jays, titmice, woodpeckers as well as nesting habitats for many other species.
The design challenge was how to join a three-story vertical addition to a one-story small cabin without overwhelming the cabin’s scale and to insert the addition as carefully as possible for minimum invasion of the wildlife’s habitat. The hipped roof of the original cabin inspired the shed roof of the wrap-around porch whose depth varies around the rectangular footprint to create a variety of indoor spaces and outdoor rooms. Breaking the tower massing up by stepping it back as it passed through the roof behind and above the one-story original cabin, recladding the entire house and new roofing met the challenge for a seamless blend of old and new. Many windows became “outlooks” for endless birdwatching. I especially liked the middle level bedroom with a balcony overlooking the woods and the top level sitting room/studio with windows on all four sides and the hipped roof/ceiling.
Octagon House from river
The Octagon House: The clients lived in the heart of Chestertown’s Historic District on Water Street. Their historic house had architectural appeal but needed better views of the Chester River. They wanted a seamless addition to open up the rooms to expansive water views and what they received was much more. Their program for the addition included a new river room on the main level with a master suite above. Peter quickly realized that an octagonal form was the solution to blend the existing house with the addition. From the water, the octagon reads as a two-story bay addition for panoramic water views and the new decks at both the main and upper levels gave the Owners front row seats for the parade of craft on the Chester River. The Jury for the Design Award agreed that the choice of the octagonal shape was key to the success of this design.
This strategy reduced the impact of the addition but what it did to the interior architecture was magical. Suddenly new diagonal connections to the existing rooms opened and panoramic views of the river were visible through the octagon’s wrap-around windows, the master suite’s deck and a covered terrace on the main floor. Doorways were enlarged, the hefty exposed ceiling beams that created the octagon’s clear span were painted out white to disguise their mass, resulting in an articulated ceiling plane and airy and light interiors. At the side of the house, a new two-story entrance linked the existing house to the octagonal addition. French doors at the main floor and an accent window at the second floor brought light into both floors of the hall. The design’s finishing touch was a direct path to the river from steps at the main floor covered terrace.
Great design is timeless and it is no surprise that this exquisite addition won a Merit Award from the Maryland AIA Chapter. This house was sold a few years ago to new owners who were delighted with the addition. They completed the renovation by closing off the door to the kitchen next to the entrance hall, removing the wall between the kitchen and the sitting room beyond, updating the kitchen and master bath and changing the exterior wall color to a marine blue.
Rive Du Temps, interior
“Rive Du Temps” This house was christened “Rive Du Temps” by its owner. In her preliminary programming discussions with Peter, the Owner asked for a “thoroughly interesting house” with “an intimate experience of the weather and nature.” She also expressed a fondness for curved walls. Peter listened intently and their collaboration resulted in a site plan and house design that takes maximum advantage of the wooded site along the bank of the Chester River. The river curves and turns both upriver and downriver to provide broad long views from the house.
A previous house had burned and this house was built on top of the original rectangular footprint to maintain the close proximity to the water. The detached garage and the hyphen from the main house to the “summerhouse” disguise the original house’s simple geometry. The airy summerhouse is a delight with its screened walls and curved ceiling. The roof decking is painted light cream to reflect the light from the clerestory windows at the rear and to accentuate the bark-brown roof joists. I could easily imagine dozing in a hammock in this marvelous space through the summer.
In homage to historic Maryland houses, the center hall plan separates one sitting room from the kitchen, dining area and another sitting room. A rhythm of two rows of beautifully detailed wood columns with headers float below the exposed ceiling joists. The vista ends at French doors to the deck overlooking the water. On either side of the center hall, bowed walls of windows capture the broad views of the river bends, opening the entire rear wall to the water views. Another curved wall of cabinetry becomes a boundary to the kitchen area and a soffit above echoes that curvature. Instead of walls, the dining area between the two sitting rooms is defined by millwork on each side and on one side upper cabinets with glass fronts continue the transparency. The cross-axis of the house leads on one side to the hyphen and summerhouse and on the other side to the stairs and the second floor bedroom suites. The Owner’s collections of Native American pottery and other artifacts from her travels, art, accessories and furnishings articulate this house’s unique personality. “Rive du Temps” was featured in HGTV’s “Dream Builders,” Episode 1207, and won an award from the AIA for its unique design.
