Puffins with Pride

When I was in Maine, I saw these Puffins. I remembered that they were restating them in Maine because in the 1800’s they had been all killed for women’s hats for high fashion. I know this to be true because I was a high fashion illustrator for Women Wear paper in New York city. Also Puffins had nested along the Maine coast on at least 6 island: Eastern Egg Rock, Western Egg Rock, Large Green Island, Matinicus Rock, Seal Island and Machias Seal Island. By the early 1900’s, there were only one pair of puffins left south of the Canadian border. That pair lived on Mantinicus Rock, a lonely pile of rocks 22 miles off the coast in Penobscot Bay. After Matinicus Rock’s lighthouse keepers began protecting the puffins from hunter, the puffins began to come back and there are now about 150 pairs that next there.  Puffins had always remained on Machias Seal Island on Canadian border which today supports a breeding colony of over 1100 pairs of puffins. I was moved by the contrast of their white breasts against rough rocks. The yellow of their bills, the sea foam, and blue of the sky create a very nice color design. Original Size: 30 x 36 inches Medium: Acrylic on canvas