A Proposed Artist's Retreat to the New England Coastal Town
By Bruce Gregg
The New England coastal town is the perfect canvas for any artist. The raw imagery of rough, white waves crashing against the deep, dark mossy rocks along the seashore creates a chaotic whirlwind of nature. Rough winters, the promiscuous, potential presence of the occasional shark, a constant state of dampness and overall lack of vitamin C. Nevertheless, humans build towns made almost entirely of wood right directly beside it. These towns should be the ideal landing pad for any artist looking to create an amazing piece. The hardworking, gritty cast of industrial fishermen in The Perfect Storm, Casey Affleck’s Academy Award winning performance of Manchester by the Sea and Wes Anderson’s underrated 2012 classic of Moonrise Kingdom, just to name a few.
There are 3 pillars as to why the New England coastal town appeals to the artist: Coziness, Solitude, and of course, Aesthetic. A New England coastal town checks all three boxes. A rarer achievement than you may think. We will further inspect each pillar momentarily, but first, I’d just like to make myself clear with some examples. Take Albuquerque, New Mexico for example. Now, before going any further, I want to say that I mean this in no disrespect to Albuquerque or the amazing people of Albuquerque. Who knows, I might even go there one day. But for the time being, we will say Albuquerque checks the box of solitude, but lacks in the Aesthetics category. New York City, or as some of you sly folk may know it as “The Big Apple,” is perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing place in America. On a cold, windy December night, you sure as Hell will be getting cozy, but to achieve any level of solitude in New York City, you’d have to take a kayak out into the dead center of the Hudson River. Good luck getting any work done in the Hudson River. (Wet.) The only other place besides a New England coastal town that successfully checks the boxes of coziness, solitude and aesthetic is maybe the highlands of Scotland or the white cliffs of Dover, England. If you have the means to get there, go.
The aesthetics of a New England coastal town are second to none. Sure, opinions are objective, but this is a statement of fact. If your opinion differs, your opinion is wrong. In the upper echelon neighborhoods of Cape Cod or buildings of government, the architectural style of colonial revival is heavily embraced. Strong, square structures composed of deep red brick. The unique paneling and woodwork of the Tudor style of architecture brings an abstract yet classy England flare to New England, while the shingle style lays down the foundation of wood work, home-like coziness that we associate New England with today. This ocean-side, melting pot of architectural styles lives under the umbrella of strong, changing seasons, each with their own characteristics and elements to adore. Fall brings the Gilmore Girls level foliage, Winter brings the multiple feet of white powder reminiscent of every goated holiday movie, Spring brings the foliage decorated calm before the storm that is Summer, when tourists crowd the beaches with fireworks and beach towels.
The aesthetically pleasing terrain of Cape Cod allows every emotion to be conveyed through an artist’s work. The home of a character reflects who they are. The wide variety of homes throughout the coastal town organically develops a unique cast of characters, while flawlessly blending them through a handshake of community. The changing of seasons allows the audience to understand the passage of time, as well as the woes or joys that come along with it. A character shotgunning a beer on the beach in mid-July is a joyful activity. A character walking through a sludge, gray snow ridden street with a beer in hand, bundled up to their core in the dead cold of February is probably not having as much of a fun time.
The New England coastal town is beside the sea, obviously. The constant backdrop of the ocean brings a yin-yang-like element of solitude and opportunity. One man may view the ocean as a representation of absolute solitude. A massive, seemingly endless divider from themselves and society by Mother Nature. A man standing next to him may feel as if the ocean was Mother Nature’s red carpet, welcoming visitors from all over the world to dock up and connect. The versatility of the ocean is powerful. There is an unspoken respect for the ocean as any boat or contraption built by man can be capsized in moments. Even boats that claimed to be unsinkable. Personally, I would never board a ship if the main advertisement of the boat was its inability to sink. I feel like that should be the first box to be checked. If I was about to board a plane,but then right before the pilot announced to everybody “Guys, by the way, this thing is uncrashable,” I’d stand up like the guy from that Norman Rockwell painting and say “why would you even bring that up.” Now of course, this tangent is to emphasize the power of the ocean as a backdrop for an artistic piece. The presence of the ocean’s aforementioned yin-yang-element of solitude and opportunity signifies that a character is living their lives at maximum capacity. High highs and low lows. Hot Summers and cold Winters. Deep sadness and elated happiness. Thanks, Ocean.
In my last piece for Gut Instinct, I touched on the relationship between artists and chefs. Now I’m speaking on the relationship between artists and the New England Coastal Town. If it is alright with you all, and I sure hope it is, I’d love to bridge the gap here with one of my personal biggest inspirations of all time, the late, forever inspiring Anthony Bourdain, celebrity author, chef and TV personality. In the earlier half of his debut novel, Kitchen Confidential, Bourdain speaks about his beginnings as a line cook in a New England Coastal Town. The culture of it all, how the top dog chefs that sling out 400 orders a night would be the local celebrities of the post-shift pub, bragging up and down the streets over how much fish they sold to tourists visiting from inland. This culture, this ecosystem, this society that Bourdain touched on was the inspiration for this very article, and any chance I get to pay my respects to my favorite TV personality/author/writer/cameo-fulfiller-of-the-2025-film-The-Big-Short will be fully taken advantage of and fulfilled.
The culture, coziness, solitude, opportunity, versatility and aesthetic of the New England Small Town truly create the perfect setting for any artist’s piece, or retreat to conquer new creative endeavors. Now, can we please all give Manchester by the Sea the love it deserves.
