Description

The Light Shines On by P. Buckley Moss

Introduction

The Light Shines On by P. Buckley Moss honors the historic New Point Comfort Lighthouse in Mathews County, Virginia. Created as a limited-edition giclée in 2021, the work places the tall white lighthouse at the center of a quiet coastal landscape, surrounded by water, marsh grasses, rocky shoreline, and birds overhead.

Moss uses a restrained palette of sea-glass blue, soft gray, white, and sandy earth tones to give the scene an atmosphere suited to this enduring Chesapeake landmark. The lighthouse rises almost alone against the open sky—a structure whose history is inseparable from navigation, water, and the changing Virginia shoreline.

Story Behind the Artwork

Canada Goose Gallery’s product information specifically states that The Light Shines On was created in honor of the New Point Lighthouse of Mathews, Virginia. The historic structure is more formally known as New Point Comfort Lighthouse.

This is an important distinction because the lighthouse is not simply a generic coastal subject. Virginia’s Department of Historic Resources documents that New Point Comfort had been an important navigational reference since the 17th century. Congress appropriated money for a permanent lighthouse in 1801, and Mathews County builder Elzy Burroughs completed the sandstone structure in 1805.

Moss’s composition emphasizes the lighthouse’s isolation. The tower stands on a tiny piece of land surrounded by water—an appearance that reflects an extraordinary part of its actual history.

Symbols & Meaning

Lighthouses have long carried associations with guidance, steadfastness, safety, and light in uncertain conditions because their practical purpose was to warn and guide mariners.

Those associations fit naturally with the title The Light Shines On, but they should not be presented as a documented explanation of Moss’s intention unless an artist statement becomes available.

The visible birds, water, grasses, and shoreline also place the man-made landmark within a larger natural environment. Rather than separating architecture from landscape, Moss allows both to define the scene.

Artistic Details

Moss establishes the lighthouse as the unmistakable focal point through verticality and isolation. Its pale tower rises through the center of an otherwise predominantly horizontal composition.

Water stretches across the lower portion of the image while a distant horizon divides water from sky. Tall, fine grasses in the foreground introduce warmer gold and tan lines, adding depth and preventing the coastal palette from becoming uniformly cool.

The dark lantern structure at the top of the lighthouse creates a strong visual endpoint. Small windows punctuate the white tower below, while rocks and vegetation break up its base.

Birds appear only as subtle silhouettes in the pale sky. They add movement without competing with the architectural subject.

Featured Master Collections

Primary Master Collection: Historic Places & Landmarks

This is the strongest collection placement because the artwork depicts an identified historic Virginia lighthouse rather than an imagined coastal structure. New Point Comfort Lighthouse was listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register in 1972 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

Supporting Master Collection: Virginia & Shenandoah

The documented Mathews County location makes this a strong Virginia collecting subject, especially for collectors interested in Moss works tied to identifiable places within the Commonwealth.

Decorating Ideas

The quiet blue-gray, cream, sand, and muted green palette makes The Light Shines On particularly well suited to Coastal, Traditional, Cottage, Transitional, and Collected Home interiors.

Consider it for a study, bedroom, entry, waterfront home, reading area, or grouping devoted to lighthouses and maritime history. Its nearly square 6⅞ × 7¾-inch image is compact enough to combine easily with other Moss lighthouse prints.

Rather than limiting it to overtly nautical décor, its restrained colors also allow it to work as a small historic landscape in a traditional collection.

Gift Ideas

The Light Shines On offers especially meaningful possibilities for someone with connections to Mathews County, Virginia, the Chesapeake Bay, boating, maritime history, or lighthouse preservation.

It can also make a thoughtful gift for lighthouse enthusiasts and collectors who enjoy Moss’s depictions of recognizable American landmarks.

About the Edition

The Light Shines On was issued in 2021 as a limited, numbered giclée on paper.

Image size: 6⅞ × 7¾ inches
Condition: New, mint condition
Certificate of Authenticity: Included
Subject: New Point Comfort Lighthouse, Mathews County, Virginia

The numbered edition size and Artist’s Proof quantity were not included in the supplied product information and should be added only after verification.

🎨 Fun Fact:

New Point Comfort Lighthouse did not begin life on an island. When the sandstone lighthouse was completed in 1805, it stood on the end of a peninsula at the southern tip of Mathews County. Over time, changing currents and shoreline erosion separated the lighthouse from the mainland, leaving the historic tower isolated on a tiny island—the remarkable setting we associate with it today. The lighthouse served navigation until 1963, and Virginia now preserves it as a historic landmark and daytime reference for passing boats.

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🖼️ Collector’s Insight:

What distinguishes The Light Shines On is the relationship between Moss’s composition and the documented history of its subject. The lighthouse’s solitary position in the artwork is not merely picturesque: New Point Comfort really was separated from its original peninsula as the surrounding shoreline changed. Moss places the pale tower firmly at the center while water, marsh grasses, birds, and an expansive sky emphasize its exposed coastal setting. For collectors of Moss’s historic places, Virginia subjects, or lighthouses, the work offers a particularly strong combination of recognizable architecture, regional history, and quiet Chesapeake atmosphere.

Continue Exploring

Follow the coast through more P. Buckley Moss lighthouse art. From Virginia’s historic waterways to other distinctive American lights, discover:

• Morning At Boca Grande Light – specifically classified as Geese, Lighthouse, Historic Landmark
• Plymouth
• Pointe aux Barques Lighthouse – classified as Lighthouse, Historic Landmark, American Flag.
• Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse – classified as Lighthouse, Historic Landmark, American Flag
• Round Island Lighthouse
• St. Helena Lighthouse
• Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse – classified as Lighthouse, Historic Landmark, American Flag
• Ol’ Salty

Gift Item : The Light Shines On Trivet, an open-edition ceramic gift item classified under Lighthouse, Nature, and Places.

Suggested Categories & Subject:

• P. Buckley Moss Fine Art Prints
• Lighthouses
• Historic Landmarks & Places
• Virginia
• Water

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In honor of the New Point Lighthouse of Mathews Va.

 “The shoreline changed. The landmark endured.”