Nearly a year ago, when I stood on Captiva Island at the water’s edge & looked out across the Gulf, the view was pleasant enough albeit, as beach stories go, rather banal. Yet when I turned & began strolling along the water, the view suddenly became a visual metaphor for life’s journey. Conversely, when I stood on the beach at Point Joe many months later & looked out at the Pacific, the roaring surf was clearly a metaphor for the powerful forces in our lives over which we have no control – so much so, in fact, that it never even occurred to me to turn & walk along the water (which, in any case, would have been difficult to do because of the rocks.)
Could I have painted a Captiva Island beach story from the vantage point of facing the sea? Yes, of course, but then it would have had to be the story of, say, my husband Tom shelling in the water or, perhaps, of a heron alighting on the shore. Why? Because the truly inspiring, unique & quintessential story that I experienced on that specific Captiva beach could only be told from the vantage point of walking along its seemingly-endless swath of sand.
Could I have painted a Point Joe beach story from the vantage point of looking up (or down) the beach? Yes, probably, but it would have been like Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard saying, “Alright, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up” …only to turn her head to the side & offer the camera her profile – still beautiful no doubt, fascinating perhaps, but, disappointingly, less than the whole. To me, the compelling & quintessential story of Point Joe could only be told from the vantage point of standing directly in front of the water, witnessing the entire life cycle of the waves, from their inception as darkening blue bands far in the distance to their remains as whorls of foam curling about the rocks.
Here are the preliminary sketches for “Captiva Beach” (on the left) & “Point Joe” (on the right) together for the first time:
Although they both depict beach scenes, they tell quite different beach stories. It’s worthwhile to keep in mind that each of these beaches could have told any number of different stories. It was my task – actually, my pleasure! – to determine what story at each place was worth telling & then to plan a composition that would do so in the most convincing way. Of course, it goes without saying that the (to me) banal story of Captiva Beach’s Gulf view might be a story worth telling for another artist, as could the “profile shot” of Point Joe or, for that matter, any other conceivable story. So, having said that, here’s a question that has always intrigued me:
Is every visual story worth telling?