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In October, we took a short trip to Mystic, Connecticut, a salty coastal town rich with maritime history. The story of Mystic's nautical connection is told at Mystic Seaport, the nation's largest maritime museum, which has preserved a number of sailing ships, most notably the whaler Charles W. Morgan which is America's oldest commercial ship still afloat (built and launched in 1841).

The village is located on the Mystic River, which flows into Long Island Sound, providing access to the sea.  We were there for the 17th National Exhibition of the American Society of Marine Artists. Along the way we enjoyed lectures, demonstrations and art shows surrounded by the nation's leading marine artists, as well as beautiful hikes and incredible seafood at The Oyster Club.

One of the interesting things we could not help but notice over and over again was how incredibly different marine art is in the North East. It's seeped in New England history with wooden ships and war heroes, whereas Pacific coast marine art seeks to capture the golden fall light, sunsets over the sea, and rich coastline scenery. In comparison to looming clipper ships on dark waters, Micaiah's arid California costal scenes made his art stand out as much as his vintage Ryen Spooner shirts in a sea of black windbreakers.

A classic example of that is a recent painting here below of our favorite dinghy The Black Pearl, as she sat on the shore during a late summer trip to Catalina Island.

Black Pearl 24" x 26" Oil on Linen 

Upcoming events: Keep an eye out for news on a commissioned project that Micaiah is working on which dives into the history of the Prohibition era here in Southern California! There will be a winter soiree and art show held locally to view these paintings.

Lastly, we want to say thank you to those who came out to the Artist's Reception for "Sea Change" over the summer. Everyone who came to the show and signed in guest book was entered into a raffle to win one of  two small paintings.   

The winners of the two studies are... 

Hanna Elliott Congratulations on winning the "Leucadia Evening" Study!

Indy Callaway Enjoy your new coastal painting, "Cool Waters"!