Maine artist Carol Douglas has painted Owls Head Lighthouse and its beautiful setting many times over the years, but this year she embarked on a new idea. Douglas endeavored to paint a special holiday scene of the popular beacon to benefit the American Lighthouse Foundation. Headquartered at Owls Head Lighthouse, the American Lighthouse Foundation is a nonprofit lighthouse preservation organization caring for 16 lighthouses.

An accomplished painter and teacher, Douglas created a heartwarming winter image of Owls Head Lighthouse with its lantern aglow and Santa flying by in his sleigh, according to the American Lighthouse Foundation, in a news release. She even sprinkled in a local schooner, the American Eagle, amidst the children’s toys on the stairs.

“Lighthouses are benevolent symbols of our coastline whose guiding beams have safeguarded countless people over the past two centuries,” said Bob Trapani, Jr., executive director of the American Lighthouse Foundation. “This heartwarming heritage of keeping a good light is at perfect harmony with the spirit of Christmastime. Artist Carol Douglas has captured the essence of these two beloved traditions in a most profound manner. Her beautiful Owls Head artwork on this Christmas card celebrates the season of light in a unique way that people will be excited to share with others.”

Carol Douglas paints and teaches in Rockport. She has taught workshops in Maine, New Mexico, and New York. Her work has been shown in galleries across the United States. Her annual workshop at Schoodic Institute in Acadia National Park is well attended, according to the ALF, and she teaches two watercolor plein air workshops annually aboard the historic schooner American Eagle. Her daily blog, Watch Me Paint, is ranked one of the Top 75 Art Blogs (number 7) by Feedspot, according to ALF.

Douglas studied with Nicki Orbach, Cornelia Foss, and Joseph Peller at the Art Students League of New York. In 2016, Douglas traveled 10,000 miles across Alaska and Canada over five weeks; time to paint in the northern backwoods. She has painted in Scotland, Australia, Argentina and elsewhere.

She is represented by Camden Falls Gallery, in Camden, and Folly Cove Gallery, in Rockport, Massachusetts. She is a member of the Maine Arts Commission and a former chair of New York Plein Air Painters.

Boxed sets of this Christmas card featuring her painting, “A Christmas at Owls Head Lighthouse” are now available from the American Lighthouse Foundation. Cards measure 5” x 7” and come boxed with envelopes. Each boxed set contains 12 cards and envelopes for a cost of $15 and may be purchased at the Owls Head Lighthouse gift shop or online at shoplighthousefoundation.org.