scrap of Shackleton

Among the myriad of images I've made based on Shackleton's ship Endurance is this collage/ink & watercolor piece. I like it for its smallness and use of various materials at hand, including a bit of old silk brocade, and then the slash of silver paint on the black paper--I guess as a nod to the ice.

studies for Shackleton

These are two of the watercolor studies I did for Chaos and Oasis. There was at least one more but it got itself framed and went off to live in my brother's house.
Interesting to see where my mind was wandering on the way to where it ended up.
Also the different weight of the mediums. Watercolor is so light even when used for a story so fraught. Oil can go many ways but seldom has the peculiar sense of float that watercolor does, even when applied in washes. I've used both out of the studio and in, and love them equally. They are like friends from opposite cultures that can sit at the same table.

Shackleton's Endurance

I've had a fascination with Shackleton for a long, long time. This is the second painting I did about him. I sometimes see it as a body metaphor as well as a straightforward depiction. The blue light around the boat would be a very hot flame, as though the heart (the ship) were putting out an intense warmth in a land devoid of such. Or the emanation of ice's breath
The title is: Chaos and Oasis/Shackleton's Endurance