Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Muddy Cove Dory


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"Muddy Cove Dory" (4x6") Oil on Wood.
I finished this small oil painting I'm calling "Muddy Cove Dory". I took a short drive along part of the Maine coast about two weeks ago, looking for something to paint and I almost got whip lash when I drove by this dory sitting in the mud in an Ogunquit, Maine cove. This is just the kind of imagery that excites me lately. The filth, the mud, the fog...sweet love.
I pulled the car over and glopped through the very wet and sticky mud out to this dory and immediately thought of a story that's haunted me for almost eight years. I watched a TV show that reenacted the real life tragedy of a young girl who died when her feet got stuck in some mud flats. She drowned when the water eventually returned to the cove where she was stuck. How horrifying. She was a newlywed. She and her husband were going across these mud flats in an ATV when it's rear wheels became trapped. They got out and tried to lift the wheels out, that's when she burrowed her own feet deep into the mud. The more she tried to loosen the grasp, the more it swallowed her. Her husband went for help as the water began to come into the cove ..emergency personnel arrived and tried all day to free her. They became more desperate as the water slowly rose. The emergency team almost became stuck themselves, it was a real nightmare. When the water rose to her chin they gave her a tube to put in her mouth and attempted to raise it out of the water like a snorkel. Her head eventually disappeared under water. This was Alaska. Even though it was summer, the water is frigid. The tube eventually popped up and eerily floated away. My God..The horror.

2 comments:

Cara said...

Oh my gosh - what a story.

Unknown said...

I love your blog. Your work is incredible.