Top Three Shots of 2007: #1

I realize that 2008 is almost over and i never did post my #1 favorite image from 2007.

So, just to get it out there......this was taken in July (2007) during a week with our friends in Bermuda. Kayce and I were tooling around on our scooters on a beautiful Saturday morning and came across ernest s. painting the roof of this house in pembroke parish, also known as the 'north shore'. i struck up a nice dialog with ernest and learned a little about him - he drives a cab on the island when the work is available, and he paints roofs to fill in the gaps. i emailed him a copy of this image and a couple of others that turned out nicely....but haven't heard back.

I love the way the white of the roof and ernest's clothes blend in with the clouds, and the blue house with the sky. it's almost as if he's painting in the clouds.

Melinda Hannigan

I've had the good fortune  become friends with Melinda Hannigan who in addition to being a wonderful person, is a an amazing - I repeat, amazing artist. She paints sections of big ships which as I've found in my work, provide infinite beautiful material: bleeding paint, rust spots and welds, faded symbols and miscellaneous scars and bruises they've acquired at ports all over the world.

Earlier this spring I was wandering Fishermen's Terminal as I'm prone to do, looking for some of this industrial beauty, when I saw the side of an old hull with some painted-over markings and new symbols immediately above the old that reminded me of Melinda's work. I snapped a few shots and later that week took a print to  her studio. I thought she would like it but wasn't prepared for the reception it received...and a few months later was bowled over when she said she had decided to paint it for her fall show in Seattle.

We visited her Studio again late this summer and were able to see the piece - "New Life" - almost completed. Then, this past week, Kayce and I stopped by the opening of her October show at the Fetherston Gallery in Seattle to see not only "New Life" in it's finshed form, but many other beautiful pieces Melinda had been working on during the past year. If you have a chance to

 stop by the gallery during the month of October, I guarantee you will not be disappointed. The photographs of Melinda's work don't do it justice - you have to see the texture up close, the seams, the rust, the scars...and feel like you're looking at the a section of a ship that's been surgically removed and mounted in front of you. It's very nice stuff!

You can also read more about Melinda and see more of her work at www.melindahannigan.com