If there is a single location for a writer to sit and find inspiration in Newfoundland it would have to be the Ferryland Lighthouse on the Southern Shore of the Avalon Peninsula. Surely a visit with the lighthouse owner / operator Jill Curran would be more than enough as she can regale you for hours with her many varied experiences – from the ghosts on the cape to the elderly couple who arrived on a glorious sunny day, enjoyed their lunch and a post picnic nap, only to wake and find themselves completely enshrouded in such a thick of fog that they truly believed they had passed on to the afterlife.
With the passing of one of Newfoundland’s greatest artists, Gerry Squires, this past year I am reminded of a story from my first visit to the Ferryland Lighthouse picnic a few years ago. I had just moved home from Vancouver and was guiding a small group of tourists on a private day trip from St. John’s. Since it was my first time hiking the lighthouse trail, I was equally enthralled by the many spectacular vistas and I marveled audibly, sharing my impression with our guests.
The beaches, cliff sides, the ocean’s sprawl and even the giant wind mills made for wonderful conversation. But the botany exhibited along the trail side is so terribly unique and notable that it became the focus of our hike; made that much more interesting by the harsh conditions to which its growth cycle is subjected. The howling winds, salt spray, snow and the ice cause the plant life in this region to gnarl in and upon itself in a most distorted and twisted fashion that creates magnificent, sculptural displays of nature’s own ‘modern art’ exhibit. As I rounded the last corner of the trail and emerged from the woodlands on to the clearing of Ferryland bluff I commented on how much the landscape reminded me of a ‘Gerry Squires’ painting.
Unfortunately, my guests were completely unaware of Newfoundland’s darling son and thus I was especially appreciative of the Squires painting we found hanging right in the entrance of the Lighthouse doorway. Not only for their sake but as well for my own ability to recognize an artist’s inspiration. As I pointed out this glorious etching of the lighthouse itself, I was immediately distracted by a second Squires painting, and then another and yet another.
“Make no wonder the place reminded of Gerry Squires – the man must have spent a life time out here.”, I stated.
Well, can you imagine my surprise when I headed upstairs and found yet another display of his paintings along with a complete editorial describing the many years when he indeed lived at the Ferryland lighthouse, raised his family (without running water or electricity) and served as artist in residence at Memorial University.
Now there’s a picture that’s worth a thousand words.
