A Blood-Red Sea

blood red sea

A Blood-Red Sea

Living so close to and surrounded by the sea, one develops a relationship with it — probably not unlike the relationship desert dwellers have with the desert, or forest dwellers with the forest.

This awareness of place can help us be more attuned to messages from the world around us, and sometimes even feel its joys and pains.

 Category: A new image, Abstract, Inspiration, St. Croix      Tagged: , , ,

21 Comments on “A Blood-Red Sea”

  2. I could help but think of the Deep Horizon oil spill when I saw this. For me the image is full of foreboding and ill omens.

  3. very strong color/feeling in this, color so aptly defines the mood, thoughtful, somber, elegant. yellow sky and red sea, the sweep moving almost off the page, risky, yet it works so perfectly.

  5. Well, razzbuffnik, I was working on this during the final phases of the oil spill, although it wasn’t meant to be a direct commentary on it. Still, your reading of it as foreboding and full of ill omens is consistent with the feelings I had. Thanks!

  6. Thanks so much, tipota. Yes, I think the color and sweep of it carries the feeling. This is a combination of several photographs, almost a painting really, of a very familiar spot. We live just off the edge of the picture on the hill center-right and often walk on this beach. While there is nothing wrong with the blue-sky white-sand images of deserted beaches, that approach could not have spoken the language I was hearing here.

  7. I see a man’s face in that cloud … with a moustache … wondering what the hell is going on.

    I’ve never dwelt on deserts or desserts, but I could watch the ocean forever.

  8. planetross, you see more faces… then you say it, and sure enough there it is. And the ocean is forever.
    It’s hard to believe that with such an imagination, you’ve never dwelt on desserts; not even ice cream? Some people don’t just dwell on it. they are obsessed!
    Thanks for your comment!

  9. If you had titled this something else, my mind might not have taken me for a ride on the SS Foreboding.
    But living where we do and the news being as prominent as it’s been, it’s hard to not see how interconnected we all are.
    I think you could find inspired subjects inside a hat box. I like the way you’ve chosen to balance the dark of the sky in the corner, with the dark tide leading the eye up.
    And that almost golden glow of your color choice in the sky is another example of how well you use color.

  10. And what about us city dwellers with the city?

    That cloud looks heavy and claustrophobic. I can feel it’s weight. I really like the composition of this picture.

  11. Thanks Bonnie! So how was the ride on the SS Foreboding… ? It’s odd how some images just flow out. This one did over a period of a few days, with no steps backward; color is so much fun! And as a bit of trivia, this picture was taken while standing right in front of that casuarina tree in the last post! That tree must have drained all the blue out of the land and sea.

  12. Hi Carol. Interesting comment about the relationship of city dwellers with their City. It’s so true, that relationship is there, and one can learn to feel the city’s heartbeat and know her joys and pains as well as any other landscape. Perhaps better. Thanks!!

  15. Ok. This is my favorite all time DD. George Lukas might use it to demonstrate light leaning into darkness. Sabre fight, anyone? Honestly, this is wonderful.

  17. Beautiful! I agree I grew up by the ocean and found a lot of comfort and strength there. It’s been about almost 20 years wow since I have been to the ocean. I live next to a large mountain range and am in awe of the mountains like I was in love with the ocean. It’s definitely different more subtle I would say.

  18. I forgot to say the piece for me really pulled me in inviting. As if I wanted to go swimming into…. great clouds too.

  19. Hi Starla! Glad you like this and that it brought you back a bit to that time long ago when you lived by the sea. Sometimes I think the ocean and mountains are a bit like opposites, but each with their special power and meaning. Thanks!

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