Water Falls

Water falls, water’s carried. This is a painting that sold last year at my first solo show here on St Croix called Water Jug. Living on this rock in the midst of the Caribbean Sea, water is a preeminent factor in everyones’ life. We so take for granted that you turn on a faucet and water comes out on demand- as much as you want, and for as long as you want. Not here. Our water collects from the roof, from the rain that falls and gets funneled into cisterns located under the house. Think of them as 10,000 gallon fish tanks, but without the fish. It makes you realize that there is a finite quantity. Everyone here cheers and smiles when it rains. We love when the water falls!
The above photo is a place that’s little known here on the Northwest end of St Croix called affectionately ” The Baths “. Here, the water falls over the rocks into the tide pools on the other side of the sea. Crystal clear, no more than 8-9 feet at its’ deepest, calm and warm and mostly private. It’s a good 45 minute walk/hike to reach it and once you do, you feel transported into your own travelogue.

Kits, Kaboodles and Kritters

In a rare moment of St.Croix-nicity, the camera, camera person ( me ) and kitties were all in the same place at the same time and caught unawares.

And so in sleep mode they never heard the give-a-way whirring sound of the lens extending, thereby altering the cute-ness of their embrace!
If you have a pet that deserves more than a fleeting video moment that may appear on youtube and be forever forgotten, go to Judith Wolfe’s website.

They will never have looked so fetching!

And if you want to hear cats kvetching, listen to this:

Cultural Dance

 

So many dance forms, such clumsy feet. I leave the dancing to those who can do it or those I can paint. My next piece, shown here as a preliminary sketch, displays just one of so many musical expressions. Salsa, soca, hip-hop, Quelbe` read about this unique local music/dance identity at the C.H.A.N.T website: Crucian Heritage and Nature Tourism. While mentioning dance and a little known fact- St. Croix holds the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest Electric Slide dance contest. About 1,000 people participated. If I had been there, it would have been 999.

 

 

The Other Sisters

This is a commission piece I did for a client in New York based on a previous one that sold in a gallery here earlier this year. It’s a work in acrylic and is 11″X 14″.
Caribbean market places have long provided a sense of community and sharing that keep the culture vibrant and alive. Fruits, fresh off the trees become home made preserves, bottled with care in random jars left over from baby food, or store bought generic jellies. Sunrise summons the early birds to the market to get the best of what there is, as there is not an abundance. Baskets are carried almost effortlessly on heads, wrapped in brightly colored fabric. Plants are lovingly propagated and sold, spreading the flora throughout the villages and towns.
Living here, I’ve noticed how the backbone of the family is held together by the women. Their fierce determination, and tireless enterprise is seen in everything they do. I wanted to capture the sisterhood of market day. The correlation of food as sustenance and the element of nurturing that define Caribbean life is a thread that weaves through much of my work.

Crucian July

The spelling of what you call a resident of St Croix is not to be confused with the spelling of our most popular rum which is Cruzan. Therefore, Crucian is what we are known as.

Once a year, in summer, is the harvest of our most delicious fruit: the mango!

The urge to resist eating one as you’re picking it is as futile as not eating blueberries as you pull them off the bush.

What I’ve captured here is the impulse to taste the sweetness of this summertime fruit without the protocol of silverware. Just the essence of natures’ nectar.

Crucian July, pictured at left is an 11X14 work in acrylic and oil pastel, finished this past summer of 2007. This piece along with other representations of my work, will be shown here on St Croix at the Good Hope Art Show on February 15 through the 17th, 2008.

I’ll be showing more examples of my submissions to this show in upcoming entries here.