For more than 20 years, the water subtly tugged at the artist's heart, in the same way the moon tugs the ocean . Finally, Pratt gave in to its magnetic pull and, along with her husband, permanently relocated to the cape in 1979. For better or worse, in bleak weather and in sun, Pratt was committed to more intimately exploring the cape in all its seasons. Certainly, settling on the cape would forever change the way Pratt painted. Not surprisingly, the artist, who had always painted with oils while living in a landlocked town in Middle America, changed her medium to watercolor.
Watercolor is freer, wilder.
When I put water to the paper, I don't know what it's going to do. It just goes, and some miracle happens. Pratt, an award-winning signature member of the Audubon Artists, New York City, who has illustrated a book on the history of Cape Cod, says her style has become more realistic since moving there. Having all this visual beauty around makes me want to paint it the way it is for everyone to see. Yet they are her own interpretations, colored with her own sense of the light, the magic, the feeling of the place.