seaside dreams

     I've been hard at it today; no rest for the wicked as they say.  Maybe that's why the ocean has been on my mind.  It's no secret that I love the ocean, the water, the smell of salt in the air, the cool breeze!  There's something about it that's so cleansing.  It's as if the salty air just attaches itself to any worries you may have and carries them off, out to sea.  There's just no more perfect place on Earth.  I hope someday to be able to live in close proximity to it again.  And Misty loves the ocean too.  Mind you, she prefers a warmer ocean, such as the one she enjoyed in Australia when she spent time there a few years ago.  She first fell in love with the country after watching Home and Away, an Aussie soap opera that aired briefly on Canadian television, back in the late 80's.  And now, thanks to the magic of the internet, she's got me hooked on it too!  Not the current episodes, of course, the classic ones, from the very beginning.  I think we're somewhere around 1989 in our viewing right now (almost to Frank and Roo's wedding, for those of you that know what I'm talking about).  In any event, our love for the ocean is the same, as is our desire to be close to it, the main difference, it seems, is in terms of the number of warm months we'd have to enjoy it.

​     All of that sun and surf and talking about the water has seeped into my brain and into my paint to help me create my latest piece, After A Morning Swim.  I'm very pleased with it.  When I look at it, I imagine the figure, the woman, sitting there, looking out the huge window at the ocean she just came out of. She's tired, but it's a good tired, a feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment. The morning air is still cool, and the boaters have woken up and have started taking to the water.  She got her swim in just in time, before they came out.  She likes the quiet, the solitude, the feeling of having the entire sea to herself.  But she also likes watching the boats while she sits, waiting for her coffee to finish brewing.  And once it's ready, she'll grab herself a cup, and maybe a book, and return to the window for a while longer.   Sounds just about right to me.

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