“Ocean Point, the setting of The Windswept Coast, is the primary reason that I am a marine artist,” says Don Demers. “As a boy, in the heyday of the Wyeths, this is where I spent my summers and was introduced to nautical subjects and their lore. I built ship models in my grandfather’s workshop and my grandmother would sew their sails for them at night while my grandfather and I played cribbage. All of this led to a lifelong love of the sea and everything around it.

The scene in The Windswept Coast shows Boothbay Harbor peninsula as it appears today, but I painted it with 19th century schooners (from Maine’s famous Nickerson Fleet) heading off to the fishing banks near Canada. What fascinates me is how little the coast changes, its timelessness intrigues me, allowing me to envision what the coast must have looked like a hundred years ago when these majestic vessels were a common sight.”