AFTER THE FIRE solo exhibit 3/1 - 4/16/23 @Agua Caliente Park Gallery, Tucson, AZ
mermaid paintings
The Mermaids Return
~After seven years spent more on land than in the ocean, the mermaid’s scales had disappeared. Not only that, she thought miserably, pointing the delicate toes at the end of her long legs, her wondrous tail was gone. The iridescent flash of turquoise and pale pink with emerald highlights had been replaced by mundane human flesh tones.
~The transformation was seemingly complete, but whenever she caught the scent of salt water coming off the marshes, her feet tingled and she would automatically put them together and push them downward with a quick hard motion, just as if she still had a tail to power her through the water.
~As an artist she was adept at transforming stark white silk into jewel-toned paintings where viewers immersed themselves in the intense colors of the artist’s vision. Now she realized what she should do with that magical process. She picked up her brush, opened her mind and her bottles of dyes, and began to paint.
~In the coldest of winters, when she watched her breath freeze and shatter, the mermaid drew upon the memory of her family of ocean creatures. She pledged she would begin by painting a magical dozen mermaids, one for every month of the year. Mermaid Art and stories flowed out of the sea and onto the silk
~ Exuberant adolescent mermaids were the first to appear, followed by wise seers and graceful princesses. All emerged with watchful eyes in their tails. Most traveled with familiar creatures-- starfish, scallops, seahorses and parrotfish. Then the first red-haired one swam forward boldly alone in an emerald sea, her palms overflowing with sensual power. Next came the painter’s strong-willed Spirit kin with two starfish traveling in her flowing hair, her turquoise eyes facing all challengers. And now they are part of the Selkie Queen's kingdom in The Fisherman's Lure, a burgeoning tale of environmental destruction and redemption...
The mermaids return~ 12 portraits
Photo Gallery
Meet Beth Surdut April 1, 2023, noon-2 @Agua CalieNte Park
See you at the Ranch House Gallery! This event feeds your spirit, not your body, so bring a picnic to this beautiful oasis in the Tucson desert.