A Painting?

The picture above is of my most recent work – “Reefing Before the Blow.”

Yesterday was my first opportunity to display it for the public. There was a lot of interest in it, so I don’t think it will be hanging on my wall for too long.

But something interesting was going on with the viewers. More than a few were fooled by the carving and assemblage method into thinking it was a painting with depth rather than an assemblage carving incorporating depth. When they got closer, they saw that the hull, sails, and ocean were distinct. And the weather in the background was acrylic washes.

The photo below offers a perspective view:

The new approach was brought on by a convergence of two things: accident and tradition. I’ve been working in the tradition of 19th-century sailors making diorama-like portraits of their ships for some time. The accident part of it came when I botched a part of a schooner carving. It sat for about a month in the shop while I cogitated on possible remedies. I eventually decided to go entirely into the 19th century, cut it apart, and make an assemblage of it. Knowing that I had already goofed made it easier for me to do things like the layer water lines, paint a storm in the background, and show the sails in the process of being reefed quickly.

Where this technique will lead me remains to be seen. But it will be fun.