“Sailing”
B10-0231 February 2010
3″ Angle decorated frame. Powder-coated with lots of color.
Size – 15.5″ x 19.5″ Overall Size – 21.5″ x 25.5″
“Sailing” started almost a year ago at the 2009 Fred Hall fishing show in the Long Beach Convention Center. I do the FH Fishing Show as a throwback to the days when I built fishing rod blanks for a living. I love the location, atmosphere, and people. (I also have friends, Wade and Suzie, who let me crash on their sofa.)
During the show, a Hollywood stuntman, Mr. Diamond, strolled by my booth and stopped to take a look. As always, I engaged the “customer” in conversation. Through the small talk, I realized I had watched his Dad for years on the big screen and had also seen some of Diamond’s own work as a stuntman, the unsung heroes of Hollywood.
Although there is no logic, when you meet someone with ties to the big screen you feel an instant kinship. With Diamond, he was also instantly likeable. While we were talking and he was looking at “Sail for the sunsets…” he mentioned the outline of a picture he would like to see. The artwork would have a boat with a tower, fish underneath, and a fish “on”. Well I thought if I could make this, who knows, maybe he would buy it, if not, it will still make a great piece of art. He went away and I moved on.
Well time slides away and rolls on like the waves crashing the beach in Cabo San Lucas. The scene is the same but different. As the new year started I knew I wanted to have this picture ready for the 2010 FH Fishing Show. “Sailing” emerged from the following sea.
The truth is I couldn’t have made the piece last year. Not like this, my talent, although good, hadn’t had an epiphany. The light truly brightened when I made “Grapes Today…”. With the emerging talent, I developed new courage and decided to “go-for-broke”. This piece of art has extensive color with all the fish being painted and set in a frame designed to be a little askew to the world around it.
If you love “Sailing” whether it involves fish or not you just might like to take my version with you. It is a reminder of the great moments that combine to leave us with a memorable day.
