The Fisherman
A fisherman watches the sun rise from the north jetty at Delaware's Indian River Inlet
The Fisherman
by Ellen Rice
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I painted The Fisherman loosely interpreted from a print of an old 35mm photo I took during one of my countless walks on the beach early in my life as a single woman.
My late husband, young son and I had spent many sunny hours on the beach and in the surf on the north side of Indian River Inlet, the setting of this painting. My husband surfed, I read books and watched over my then young son as he fished in tidal pools with a plastic rod and brought me precious treasures... star fish, sand dollars, interesting looking stones and pieces of sea life, some with quite an aroma! The morning I saw this particular sunrise came 20 years later. Life had changed. Walking the beach helped me gain fresh perspective. I taped a copy of my photo from that morning to the wall of my studio to remind me that I wanted to paint it. Over time it became paint splattered from other painting endeavors and faded from exposure to the light coming in the sliding glass doors on the north wall by my easel. It didn’t have a lot of fine detail and the colors were a bit off, but it still drew me. The beauty shone through and now living by the shore I had the real setting to refer to as I worked. 
What kept pulling me back to this image was a question.
I wondered what thoughts Jesus had when he viewed beautiful scenes like this? Did the fisher of men breathe deeply and take in the majesty of his surroundings, feel closer to his Father? I know I do, and it’s this feeling of awe and wonder that I wish for viewers of my painting. More than 2000 brushstrokes went into painting The Fisherman over a two-year period. I wanted it to feel like the water was moving and I wanted it to glow from any viewing angle and in any lighting. I worked on it, then would put it away, then work again, over and over until the right feeling came over me when I looked at it. The last thing I added was the fisherman. When I look at this painting, I wonder how the fisherman on the jetty must feel looking out to sea while witnessing such beauty and peace. And again I wonder what a man who changed the course of the world’s history felt watching the sun rise on distant shorelines more than 2,000 years ago. I hope you enjoy my painting of The Fisherman. -- Ellen |
