Tillamook Rock Light #1

This is an original oil painting on canvas of the Tillamook Rock Ligthouse, about a mile off the coast of Cannon Beach Oregon. I somewhat knew the ... more

by Lynne Wright

Original - Not For Sale

Price

Not Specified

Dimensions

40.000 x 30.000 x 1.000 inches

Title

Tillamook Rock Light #1

Artist

Lynne Wright

Medium

Painting - Oil On Canvas

Description

This is an original oil painting on canvas of the Tillamook Rock Ligthouse, about a mile off the coast of Cannon Beach Oregon. I somewhat knew the history of Tilly, but was unsure of the setting of the building on the rock. I was doing this long before I had a computer to feed me all the information I could ask for, but I did find a couple of black and white pictures, and went from there.
There are a lot of stories to be told about Tilly, and among those stories is a fair bit of tragedy. Even though so close to the coast itself, Tilly is constantly attacked by some of the worst weather imaginable, and it is said that it is one of the worst places in the world, weatherwise, for a lighthouse. In 1879, there were plans being made to build the lighthouse out on the point of the rock. The local folks wanted no part of it, thinking it to be a total waste of time and money, and no one of the locals would even hire on to work on it. Undeterred, the builders brought in crews from other areas, that did not know of the reluctance of the locals, or the prospective dangers involved, and kept them hidden, so that the locals would not scare them off.
It was not uncommon for gale force winds to cause the surf to break completely over the rock. On a September morning of 1879, a gentleman from Portland, who was a master mason, and experienced in building in questionable surroundings, was placed on the rock to survey it, and see if it would be able to be used as a lighthouse. As he was climbing up the east side of the rock, massive winds and rough surf threw him from the rock, never to be seen again. Later, a four man crew was placed there to begin the work of leveling the high end of the rock, so the lighthouse could be built. Not too long after their arrival, a massive storm reared it's ugly head and washed away all of their water, tools, and supplies. It was not until six weeks later that a boat could get to them.
There are many more tales to be told of Tilly, including shipwrecks, ghosts, insanity, and more. Construction on Tilly began in 1879, and was completed more than two years later, in 1881. Terrible Tilly operated for 77 years, before being closed down and replaced by a warning buoy in 1957. Terrible Tilly proved to be the most expensive lighthouse to operate in all of America, as well as one of the most dangerous in the world.
Several years later, a private party bought the rock and lighthouse, gutted it, and turned it into a columbarium, called Eternity At Sea, and was to be used as an eternal resting place for thousands of urns of ashes from folks that had been cremated. There are only 30 or so urns there now, and the columbarium has not operated since 1991, having it's license revoked for not being up to required standards.
After finding out more of Tilly's history, and seeing some really exciting photos of her, I could not allow myself to portray her as a shell of what she once was, and being doomed to such a fate. Consequently, I painted the light as how it may have been in it's glory.
If a person does a search for Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, many interesting articles and photos can be found, especially one YouTube site that shows the waves crashing high above the highest point of the 133 foot above the water lighthouse.

Uploaded

March 19th, 2013