Eric Hopkin’s America

A seven mile ride on a car ferry from Rockland across West Penobscot Bay chugs through the Fox Island Thoroughfare and docks at the one public wharf on North Haven island.  When he’s not road tripping across the American continent, legendary artist Eric Hopkins calls this quiet island of 350 residents his home. I visited Eric’s 14 acre homestead—with a rudimentary runway, a light-filled cottage for oil painting, a writing shack with a bed, and a watercolor studio with a kitchen—to document his artistic process and learn about his life and work. Eric’s art centers on how we experience and remember America’s wide-open natural spaces, often composed from snapshots taken while flying; it’s somehow both sweeping and intimate with a playful celebration of color that never takes itself too seriously.  North Haven—the island itself, its people, history, and seascapes—is a prominent if at times hidden character in the body of his work.  His imprint on the community is deeply felt, from the wharf gallery his brother manages to his artwork on display in the halls of the island’s only inn and restaurant.