Behind the Scene
Have you ever thought about the countless hours of work that goes into things we many take for granted?
I was painting on the shores of a small oyster pond when a fisherman rowed up to my easel. I asked him " what's in your bucket". He said, '"Clams... it's been a LONG day...I have been in the water for four hours...my catch today is about 200 littlenecks". He continued to explain that he was going to sell them to an area restaurant for about 22 cents each. I was so moved by this conversation with the fisherman, I knew I had to paint this moment.
What really spoke to me in this moment was the hard work of fisherman. He seemed extremely tired after a long day of fishing. I wanted to bring attention to the shadows on his arms and legs, showing the heaviness of the bucket and the act of pulling his catch out of the boat. I love painting the reflection in the water and the crystal clear water in the Oyster Pond that morning. What became exciting to me while I was painting was the movement of the water in the foreground, contrasting with the stillness of the fisherman in the middle ground.
In someway, this fisherman reminded me of any hard working profession, in which there are tons of hours behind the scene that appear seamless to the public. Do you work in a profession of a product or service that has enormous hours, that is sometimes taken for granted or appear seamless to the general public?