Pavilion at Davis Creek
The Pavilion House on Davis Creek: Like their boat with its functional, snug fitting cabinetry, the clients wanted the interior of their new home to contain functional cabinetry to minimize furniture for storage. Newlin’s masterful solution was to create five pavilions, linked together by overlapping their corners, like a string of pearls along the gently sloped ridge. The creek then becomes a design element visible from every pavilion and house and landscape are inseparable. North facing walkways tucked under the deep roof overhangs lead to the “Summerhouse” pavilion with its walls of full height screened panels open to the gentle morning sun and breezes. I especially admired the massing of the pavilions with the hipped roofs, some with triangular dormer windows and others with shed dormers. I also appreciated that many of the window units had vented windows below the picture window above for natural ventilation and for clearer views of the surrounding woods and water.
The hierarchy of interior spaces ranges from the Guest Wing to the “Summerhouse.” The living area with its free-standing fireplace chimney and its soaring ceiling is the centerpiece of the plan and is open to the dining and kitchen areas with their morning sunlight. The dramatic stair tower leads down to the basement utility areas and up to the master suite above. The master suite has built-ins that divide the sleeping area from the dressing area lined with a wall of closets. The built-ins also function as a headboard for the bed so the sunlight from the windows opposite the bed can penetrate the dressing area. A wonderful nook with a window seat provides a cozy spot for reading or for contemplating the views of nature from the large window.
The finishes are outstanding including custom recessed lighting in the coffered ceilings, beautiful inlaid wood floors and the sleek cabinetry throughout the house. The recessed lighting between the exposed ceiling joists was designed by Newlin and fabricated by Deep Landing Workshop. The pendant lighting was also designed by Deep Landing Workshop.
Peter’s legacy lives on in both these and other extraordinary house designs and his mentorship of intern architects, one of whom, John Hutchinson, now has his own firm in Chestertown, John Hutchinson Architecture.
Fellows, Helfenbein & Newnam in Chestertown has not yet posted information about a memorial service. Visit www.fhnfuneralhome.com to leave a message for Peter’s wife, Gale Tucker. Rest in peace, my dear friend Peter.
Contributor Jennifer Martella has pursued dual careers in architecture and real estate since she moved to the Eastern Shore in 2004. She has reestablished her architectural practice for residential and commercial projects and is a real estate agent for Meredith Fine Properties. She especially enjoys using her architectural expertise to help buyers envision how they could modify a potential property. Her Italian heritage led her to Piazza Italian Market, where she hosts wine tastings every Friday and Saturday afternoons.
The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.
Author’s Note: My mother died in my arms when I was in my early forties. She wanted to die at home, and my sister’s and my willingness to be her caregivers made that possible. Over the arc of my mother’s final weeks, she only uttered a rare few sentences, but each one took up resonance in my heart as my teacher. One of those sentences was a question she asked of me days before she took her last breath. It is the true center of this piece—the answers to which are both lastingly unknowable, and not.
Unknowable
ONCE, AFTER HEARING A SINGER’S lyrical lament that the angels might turn their backs on some—and what a mystery it would be, if so—I read an entire book on the history of angels in the hopes that I would find an answer to this riddle. When, indeed, would an angel turn its back on any of us?
In that history, I found the intricate map of a celestial hierarchy arranged in a circular triad—closest to the circle’s center are the Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones; then the Dominations, Virtues, and Powers; at last, there are the Principalities, Archangels, and Angels. None of these beings are the sweet nothings we now associate with our conception of angels. They are matterless, purportedly voiceless beings charged with duties that they never predictably fulfill. (Who knew?) Those that find their job descriptions involve an interface with humanity, and with Earth, are too often seduced by evil and lastingly corrupted.
When they make themselves visible to us, the Seraphim have four heads and six wings covered in all-seeing eyes; the archangel Michael had one hundred and forty wings. Wings to cover head, back, feet, face, and genitals. (Apparently, angels have genitals.) The mystery, as it turns out, was no mystery, just some measure of ignorance on my part; clearly angels could turn their backs on us as suddenly and for as many reasons as we might turn our backs on them.
