Inspired by the works of JC Leyendecker, American Traditional tattoos, and edibles at the aquarium, I wanted to try to tell a story with this piece—in the same way that Leyendecker’s Saturday Evening Post covers said so much of a visual story. This was one of those pieces where there was a lot of note-taking, figuring out how to weave the narrative throughout and how I would piece together the marine life kaleidoscope in the background. The swallows symbolize nautical distance traveled, the “COME HOME” signal flags, the Siren’s longing expression, the message in a bottle, the lockets, her sailor hat and binoculars, the moon jellies symbolize the moon phases, etc. etc. I started with the Morris Island Lighthouse and made up the background as I went along working on the piece… thankfully it all (more or less) came together in the end.
Just as Penelope waits for Odysseus, our lovesick Siren waits for her sailor to return home.
Dedicated to all of the patient lovers out there.
