SWIMMING WITH SEA LIONS
ACRYLICS ON CEDAR W/RED OAK FRAME
WINTER 2022-23

     While living out by Neah Bay for many years, our house had a magnificent view of the Straits of Juan de Fuca with Vancouver Island in the background.  One of the many fun views we had was the sight of a group of sea lions swimming just off-shore.  I can still hear their barking many years later and many miles away.  I can only imagine how much fun it would be to swim alongside them, but rather than ever doing so, I choose to paint them instead.  The designs for the sea lions were inspired by both Northwest Coast Native and Celtic art traditions.  As a big fan of Manx-born, Arts and Crafts designer Archibald Knox, I was inspired by his work in pewter and silver to include Celtic Revival-style entrelac for the internal details of the sea lions.  I drew in the flowing blades of the bull kelp stalks while thinking of Arthur Heygate Mackmurdo's famous pre-Art Nouveau chair.  The design of his chair back, with its swirling lines and bulbous tops, always reminds me of bull kelp flowing in the currents.  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:  14 1/8 inches
                                  WIDTH:  22 inches

                                                         PRICE $500


​Gary Giovane
La Conner, WA
gioart13@yahoo.com