What remains with me is the vision at the center of their circular triad: “an unknowable center point which is called God…an emanation of pure thought of the highest vibration…” Around the unknowable center, the Seraphim ceaselessly chant, “Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh–Holy, Holy, Holy…” This monotonous activity is described as a possible “song of creation…the primary vibration of Love”. The frequency of this “pure thought” changes its vibratory speed as it travels in subtle waves away from the center, coalescing into “pure light” in the second triad, before wholly condensing into matter at the outer reaches of the orbiting rings. It is here that you might find all of us—hovering and bustling around our unknowable center.
In my life, I embrace no hierarchies nor are there celestial and circular triads, though surely, I have caught glimpses of some unknowable center. Around me at my desk gather traces of those glimpses—rings of images, clippings, hand-written notes, letters—held close by the gravitational pull of my life. I find brown sugar packets marked Istanbul Modern. A purple post it with ATC/NPR 1.22.07 written on it above “Iraqis tattoo their phone numbers on their bodies so someone can be called in case of their deaths.” On the back of a plain American Almanac calendar sent to me annually by my chronically suicidal high school friend, intricate first aid instructions for shock; artificial respiration: mouth-to-mouth; convulsions; heart attack; snakebite; poisons; burns. A pamphlet entitled A Flower Seed Planting Table for the Middle South, in whose legend it says, “T is for tender; H is for hardy; HH is for half-hardy.” A chart that lists “the Number of Shrubs or Plants for an Acre calculated by their Distance Apart”—for plantings three by three inches apart, there is room enough for 696,960 plants. An old Altoid box filled with thousands of small typed HAs, individually snipped out from a larger piece of paper, and dropped into the container’s emptiness. There is Bruce’s Christmas card from 1997—a black- and-white universal signage symbol of a man blowing his brains out with a pistol, an empty cloud of smoke drawn in just where
the pistol meets the universal man’s temple, all of it printed within a dark gray circle with a diagonal line drawn through it indicating Don’t! Jane’s first xoxo letter written in a vertical hand on a cream-colored sheet of paper crowned by a Japanese print of a woman bearing a lantern. A spherical lead fishing weight adrift on my desk from several years of experiments surrounding the design of my “Weft Removal Machine”. A mini article extracted from the Herald-Tribune, whose headline reads “Melted stalagmite leaves Hindu pilgrims dismayed.” My mother’s watch, which is always one hour slow, no matter how often I reset it, just as it was when she was alive. The announcement for a show entitled The Last Photographs—imagery by a man named James Fee who, believing his fixer to be his fifth of scotch while working in the darkroom, took a deep swig of it under the red light and died. An image of my friend John Lilly, emaciated from leukemia and wearing his favorite fake pearl-encrusted pink fifties sunglasses, giving a manicure to the fiberglass fingernails of a Jonathan Barofsky mini-man under our pepper-dripping tree. The script for a Yoko Ono painting entitled Painting to See the Skies that reads, “Drill two holes in a canvas. Hang it where you can see the sky. (Change the place of hanging. Try both the front and the rear windows, to see if the skies are different.) 1961 summer.”
And then there are three portraits of my mother—when she is in her fifties (as I am), ambitious and striking and bold; when she is sixty-nine, in her first week of chemo, and she is thin, distilled, facing out toward us, but facing the abyss within; when she is seventy-one and just a year from her death, her face is fluffy with its sense of fun and with the chemo, but she looks into the camera at me as if there is nowhere she would rather be and no one she would rather be with. I rely on this image to keep me riveted to my joy, and not to my sorrow.
Of course, the unknowable center can never be named, but I would venture to say that the vaguest form of it—its luminous self—slipped into my consciousness just days before my mother’s death when she asked me, “Do you have to stop loving to die?”
