Donald Diddams
The Art of Digital Art
The Baths at Wills Bay
Posted on June 26, 2009
The Baths at Wills Bay - 2009
The “baths” at remote Wills Bay on the northwest shore of St. Croix is essentially a large tidepool set among sharp jagged rocks. The water is clear and green and is refreshed periodically when a large ocean swell crashes into the rock barrier and splashes over into the pool. It’s a bit of a struggle to get there (unless you hire a jeep and guide), but is one of the magical spots on the island.
Beyond the Green Door
Posted on June 11, 2009
Beyond the Green Door - 2009
This is from the same series as the “Window to the Past” in the previous post. Here the brightly lit interior space draws the viewer in toward the green door with the little round window. It looks dark through there. I wonder what is on the other side?
Window to the Past
Posted on June 6, 2009
Abandoned - 2009
This window in an abandoned hurricane blow-out looked in on a tiled shower stall, with a green curtain still hanging — all lit from above through the missing roof. It is a strange feeling to come across these not-so-old ruins with reminders of the lives lived there still blowing in the breeze while the vines grow in.
A Flower in the Magic Forest
Posted on June 1, 2009
Cannonball tree flower -2009
The cannonball tree is named for its heavy round fruit that grows on gnarled stems attached to the tree’s trunk (see photo below). The flowers are beautifully complex and colorful, with hues of red, orange, yellow and white – almost a world unto themselves. You can see a second interpretation of this flower on my web site.
This tree is a specimen at the St. George Village Botanical Garden on St. Croix, home to many strange and wonderful tropical plants. And no, the fruits are not edible. In fact they stink when they fall and crack open.
Cannonball tree fruit
Along King Street in Frederiksted
Posted on May 25, 2009
Along King Street - 2009
A young woman was relaxing in the shade of an arched arcade along the main thoroughfare of Frederiksted on the west end of St. Croix. The colors of her clothes and the building, her white headscarf, and the classic arch of the building’s arcade made for an iconic image of this old and economically depressed town.
Rum Factory Pot Still
Posted on May 20, 2009
Pot Still - 2009
This is an old pot still used in the making of rum back in the nineteeth century. With its strange gooseneck this is a somewhat unusual-looking relic of the sugar-based argibusiness of the Caribbean’s past. The image is dark and muddy to reflect my feelings about that past and some of its effects on people that continue to be passed down through the generations, even today.
For a gorgeous oil painting of an ancient sugar mill, and a description of things that took place there, check the May 20th post from Bonnie Luria, St. Croix painter and fellow blogger. Honestly, we didn’t conspire to address the same subject on the same day!
Point Udall View to Buck Island
Posted on May 8, 2009
Buck Island View from Point Udall - 2009
Local tourism brochures advertise Point Udall on St. Croix as the easternmost point in the United States. The park and monument on Point Udall are on a high hill. This view looks back to the northwest along St. Croix’s north shore toward the iconic Buck Island in the distance. Although abstracted into a study in shape and color, the glowing attraction of the offshore landmark is still recognizable.
Colonial-era “Copper”
Posted on April 21, 2009
While enduring a stressful period in one of my other endeavors, it seemed a good time to work on what I hoped would be a peaceful landscape, a pretty picture. This was the result.
Copper - 2009
The object in the foreground is a colonial-era artifact known as a “copper”. These large iron containers were used to boil down the cane juice in the production of sugar during the sugar and slave-trade era in the Caribbean. So even this tranquil scene carries a mixed message from our past, and begs questions about the vestiges of that past that remain.
Digital Art Goes Back to the Beach
Posted on February 17, 2009
Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge is located at the southwest corner of St. Croix. It is a spectacular sweep of sand beach and Caribbean-blue water, and an important nesting site for the ancient-looking and endnagered leatherback turtle.
Sandy Point Peel - 2009
The leatherbacks come ashore well after dark to lay their eggs, and the baby turtles emerge from the sand just after dusk about 60 days later. Whether in the brilliant mid-day light, at dusk or on a moonlit night, the stark shapes and brilliant color fields of Sandy point are stunning.
(Contact the St. Croix Environmental Association for information on guided turtle-watch tours.)
Fort Christiansvaern, Take 2
Posted on February 14, 2009
Here’s a slightly different perspective on our old fort, all planes, shapes and colors. Just the picture for today. That’s all. Time to get back to the shoreline…
Fort Christiansvaern, take 2
St. Croix — Hotel Caravelle Artwork
Mocko Jumbies
Donald Diddams 