"A Pond Near Hope" is a painting I made during the Summer I spent in the vicinity of Hope, Maine. My daily routine involved exploring shorelines around Camden Harbor as well as producing inland landscape studies. One afternoon I found a horse standing in one of my favorite ponds with a young woman keeping watch. When I returned later in the day with my easel and equipment, they were gone. This painting is a plein air effort with the addition of my memory of the girl and her horse absorbed in a pastoral reverie. I faced a glimmering sundown which provided enough back lighting to simplify the surrounding trees into bold shapes reflected in water.