♦
Mary-Cecile Gee holds a BA from Sarah Lawrence College and an MFA in studio-arts from California State University, Fullerton. Gee attended the Community of Writers (in the High Sierras), studying with C.J. Wright, Sharon Olds, Mark Doty, and Robert Hass. Gee is a Buddhist Chaplain at the “no-barriers” Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. She is a dedicated visual artist. Website: marycecilegee.com
The Delmarva Review, published annually from St. Michaels, MD, selects the most compelling new personal essays, short stories, and poetry from thousands of submissions nationwide (and beyond) for publication in print, with an electronic edition. It is produced at a time when many commercial publications (and literary magazines) have closed their doors or are reducing literary content in print. Selection is based on writing quality, and almost half of the writers have come from the Chesapeake region. As an independent literary publication, it has never charged writers a reading or publishing fee. The review is available worldwide from Amazon, other online booksellers, and specialty regional bookstores. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, support comes from tax-deductible contributions and a grant from Talbot Arts with funds from the Maryland State Arts Council. Website: www.DelmarvaReview.org
The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.
The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.
American artist Winslow Homer (1836-1910) was the son of Bostonians Charles and Henrietta Homer. She was an amateur watercolor painter and Winslow’s primary teacher. His youth was spent mostly in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he graduated from high school. His artistic talent was obvious. Apprenticed to a Boston commercial lithographer, he produced numerous sheet music covers and advertisements. He established a free-lance career by 1857 that resulted in an offer of employment from Harper’s Weekly. Instead, he opened his own studio in Boston. He said, “I have no master, and never shall have any.”
He moved to New York City in 1859 and attended drawing school in Brooklyn. Harper’s Weekly commissioned him to draw images of the Civil War, and he was assigned to Major General George B. McClellan. Homer’s oil paintings of the Civil War invited him to membership in the National Academy of Design. He received full membership in 1865, including the exhibition of one of his Civil War paintings. The painting was also exhibited in the International Exhibition in Paris. Homer visited Europe in 1867, and he was able to observe the French Barbizon landscape paintings.
“A Fair Wind” (“Breezing Up”) (1876)
“A Fair Wind” (“Breezing Up”) (1876) (24”x38”) (National Gallery of Art) was exhibited during the American Centennial. After Homer returned to Gloucester, he began to paint American scenes of life along the Atlantic coast. Originally titled “A Fair Wind,” meaning smooth sailing ahead, the painting presented a positive, optimistic, and hopeful view of America’s future. The catboat, named the Gloucester, is steered by a young boy holding the tiller, rather than the older man in the boat. The boy steers toward the horizon, and the future. By adding the anchor, Homer further represents security and hope.
When “A Fair Wind” was shown at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, it was recognized as a positive expression of America’s future. Henry James, the writer, and Homer’s good friend, was critical of the painting: “We frankly confess that we detest his subjects…he has chosen the least pictorial range of scenery and civilization; he has resolutely treated them as if they were pictorial…and, to reward his audacity, he has incontestably succeeded. There is no picture in this exhibition, nor can we remember when there has been a picture in any exhibition, that can be named alongside this.” The National Gallery of Art purchased the work in 1943, and “Breezing Up” became the commonly used title of the painting. The Gallery describes the painting on its web site as “one of the best-known and most beloved artistic images of life in nineteenth-century America.” The United States Postal Service issued in1962 a commemorative stamp to honor Homer with the image of “Breezing Up.”
“Clear Sailing” (1880)
By 1873 Homer had begun to use watercolor for sketches of subjects for finished oil paintings. “Clear Sailing” (1880) (8”x11”) (Philadelphia Museum of Art) is one of his pencil and watercolor sketches. In the summer of 1880, Homer lodged with the lighthouse keeper at Ten Pound Island, located in the middle of Gloucester Bay harbor. He observed the sailing ships, small boats, and all the activity associated with a busy harbor. Homer included a fully rigged ship in the distance. His view from the light house offered a closer look at ships and boats. Three young boys sit and stand on the beach and enjoy watching the scene. A sea gull soars across the sky.
“The Life Line” (1884)
“The Life Line” (1884) (29”x45’’) is a depiction of another side of life along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. Homer and others who lived on the coast witnessed the dangers of ocean voyages. Immigrants, visitors, and cargo were at the mercy of the restless sea. Many stories of shipwrecks were reported in the newspapers. The wreck of the ship Atlantic in1873 that carried 962 people, resulted in the loss of 562 passengers and crew. Homer witnessed the newly invented breeches buoy system that was first employed in 1883 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to safely transfer people to shore.
