Long ago abandoned behind the eastward migrating beach front, Goose Pond is now only occasionally influenced by salt water. In rainy years when the water is fresher, straw-colored flatsedge and kidney-leaf mud plantain appear along the sunny edges of the pond.
Such were the conditions when I set up to paint the well-vegetated water’s surface in the summer of 2014. In a minor departure from my usual treatment of scenery, I chose to include a few alligators and herons in the composition. I felt they had earned their spots by staying in position for the entire hour I painted. More importantly, I felt they would contribute to, but not compete with, the subject of the painting, which of course was Goose Pond itself.
– adapted from The Wild Treasury of Nature: A Portrait of Little St. Simons Island (UGA Press 2016)
Also see Goose Pond Wetland.
Painted on location, finished in the studio November 2014.
Exhibition History
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The Wild Treasury of Nature: A Portrait of Little St. Simons Island
February 20 - May 22, 2016
Morris Museum of Art
Augusta, Georgia
July 9 - September 11, 2016
Marietta Cobb Museum of Art
Marietta, Georgia
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2015
The Lodge at Little St. Simons Island
Little St. Simons Island, Georgia
Publication History
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The Wild Treasury of Nature: A Portrait of Little St. Simons Island
Published in conjunction with Philip’s 2016 exhibition at the Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, Georgia, and the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, Marietta, Georgia. Contributors include: Philip Juras, essay and artwork; Wendy Paulson, foreword; Kevin Grogan, introduction; Dorinda Dallmeyer, essay; and Janice Simon, essay. Published by the University of Georgia Press, 2016.