“Man of the Tides”, 18×24 inches, acrylic painting on canvas ©2015 M.Hendry
I never thought that, for me, it could start with a face.
That face comes from where the mountains meet the sea. Tidal pools are filled with the purple, green and orange creatures softly muted by pale winter light and cold water. The fog weighs heavily among the trees. The old man might be a spirit or an ancestor…
The face is drawn from an 120 year old historical photograph of a Tlingit indian man, photographed by Winter & Pond in Juneau, Alaska (now in the public domain). The old black and white photo had no distinguishable background and wrapped in a dark blanket, he seemed to carry so much history in each line on that face.
Tlingit means ‘people of the tides’. That inspired me to paint him in a foggy mountain forest background, with starfish and anemones that fill tidal pools of the Northwest coastal region. And the name of his people inspired the title.
He moved me. He told me a story I felt compelled to share. What does he tell you?
Moves me too, first for the image itself and all its glory and second for your growth and skill.
Thanks, Terry. It is a leap from previous work, isn’t it? I loved doing it.
I can’t even began to imagine what wonderful stories he could tell. probably lots of folk lore and stories about life 120+ years ago that I at least can’t even begin to imagine happening in this day and age
great colours and shading to his lined face 🙂
Thanks, Jennifer Rose! He looks like he was at least 80…
I missed this post while away by the sea, watching the tides.
Awesome, the tides of change, yes faces are compelling, we are tuned to read faces. Thinking of the passage of time, short on the scale of things, and so much has been lost already, and so much more to come.
I think you picked up on the mood of the piece, Ingrid… Beautiful sadness.
I’m having trouble leaving comments here, Michelle. This is my second attempt. I was trying to say: this painting is impressive. Although the subject matter is different, your strokes I can see still. Like the lines on the face and around the jaw. Remind me of your landscape paintings and the cliff. I remember in the movie The English Patient, someone says the lines of the woman’s body are like those sand dunes of the desert. The human figure transposed into landscape.
Thanks, Arti. That is quite an observation on many levels.
I’m not sure what the issue is. I know it has been slow at times. I’m wondering if the latest update is making things temperamental. Thanks for the head’s up.