kelp
acrylic on canvas
12x12"

original artwork: SOLD
reproductions starting at: $ 28

The story behind the artwork

When I was in New Zealand I saw enormous kelp that was thick like rope. It would wash up on the beaches and lay in huge tangled piles like remnants of a shipwreck. In the water along the rocky coastlines it would sway to and fro in the waves appearing like the hair of mysterious mermaids hovering below the surface. I was especially struck by the dark color and how it seemed iridescent at times, revealing shifting shades of green, brown and blue within its inky darkness.

I began this painting in 2006 but did not complete it until 2009. It was an unfinished thought lying in my studio for three years. I have varnished the kelp heavily and the background remains a matte black to express a sense of wetness.