I painted this shrimp boat in preparation for my show at G Lee Gallery, ArtWalk in October. A bit about this painting… I have been holding on to the reference photograph for 13 years. It was taken by my brother Mike (RIP) before 911 changed the access to our harbors. When Mike died, back in 2008, he left behind a huge reference library of photographs that he took mostly in Galveston, and West Virginia. This is one of those photographs and thus my interpretation of the photograph. It was fun to paint the shrimp boat. They are fascinating to me. I am pulled to the functional beauty of the directional lines and masses of the outriggers, winches, nets, wires and lines. It is like painting a delicate dance requiring skill and imagination.
I have a gazillion of my own reference photographs of shrimp boats, but this one always gives me pause. The major influencer of the scene is the atmosphere. It is an overcast day with brilliant sunlight that is filtered through layers of clouds. The kind of day that you get badly sunburned after just 20-30 minutes outside. I tried to capture that sense of the overcast day bathing the resting boat. I would love to know how Mike would have painted the scene. I would love to know what he had in mind when he took the photograph.
I have mentioned my brother Mike several times before in my posts, but I don’t think that I have ever posted one of his paintings. This is one of his many renditions of the Galveston Trolley car. Both the Trollies and Mike were in their heyday back then. His work was displayed at Leslie Gallery down on Post Office. Of course Ike changed everything.
I would be remiss if I didn’t wish you and yours a Happy 4th of July—one of my favorite paintings in honor of our upcoming holiday. Be sure that you enjoy our countries’s birthday.
I am thrilled to report that Time Traveler has sold. I will continue to offer giclees through G Lee Gallery and my web page. Time Traveler, the Cruise ship/Elissa is the painting that is on the front of this email blog.
Take care everyone, have a wonderful 4th. Go to my web page www.tylerstudio.org to see my work. Love you all, let me hear from you. Susan
tymo221@gmail.com. 409-771-8371. www.tylerstudio.org
