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"Bucktown Village Store," oil on canvas. Details here.

For years I had heard about the Eastern Shore of Maryland as home to Plein Air Easton, a plein air competition at which stunning paintings are done during a week every July. But it was a book that inspired me finally to take a trip to the Eastern Shore of Maryland. After reading Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, by David W. Blight, I needed to experience first hand the farms and wetlands on the Chesapeake Bay from which Frederick Douglass (1818 - 1895) and Harriet Tubman (circa 1822-1913) escaped slavery. Their paths to becoming internationally respected leaders of the abolitionist movement began here. I hoped through drawing and painting I would gain a deeper understanding of their lives.

DAY 1

It was early October as I crossed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge onto the Eastern Shore and then into Talbot County, MD with a car full of art supplies. I found the sign for the birthplace of Frederick Douglass and turned onto a dirt road leading to the Tuckahoe River where I stood realizing he probably once walked here. The mosquitos quickly found me so I didn't linger. (I've read that someday there might be more signage, trails, and a visitor’s center at this spot.)

I then drove south to Easton, past large tracts of farmland once worked by slave labor. I could imagine how those fields looked in the early 1800s and, as I tend to do, stopped along the way to paint and try to capture the mixture of darkness and light this land brought to mind.

Painting a soy field near Easton, MD.

DAY 2

The next morning I continued south to the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center and the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge near Cambridge, Maryland. It was too early for the Tubman Center to be open, so I started by taking the scenic “wildlife drive” in the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, making frequent stops to sketch and note locations for future paintings.

Bald eagles in the tallest trees overlooking the marsh

The marshes were colorful with shades of gold and green. The sound of the crickets and smells of pine needles and salt air were ever-present.

Great blue heron with Visitor's Center in the distance

I noticed several places where the water was right up to the edge of the road or covering the road and I learned that due to climate change it is likely this place will be covered by the Chesapeake Bay in the next few decades.

The wildlife drive ended at the entrance to the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center where voice recordings, films, photographs, objects and music told the story of Tubman’s life.

Entrance to Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center

In one particularly memorable room the walls had changing images that surrounded the visitors from floor to ceiling, accompanied by voices and traditional spirituals. The images were a striking juxtaposition of the horror of slavery and the beauty of nature. Evidence of slavery (such as posters of slave auctions and ads for runaway slaves) alternated with forest scenes and marshes of the Eastern Shore.

The striking contrast between the violence of slave life and the beauty of the Eastern Shore was on my mind throughout my trip and reminded me of the mix of sadness and awe I feel when painting battlefields (such as Gettysburg and Manassas). There is a feeling of simultaneously being pulled down (by the reality of slavery, war, and climate change) and uplifted by the beauty of the landscapes. When I paint I enter into a state of peaceful meditation and creativity, also referred to as "flow," that allows me to face all of it.

Seeking a place to paint and a bit of uplift and flow, I next drove the few miles to Tubman’s birthplace, nervously crossing roads covered by water. The road from the Tubman Museum to the Tubman birthplace gets more and more impassable every year with rising tides (due to climate change).

I found a historical marker indicating the land where Tubman was born and enslaved. No original structures remain but the land is still being farmed so you can imagine what it looked like when she lived here.

Next, I drove on to the nearby Buckhorn Village Store where a key event in Tubman’s life took place. At the age of 12 or 13, an overseer threw an iron weight (at another slave) striking Tubman in the head and knocking her unconscious for several days. She suffered from severe headaches, narcolepsy, and seizures throughout her life yet risked her life repeatedly to lead many slaves to freedom. In addition to her work on the Underground Railroad, she was a scout in the Civil War and a famous public speaker.  

I was surprised there was no fence around the store, no guard, and no staff (at least not during this time of year). If you didn’t know what happened here you wouldn’t learn about it by visiting the site. It was also eerie to see Trump election signs on properties surrounding the store.

It seemed important to capture the Buckhorn Village Store in a painting as a way to honor Tubman's story and preserve this place, so I put aside my worries and spent the rest of the day observing and painting.

Work in progress, the Buckhorn Village Store.

DAY 3

This morning started with a drive along country roads to see one of the oldest churches in the country, the Old Trinity Church, about 350 years old. The surrounding farmland was planted in corn tall enough to hide the church from the road adding to the mystery of this place. I also discovered the church has a dock with views of the Little Choptank River and hope to return to paint here someday.

Quick sketch of gravestones and Old Trinity Church

Next, I continued driving south to the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge to paint for the rest of the day. 

Painting the wetlands along the Blackwater River. A great blue heron was standing in the reeds in front of me when I arrived, but quickly flew off.

Painting in the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

DAY 4

Morning:

The day started with a walking tour organized by the St. Michaels Historical Society and led by guide Jeffrey McGuiness. McGuiness has published a stunning photography book Bear Me into Freedom and is working on organizing an exhibit about Douglass.

We received a map showing important Douglass sites in Talbot County, then walked in downtown St. Michaels where we saw the location of the Thomas Ault store and Ault’s sister’s home where Douglass returned to see Thomas Ault (former master) when Ault was approaching death.

Tour guide, Jeffrey McGuiness

After the walking tour and using the map of Douglass sites, I drove east from St. Michaels to find the Covey Farm where Douglass was sent by Ault as a punishment when enslaved. I pulled up in front of the little church that faces the Covey farmland and imagined Douglass laboring in those fields. Again, as I stood looking at the blue sky and Chesapeake Bay behind the fields, my mind tried to reconcile this beauty with the cruelty that took place here.

The Covey farmland seen from the road

Afternoon:

I drove to the public landing at Easton Point. Douglass arrived here as a free man from Baltimore in 1878.  This was also a port where slave traders sold people into even more brutal conditions in the deep south, often separating families for financial gain. Despite being a beautiful location, I had no desire to paint it.

I next visited the Easton Historical Society’s Museum located in a white house along the main street in Easton. Inside I found photos and descriptions of nearby AME churches and their leaders. I then walked to see the Bethel AME church that Douglass dedicated in 1878.

White house on left - Easton Historical Society Museum

Before leaving Easton, I sketched the gardens of the historical society and the impressive statue of Douglass in front of the Talbot County Courthouse.

Quick sketch of the statue of Frederick Douglass

Gardens of the Easton Historical Society, 15 minute sketch

My last stop of the trip was a bit by happenstance. A few days before I had noticed a dirt lane lined on both sides with impressive tall trees and was curious about where it led. So today I turned onto the lane and at the end of it I found a humble wooden building that I discovered was a Quaker Meeting House, the oldest surviving Friends meeting house in the United States. A sign next to the door welcomed visitors and the door was unlocked. Inside I found a deep feeling of peace and a quiet place to contemplate all I had seen on this trip.

Quaker Meeting House, Talbot County, MD, 1682. 10 minute sketch

I plan to return to the Eastern Shore to deepen my understanding of its history. I'd like to visit the Wye House on the Lloyd Plantation, the Tubman mural and museum in downtown Cambridge, and more of the churches on the underground railway. I would be grateful for any suggestions you might have of additional places I should visit or paint (please add your thoughts in the comments below).

Thank you to my neighbor, Kerry Walters, for giving me a copy of his book, Harriett Tubman: A Life in American History, upon my return from this trip.