The Front Line 16″ x 20″ Acrylic on Canvas

The Front Line is a view of some of the fishing boats along the Morehead City waterfront. When I see them from the waterfront, they give me a sense of a brave and high-spirited fleet – dashing and gallant warriors of the adventurous sea.

For me, this resonates all the more. I do not like to be at sea in anything less than a gigantic vessel. (Of course, the Titanic certainly had her share of problems, too! But at least you did not have to endure endless hours of roller-coastering from point A to point B, while buckets of water are being thrown at you from all sides amidst lightning bolt side-shows!)

My brushes with “Mother Nature’s” wrath on the open waters have given me great respect for life jackets and for those who spend their livelihoods on the ocean. I imagine that it is not an easy life. I imagine the toils, tribulations, mountainous swells and stormy seas while trying to perform the simplest, as well as the more complicated of tasks. My imagination falls short of an inconceivable reality.

Certainly there is a flip side that affords the brave and daring a certain freedom – a freedom to roam, explore, experience  -  in a manner few can. I imagine sun-kissed days, glorious sunrises and sunsets, flying fish skimming the tops of sparkling waves,  icy storages filled to the hilt with bounty, and an awaiting beer among buddies while tales of tall adventures are shared.

These  – majestic vessels and her courageous souls -  forever retain an honorable slip in “The Front Line.”

Soon Available: Arts & Things Gallery, Morehead City, N.C.