In the painting the storm rages, the waves are intense, and a woman is held tightly in the breeches buoy by a strong male figure. The woman’s windblown red scarf centers the composition and provides a bold contrast to the treacherous dark green and white waves. “The Life Line” is a depiction of the American male hero saving the life of the helpless woman. This type of story was popular in the 19th Century. Homer painted this work after seeking out eyewitnesses and hearing their accounts of the events.
Homer had witnessed new life saving methods while he was in England, and he brought information about them to America. The United States was unique in organizing beach patrols and using new lifesaving techniques. The exploits of the new American heroes, the coast guards, were illustrated in several publications after 1878. “Life Line” was exhibited for the first time in 1884 at the National Academy of Design in New York, and the painting was immediately purchased for $2,500.
“The Gulf Stream” (1899)
Homer spent several summer vacations with fishing fleets in the Bahamas. He spent time near Florida, Cuba, and the Caribbean. He painted “The Gulf Stream” (1899) (28’’x49’’) (Metropolitan Museum) during his first trip to the Caribbean in 1885. “I painted in watercolors three months last winter at Nassau, & have now just commenced arranging a picture from some of the studies.” A boat, its mast broken, floats rudderless on the restless ocean. Homer wrote, “I have crossed the Gulf Stream ten times & I should know something about it.” A single negro lies on the deck, described by Homer as “dazed and parboiled…and the sharks have been blown out to sea by a hurricane.”
Homer sent “The Gulf Stream” to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1900. He sent the painting to the National Academy of Design in 1906; the members of the academy jury wanted the Metropolitan Museum to purchase the painting. Newspaper reviews were positive and negative. One Philadelphia newspaper critic wrote that people were laughing at the “Smiling Sharks.” Another called attention to the “naked negro lying in a boat while a school of sharks [are] waltzing around him in the most ludicrous manner.” In response to concern expressed about the outcome of the story, Homer said, “You can tell these ladies that the unfortunate negro who now is so dazed & parboiled, will be rescued & returned to his friends and home, & ever after live happily.” The Metropolitan Museum purchased the painting that year.
“After the Hurricane” (1899)
“After the Hurricane” (1899) (15’’x21’’) (Art Institute of Chicago) was one of Homer’s finished watercolors. It is not clear if this work was painted before or after “The Gulf Stream,” but it depicts an event resulting from a hurricane. Whether the negro in the wrecked boat is dead or alive is not certain, but the devastation caused by the hurricane is evident.
On the weekend of November 1 and 2, 2024, Chestertown will celebrate Down Rigging and enjoy the glory of the tall ships docked in our harbor.
Beverly Hall Smith was a professor of art history for 40 years. Since retiring to Chestertown with her husband Kurt in 2014, she has taught art history classes at WC-ALL and the Institute of Adult Learning, Centreville. An artist, she sometimes exhibits work at River Arts. She also paints sets for the Garfield Theater in Chestertown.
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Front-side elevation from sidewalk
As I walked down the Town of Rock Hall’s sidewalk to tour today’s featured house, “Mermaid of the Rock-The Lodge on Main”, the house’s eclectic architectural details of an American Four-Square massing, hipped roof and shed dormers with the Victorian 1/1 windows creates a very pleasing curb appeal. The elevated front porch faces the street but dense shrubbery provides privacy. The house may have originally been a rectory for the church but its current use is a successful Airbnb with a main floor unit and another unit on the second and third floors for a total of four bedrooms and three and a half baths.
Elevations from convenient off-street parking
The elevation that faces the side off-street parking area shows the Queen Anne details of the wrap-around porch and the two-story bay wall projection. Combined with the other architectural styles of the front elevation, this building has great architectural character.
Outbuildings offer variety of usage opportunities
I was charmed by the diminutive scale of the two buildings at the rear of the parking area. Both are currently offices but the larger building could become a cozy honeymoon cottage and the other building could remain an office to generate additional income.
Mature foliage creates a shaded area for picnics under the pergola
Next to the office is a small terrace with a table and benches underneath a pergola supported by four columns and covered with dense vines for shade. The perfect spot for a warm weather picnic or for relaxing after a stroll around town.
