Thank you all for your wonderful support yesterday.  We are proud to launch our latest collection of Fine Art photographs that we took in the Caribbean.  It is a project that I have wanted to do for a long time because these Islands mean so much to my husband and me.

We photographed most of this series from a boat.  Because we were living on board, we were acutely aware of the weather. Tropical storm Harvey rolled through, affecting some of the Islands South of us and later strengthening in the gulf and causing so much damage in Texas.  It was already a difficult season for the Caribbean but since we left, it has been a stream of bad news for the Islands.  Somehow, this project of love has become embroiled with these storms.  It seems only appropriate that we donate all of our net proceeds from our sales to the reconstruction of the Islands that we hold so dear.  We are working with charities that are helping sustain and rebuild the worst hit islands.   These charities include Direct Relief, Convoy of Hope, and the BVI Recovery Fund. Or, if you would prefer, we can work with an established aid charity designated by you at the time of purchase. I visited the Caribbean for the first time when I was twelve.   My parents are divorced and my father took me there with my step-mother.  Even though I had flown that distance alone before (I was living on the west coast with my mother), I still remember getting to the airport and being very afraid and anxious.  My mother re-assured me that it would be the most beautiful place I had ever seen, and that I would love it.   As I was shuffled onto the plane, I remember turning back and memorizing her face, I can still see her calm re-assuring smile.

Of course she was right.  When I stepped off the flight into the balmy breezy air I knew that I was somewhere unlike anywhere I had ever been.  The color of the water, the tropical fish, the kindness of the people, I even loved the afternoon storms which would only last a handful of minutes.  I knew I had to spend more time here.   And I did.  I returned when I was 15 to go to a sailing camp.  While other friends were focused on the boys, I couldn’t believe the beauty that lay before me.  I remember the euphoria of the first time I swam to shore and the beach had no foot prints except my own.  I couldn’t believe this type of beauty could for a fleeting moment just be mine.  And on and on…I worked and lived on different Islands during and after college, and my husband, a sailor, did the same.

These photographs are a celebration of color and of beauty but they’re also a celebration of memory.  Intentionally abstract, they are more dreamlike than literal interpretations of the beach and the sea.  They invite emotional, personal response, whether it’s a recollection or a daydream. Perhaps a memory floats by of what it feels like to step into water so warm that you can wade in unflinchingly, or the feeling of salt on your lips or sun so bright you can’t open your eyes but you feel so lucky.   I hope that they allow you to escape for a moment and to find beauty and peace. To view the full collection, click here.