The way my mind recalls this picture is with dark, navy-blue rollers with white caps on the Atlantic and serene, soft, blue-green turquoise on the Caribbean side.
It's there for instant retrieval in my mind's eye.
Its origin was standing on the Glass Window Bridge, which was one-car wide, at the approximate centre of that picture. (Eleuthera Island, Bahamas)
Images are masters against the confines of verbal language.
I found it fascinating that my imagination had added details to the 'reality' of finding that picture a couple of days ago. It caused me to retouch it somewhat to try to capture what it was seeing. My feeble efforts were rejected.
Let me take you by the hand and join me on my bridge.
Close your eyes and imagine:
On the left, an endless stream of dark, navy-blue rollers with exploding white caps as far as the eye can see. Accompanying it is the sound of fury. Cymbals clash, and the bass drum beats out an ominous array of sounds. The salt spray stings my cheeks and body, and waters my eyes and hair. It tastes salty and is accompanied with an odor of seaweed, fish, and plant life. It imparts the feeling of excitement--of mountains to conquer and boundless skies that have no known end.
On the right, a sea of tranquility, it's a soft green-blue turquoise. It laps gently at the shore and conveys a pickling flavour by some mysterious force. The scene fills my nostrils with images of playful seahorses and laughing dolphins. The seashells lay in abundance to be collected or just to envy their uniqueness and range of how many there are--each perfect in their symmetry. The palms with their greenery cast shade on the white sands--they invite me to come and sit under them. All is peaceful and soothing for my soul.
We are one these two seas and separated only by a sliver of man’s engineering. The ground beneath is my foundation--it's my centering point.
That picture has over the years given me a place to go to gather myself and to know what forces are within and which come from outside.
The mind is a marvellous thing--it gives up so few of its secrets that can be shared with another. The connection that artists try to evoke for us is done through great books, poetry, music, painting, writing, and a myriad of other art forms. An artist would perhaps use curves and circles with soft tints for the Caribbean. Perchance vertical and horizontal lines using rich darks for the Atlantic? It's quite possible my mind depicts it that way and doesn't need words at all. The challenge for visual artists and writers is to somehow transfer those images unto canvas and written language. Skilled artisans are fortunate to have been given the tools and more admirable if they have trained themselves to convey it. I hope you find your bridge or have enjoyed my vain attempt to share mine with you.