Spacious wrap-around front porch
After touring the grounds, I walked up to the deep and spacious wrap-around porch with cushioned rattan furnishings for relaxing and a table and chairs for dining. Ceiling fans add cooling during the dog days of summer. With plenty of seating and ample space for circulation, the porch is a delightful outdoor room.
Welcoming foyer services both units
The front door opens into a large foyer that serves both units. The stair’s upper run is open to the first floor below for convenient storage of bikes, strollers, etc. The building’s renovation carefully maintained the house’s original details, including the beautiful wood floors, high baseboards, paneled doors, fluted window trim and the stair balustrade.
Original flooring continues into the floor living room with panoramic windows.
The main floor living room’s side wall is a full bay wall projection for panoramic views of the townscape. Along with the front window overlooking the porch, the living room has sunlight throughout the day. The armoire covers a pair of pocket doors to the adjoining room that may have been the original dining room.
Main floor eat-in kitchen
The eat-in kitchen has a corner wood hutch containing all the basic essentials for setting the table. Four Windsor chairs around the table create a cozy dining spot. The “L” shaped kitchen area has plenty of counter space with one side containing the sink and dishwasher and the other side containing the R/F and range/microwave.
Main floor bedroom
The main floor bedroom has a quiet location in the rear corner of the building. I admired the mix of the contemporary light fixture and rug with the iron bedframe. The blue and cream color scheme creates a serene sleeping space.
Main-floor bath and laundry
The main floor bath and laundry area has plenty of storage for linens and towels and the exterior door leads to the steps down to the rear yard and parking area.
Second-floor living room
The second-floor living room is located above the main living room below and enjoys the same side bay wall projection and front window for sunlight throughout the day. The light wall color reflects the sunlight, and the spacious living-dining area can accommodate a large group for watching TV.
Second-floor kitchen
The second floor’s galley kitchen’s windows on the two exterior walls is sunny and bright. The craftsman style cabinets with the upper cabinets reaching to the underside of the ceiling provide plenty of storage and the cabinet on the opposite wall could become a buffet. The four-panel door leads to the stairs to the third floor bedroom.
Second-floor corner bedroom
The second floor’s corner bedroom’s carpet over the original wood floors provides sound control from the unit below. The corner location with windows on each exterior wall is a plus with bird’s eye views of the townscape below.
Second floor bath-laundry
The second floor bath also has a stack washer/dryer if a buyer wanted to keep the Airbnb on the first floor and live on the second and third floors.
Third-floor bedroom
The third floor corner bedroom is my fave room in the house whose shed dormers create delightful interior architecture. Opposite the beds are a large closet and another closet for the HVAC equipment. The adjacent bath is tucked under the windows of another shed dormer.
This is a unique opportunity for acquiring an Airbnb for investment property; or to continue the successful Airbnb designation for the main floor only for extra income; or to revert the four bedroom, 3-1/2 bath house to its original use as a single family residence. Charming architectural style and spacious interior rooms with multiple windows for views and sunlight. Outdoor rooms of the wrap-around porch that offers front row seats to enjoy local parades and festivals and the terrace in the rear yard, shaded by a pergola and dense vines, expand your living space. All this and a location in the heart of picturesque Rock Hall’s shops, restaurants and the Mainstay live performing arts venue that offers a year-round weekly calendar!
For more information about this property, contact Retha Arrabal with Doug Ashley Realtors at 410-810-0010 (o), 410-708-2172 (c) or [email protected], “Equal Housing Opportunity”.
Photography by Janelle Stroup, Thru the Lens Photography, 410-310-6838, [email protected]
Contributor Jennifer Martella has pursued dual careers in architecture and real estate since she moved to the Eastern Shore in 2004. She has reestablished her architectural practice for residential and commercial projects and is a real estate agent for Meredith Fine Properties. She especially enjoys using her architectural expertise to help buyers envision how they could modify a potential property. Her Italian heritage led her to Piazza Italian Market, where she hosts wine tastings every Friday and Saturday afternoons.
The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.
The Spy Newspapers may periodically employ the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the clarity and accuracy of our content.
