Inspiration:

Thinking about connectedness, I googled “threatened ecosystems” and browsed the results. The 9 most endangered ecosystems on earth and what you can do to save them caught my eye.

I have fond memories of snorkeling above a coral reef in Jamaica when I was 16. I was entranced by the beauty of the bright colors and variety of life. I was inspired by this image and the surrounding article, which includes advice for travelers.

creation:

• I feared that I overworked the paint and I am relieved to see that’s not true.
• A fun thing about painting coral is that it is pretty blobular in shape so just a few touches of brush make a colony.
• The underwater world is forgiving in general, so the eye makes a fish from just a few marks and wobbly lines seem appropriate.
• Comparing photo to painting, I can see where I’m inaccurate, but it doesn’t bother me.
• I am pleased that I successfully captured the sunlight through water quality that attracted me to this scene.

insights:

• I had a good time painting this image and I am happy with the result.
• Repainting some of the pink coral made it lose some structure. This is the second time I have had this feeling. Maybe start to call things “finished” earlier??
• Everything in this scene depends on everything else. We are all interconnected.