Today the Sea is Calm

Paintings in Installation:
Beach and Marshland (first on Left)
Oil on canvas
14” x 11”

Today the Sea is Calm (middle)
Oil on canvas
36” x 48”

The Gurnet (top Right)
Oil on canvas
14” x 11”

Tending the Oyster Beds
Oil on canvas
14” x 11”

Mother and Child
Oil on canvas
14” x 11”

Pearl Necklace #2
Oil on canvas
14” x 11”

This is an installation of paintings I made from aerial photos I took flying over the South Shore of MA., showing the fragility of our coastline.

The sea is calm today, but what happens to those houses at the shoreline when the wind blows? There is nothing to stop the wind from there to France. What happens during King tides and shifting sand? These paintings contemplate all this with an examination of the housing along the coastline and wetlands; a boat tending the oyster beds, a “pearl necklace” of recreational boats on the North River, and the Gurnet at Duxbury Beach.

The third panel down shows a mother and baby North Atlantic Right Whale swimming. I saw this article in the Boston Globe (02/10/20) and the photograph is courtesy of NOAA. The pilot and photographer had been keeping an eye on the mother and child, who was injured. They never saw the child again, and it is presumed dead from a propeller strike. These whales are severely endangered because of our shipping, fishing, and disposal practices.

We can see. We can makes choices.