My love of lighthouses has not only transformed the way I travel, but the way I live. When I am not traveling to a lighthouse, I am often writing about or painting lighthouses. I’ve painted lighthouses in Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Massachusetts, New Orleans, New York, London and Ireland. I am intrigued by the many varieties and designs of lighthouses. My favorite memories are of Lightship 95 in London. It is converted into music studio. Another favorite is the abandoned Milneburg Lighthouse on the campus of New Orleans University. In these paintings, I capture their eternal essence—undaunted by time and circumstance.
I am drawn to lighthouses because of their noble past and precarious future. For centuries lighthouses have faithfully served as guardians of the sea. Now the past and the present are merging as lighthouses once again become drivers of the economy. Lighthouses are popular tourist destinations. Business owners complained when Port Isabel Lighthouse in Texas was temporarily closed. Lighthouses are worthy of preservation for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations. Because of my firm belief in the importance of lighthouses, I have created a family lighthouse workshop. I hope my lighthouse workshop and paintings will inspire others to visit, love and appreciate lighthouses as much as I do.
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U.S. Lighthouse Society News is produced by the U.S. Lighthouse Society to support lighthouse preservation, history, education and research. Please join the U.S. Lighthouse Society if you are not already a member. If you have items of interest to the lighthouse community and its supporters, please email them to candace@uslhs.org.
Candace was the US Lighthouse Society historian from 2016 until she passed away in August 2018. For 30 years, her work involved lighthouse history. She worked with the National Park Service and the Council of American Maritime Museums. She was a noted author and was considered the most knowledgable person on lighthouse information at the National Archives. Books by Candace Clifford include: Women who Kept the Lights: a History of Thirty-eight Female Lighthouse Keepers , Mind the Light Katie, and Maine Lighthouses, Documentation of their Past.