She treats them with such kindness and gratitude.

In a small Brazilian coastal town I painted two canvases for the foyer of the hotel I was staying at. Those artworks revealed an epic, spirited myth I titled THE FISHERMAN AND MERMAID’S TALE. In brief:

“A mermaid and fisherman fall in love at first sight, leading the mermaid to transform her tail into legs so she can walk the earth with her lover. They travel the world and have many adventures. In their 8th year together, he himself goes through gradual changes to miraculously transform into a dolphin; bringing them both back to the sea..”

Upon returning to Australia, in 2018 I staged a major solo show exploring and developing the story further through art.   Time spent in the countryside of Bellingen in 2020 inspired me to create INTO THE LUSH GREEN where I delved deeper into the days following the mermaid’s first steps on land. The town’s backdrop offered more details to the storyline:

“soon after the fisherman teaches her how to walk, she ventures alone into the forest, mountains and rivers surrounding the fisherman’s hut, to become acquainted with her new legs and feet…”

WASHING HER FEET IN THE RIVER is one of the artworks from this series. In this drawing the figure of the mermaid takes on the shapes of her environment. There is a tender even romantic feel to this image. The black ink, shapes and lines could easily morph into poetic words on paper.

The artwork FEET preceded this one, and it led me to imagine her standing up from where she was seated and walking her newly gained feet to find the nearest source of water.