The Crew of the Serendipity

The Crew of the Serendipity | 60”x 40” | Oil on Canvas
 
The story behind this painting began several years ago with Everett, the boy at our far right, the one with the cast iron skillet. Everett is an art lover. His appreciation for art has motivated him to ride his bike the mile and a half from his home to my studio on multiple occasions, often he brought a brother or sister or both. Everett has used his own money to purchase art greeting cards to give as Christmas gifts. All of the kids have stopped in to see my work, visit with me and enjoy candy from my Mighty Tonka dump truck. I enjoy their visits.
 
Eventually their parents came for a visit and later came up with the idea of my painting the kids in a scene based on their family’s bedtime story adventures. The parents and kids all get involved in making up the adventurous stories. They have even written and often sing a song to go with their stories.
 
The premise of their tales is that the kids are the crew of the Serendipity, the fastest sailing ship on the seven seas in the 1700’s. They are American sailors who go on missions for the President, and sometimes for the King of England. Working together, with their various skills, they battle with pirates and other evil deed doers around the world. They recover stolen treasure and rescue those in need.
 
Each child has specific responsibilities as a member of the crew; there is the Captain, First Mate, Librarian/Chart Keeper, Cook, Ship Repairman, Doctor and the Powder Monkey.
 
After my photo shoot with the “crew” on the local Utah beach, the parents chose the image of each child which best expressed the child’s personality. The wonderful “Peter Pan-like” shadow on the inside of the treasure chest lid was a glorious accident, quite serendipitous, and a great addition. Some of the creative process included the replacement of a stick in the First Mate’s hands with a spyglass, and the toy light-saber at the Captain’s waist with an actual US High Naval Officer’s sword from the 1700’s.
 
It was a pleasant experience to develop and paint such an adventurous scene as I transformed it from my Utah mountain valley reality, to their imagined Caribbean beach and ocean. It was particularly pleasing to paint into this scene, the children I have come to know and like so very much, they are a wonderful family.
 
"You should have the Art you Love."