While we were working, a small woman in a straw hat approached us. It had been a long day of interruptions and I did not feel like being on display or answering questions at that point, but after a few minutes something about her seemed familiar. We talked for a bit and I realized she was Marjorie Portnow, whom both Jim and I had as a critic nearly a decade before at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Marjorie had been teaching in Provincetown for the summer and having just taught her last class of the semester was scouting out shaded painting locations for herself.

We were able to catch up while I painted and — just like old times — Marjorie gave me a welcome and useful critique. We talked about the trials and tribulations of landscape painting and she gave me the best advice; Marjorie said that there are two things that every landscape painter struggles with, the two "F" words: "foreground" and "foliage". Somehow knowing that these two things are difficult for every landscape artist helped me deal with the issue. In this painting I completely ignored the foreground and its foliage and went for the dunes and sea in the distance.