Windmill

Low, open dunes found on the eastern half of Little St. Simons mark various shoreline locations over the last 150 years as the island has grown eastward. When cattle grazed these newly formed lands in the twentieth century, they retained the character of wide-open grasslands. The ruins of a windmill and its place name are a reminder of that time. With the surf now a half mile further east and the cattle long gone, wax myrtles, palmetto, and other woody plants have begun to colonize between the dunes, but the area is still managed for its ecologically rare grasslands. Dominated by muhly grass, flat-topped goldenrod, and dog fennel, they are spectacular in the fall.

I photographed this view in October of 2011 and completed the painting the following February. Windmill now hangs in LSSI’s Helen House, guest room 1.

Also see Muhly Grass Meadows, p. 19.

The scene depicted, and the windmill, can be found about a half mile down LSSI’s Windmill Road. (Google Maps: 31.25874, -81.28588).