I am returning to my Belize journal in an effort to coax from my memory the images I experienced on the return boat ride from our snorkeling outing. Memories are all I have of this experience. Because of the choppiness of the ride and the spray of the sea no cameras were in use during this part of the trip.
First, it’s important to mention that I wasn’t wearing glasses. They were stowed away so I wouldn’t lose them overboard. I believe that state of fuzzy vision contributed mightily to the dream-like quality of the experience. Here’s what I remember.
I was sitting on the port side of the boat, with my left hand to the south and my face to the west. On either side of me the sea rolled by, with bright, transparent turquoise water punctuated by amorphous, dark green forms of sea grass and coral clumps below the surface. After the first several miles had passed, I began to detect bits and pieces of the shoreline. They came in the form of striated horizontal lines, looking like a slow fade from one color to the next. First sea green, then turquoise, followed by the strip of land separating the bay from the lagoon. The land was dark, with bumpy forms of vegetation. Beyond and above that was a cool blue strip of atmosphere. Was it mist, fog or ordinary clouds? I couldn’t tell.
Eventually I detected the purplish forms of the mountains – roughly pyramid shaped, overlapping and rising from the mist. Above the mountains stretched the sky. I have no memory of its color. It could have been layered in clouds, thinning out to pale blue at the apex. Or it could have been a sky blue, pale just above the mountains, and then intensifying into deep blue in the upper atmosphere. I wish I could recall this detail.
This dream-like state carried on until we passed through the narrow strip and returned to the inlet from where we had started.
I will attempt to paint my impression. The colors are definitely more vivid to me than the shapes are. So, I plan to render the shapes in geometric, abstract fashion.
Now that I have a rough layout and some color options, I can start doing watercolor sketching. I’m pretty excited to start on this one and hope to get painting during the next few weeks. I’m also aware that the design has much potential as a fiber work.
Daily Fiber 