Elemental Wonder

I have early childhood memories of being at the seashore, of taking evening walks with Grandpa Chase beside a sea wall along Long Island Sound in Connecticut, hearing the splash and whisper of waves, breathing in smells of tidal gurry, noticing shingled cottages with reflecting balls in their flower gardens across the street from the water, feeling rough stone against the backs of my legs while sitting on the sea wall savoring the sweet conversational attention of my grandpa.

The mystery and elemental wonder of the sea found its way into my heart back then when I was still losing baby teeth. And there it has stayed.

I have made my home just minutes from the Atlantic coast for decades now.

For the past two months, however, I've lived in Shenandoah Valley surrounded by vast stretches of open land bordered in every direction by mountains.

And yet, it is the saltwater of my soul that has been speaking through my hand and brushes in recent days as I've painted.

 A Poem Come from Silence
7 x 9"; acrylic, latex, collage, color sticks, and oil pastel on a book page
abstract seascape
2020