It seems that I have been having such longing the past two days since every painting has been at, near, or in the ocean. I suppose it isn’t surprising that an old land-locked sailor (after having spent two decades in the navy) would suffer occasional desires to smell the salty air once more.

 

Seashore copyright D Lewis 2008

 

In The Dunes copyright D Lewis 2008

 

Hammerhead copyright D Lewis 2008

This shark was supposed to have been a Dolphin (at the request of a five-year-old) but I convinced her that a shark would be more fun to paint. Since I was entertaining a child and feeling no overwhelming pressure to be accurate, I painted this from memory without checking any photos to see what a hammerhead really looked like. My most recent and only memory of a hammerhead was from twenty-five years ago when I saw one landed at the Navy pier in Exmouth, Western Australia. The fisherman used a logging-chain as a leader and the winch on his Rover as a reel. The bait was a whole chicken (no…not a live one). I recall that the hapless creature was about twelve feet long (although it had grown to nearly twenty feet the following day with the tenth telling of the tale). After photographs were taken the shark was released since the man lived on-base and didn’t think his division officer would approve of a smelly dead shark in his barrack’s room.  

Dunes copyright D Lewis 2008