Choctawhatchee Bay

When I lived back home I used to fish on the north side of Choctawhatchee Bay out of Rocky Bayou State Park.   This was before the Mid-Bay Bridge was put in.   It was more for the view and less the catch.  Salt water was never my "thing"... I was a better freshwater fisherman and had the best luck near my Grandparents place in Gulf County along the Apalachicola River.  I suppose its the dark waters of Wetappo Creek which run deep in these veins.

I always liked Choctawhatchee Bay later in the day when everything started slowing down toward evening.  Maybe its because I'm an evening person by nature...my creative mind doesn't really awaken until afternoon.  When I was fishing on the Bay I seemed to watch more.  The movement of the water as the tides ebbed and flowed. The zephyr created ripples across the water's surface.  But what marked the Bay for me was the Black-necked Stilt.   Every location seems to have its totem and the Stilt is the Bay's totem.   Very much like I'll always remember DeFuniak Springs for its totem the bull-bat...the Common Nighthawk.

The Stilts always seemed to be supremely focused; quietly working the shore margins for a simple meal of crustaceans or mollusks.  Always seeming to have better luck than I, but I was watching them and not my line.   The line was just an excuse to be a pilgrim in their world.   In those moments they seemed part of the Bay; a water borne golem seeking wisdom along the margins.   Yeah...wisdom along the margins and it's there to find...small and glorious.

This painting is small one but exemplifies the minimal, flat background ethos of this series.  The few background details help force the form into three dimensions.  Its on an 8 X 10 panel in synthetic polymer.

Click on the image for a larger view.