Nantucket ll Painting

Take Home The Ocean. I have been fortunate to have lived along the east coast my entire life. I grew up along the Jersey Shore spending my time between Red Bank and South Mantoloking. I've spent the last 25 years enjoying the Outer Banks of North Carolina. I’ve always had the ocean a few minutes or a few miles away. I remember meeting people who would say it was their first time to a beach or that they can only get to the shore once a year. And the only thing they would take with them, as a reminder of their trip, was a t-shirt or a car decal. I thought wouldn’t it be amazing if you could take home the ocean? Ocean Water and Ink. So I began working with alcohol ink, which is a very fluid and unpredictable medium. I feel that alcohol ink has many of the ocean's characteristics and by adding ocean water directly into the ink, it allows me to actually paint with the ocean. In the beginning I received ocean water from friends and world travelers who would collect water during their adventures, send it to me and I would then create an artwork with that water they would send. Today I create custom artworks for people all over the world with water they have sent to me from a place that is meaningful to them. I recently completed a 10-piece commission for a destination wedding in Antigua. The newlyweds sent water from the beach at their wedding location and requested 10 original artworks to give to their friends and family in their wedding party as a gift. Own The Ocean. This is how I give people the opportunity to "own the ocean" and take home a beautiful and uniquely personal artwork made with water from their very special place. The stories that people share with me when they send water for a commission are so special and the art becomes an intimate part of them because they are physically contributing to their artwork by collecting and sending that water. People have a very strong connection to water and to travel. My desire is to create truly deep and transformative experiences through my artwork. I feel a very personal connection with those who participate with me in this creative process. It is very meaningful.