Clipper ships

This painting I did more than 40 years ago when my husband and I were stationed at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. This is where I started painting in acrylics and teaching at their small art center on the base. I was fascinated with the old sailing ships. The folklore told of many battles and pirates in the cove, and I went snorkeling with the Marines to see shipwreck sites for myself. I did more research with my neighbor who took photos under water and explained how they would sail before the battles.

I began to paint the wind in sails, often two at a time when my girls took naps. Just graduated from ISU, I was free to paint what I wanted without being graded (my teachers thought I was a bit too free with the brush strokes). It was then that I began to feel the freedom of being a painter.

Many thanks to Judy for sending me this photo, sharing memories and catching me up on her life and family. She and her husband commissioned the painting while they were also at the base. I learned that Judy has extensively studied the beautiful Japanese floral art of ikebana, has taught classes in it and now participates in her local chapter of Ikebana International.

(See previously: Ocean memories)