Approaching Tutuila captures a moment of silence and hope on the open ocean. The sharp horizon and tiny island ground the graphic foreground to reality.

Under the soft, overcast sky of voluminous white and grey clouds, the Pacific Ocean is a mirror. The rhythmic, almost hypnotic quality of the sea’s surface undulated in a pattern of interlocking, concentric circles creating a sense of perpetual motion. The phenomenon happens on relatively calm days when the surface is free of wind, with only gentle waves moving the ocean.

Even though the island is in view, little wind means an island is at least half a day away by sail. Crossing an ocean on small sailboat required endless patience and a penchant for solitude. I sailed from San Francisco to New Zealand on a 40′ boat and witnessed this phenomenon multiple times. I remember them as ‘blue donut days’ they were so very fine.

Bridging the gap between realism and abstraction, the focal point, a tiny maritime landscape, is lost in a sea of stylized, graphic fluidity. Utilizing a full range of blues, from deep navy to cobalt to pale cerulean with translucent whites the patterns mimic the optical distortion one experiences when looking directly at a subject in constant motion. Soft clouds convey the atmospheric haze of a steamy South Pacific sky near the equator, imbuing the painting with a sense of peace, the mystery of landfall and the vastness of the journey.

Prints are available from the original photograph of the painting. Unfortunately the original painting succumbed to the ravages of the equatorial climate over the years in American Samoa where the painting was created and sold to a friend. It was not in a climate controlled home, but displayed under an eve on an outdoor poolside wall, which speaks to the longevity of paintings on canvas in hot, humid environments. I witnessed what happened over fifteen years. Termites ate the stretcher bars, geckos laid eggs in the safe confine of the back of the painting, the varnish clumped, bled and streaked and cockroaches chewed trails in the cotton canvas.

Fortunately I had taken decent photographs and with a little help from Photoshop the painting is available as prints.

Tutuila is the main island in the small chain of islands that form the United States Territory of American Samoa that lies just south of the equator in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It’s an amazing place, well worth visiting with a vibrant, unique culture.