LINGCOD GUARDIAN
ACRYLICS ON CEDAR W/RED OAK FRAME
SPRING 2016

     One of my favorite classes to teach at Neah Bay High School on the Makah Reservation was Advanced Biology, and I can thank Ron and Julie Johnson for influencing me to have the confidence to teach it.  This advanced class gave me the chance to learn alongside my students.  Together we experienced and studied the diverse ecosystems which make the Olympic Peninsula so special.  I was able to take my class and work out in the field on many occasions because mountains, forests, and the coast were our “backyard”.  It also gave me the chance to integrate Makah culture into the curriculum as we learned Makah words for flora and fauna and discussed how these local resources were used traditionally.  Every spring we studied the marine environment and went to local tide pools to study intertidal zonation.  One year I had a memorable personal experience while collecting data at Midway.  Midway is a secluded beach half-way between Neah Bay and Cape Flattery reached by driving out the Cape Loop road from the north and then hiking down to the beach.  The class and I were in the process of collecting data when I received quite a shock.  I had just gotten down by a big rock next to a deep tide pool, and as I looked into the water, I realized that there were eyes staring back at me and in a very threatening way.  It was a lingcod, and its big mouth filled with sharp-looking teeth was enough to make me jump back as if it were about to suddenly jump out and attack me.  Momentary surprise abated, I was then able to just enjoy the up-close-and-personal visit with the fish.  As it turns out, male lingcod aggressively guard their nests to prevent predation on the vulnerable eggs and young hatchlings.  Without the adult’s diligence in standing guard, the eggs would soon fall prey to a variety of predators who would jump at the opportunity to feast on them.  I think it is a lesson to be learned by all parents regardless of species.  I decided to paint this past experience after being inspired by hanging scrolls from the Japanese Rimpa School.  When I looked at Ogata Korin’s Cormorant Fishing in Exquisite Visions: Rimpa Paintings from Japan by Howard A. Link and Toru Shimbo (©1980, catalogue No. 18, page 83) I thought this subject would work well in a vertical format.  In homage to the Rimpa School, I also wanted to use a tarashikomi-like effect, applied both to the rocky areas and the larger seaweed, with the hope of creating more interest.  For the water, I used strips of color to represent the flowing tidal currents of the pool.  I have used this effect before in three previous paintings, Diving Birds (Summer 2013), Fishtales Box (Winter 2015), and Playful Seal #2 (Fall 2015), and have liked the results.  I made the frame out of red oak using pegged, hand-joined, mortise-and-tenon construction methods.   I used the Japanese technique (shou-sugi-ban) of charring and oiling the oak to finish the frame.
 
DIMENSIONS:           HEIGHT:  26 inches
                                   WIDTH:  10 1/4 inches

                                                               PRICE $400