In March of 2017, I  was fortunate to have been selected as an artist in residence at the Wildacres Retreat Center, near Little Switzerland, NC.  I was in residence at Owl Lodge for a week in October, and it was glorious.  Time to paint and write. Great friends. Terrific food. Truly an amazing opportunity to be immersed in art.

Sailors' Delight

Sailors' Delight is a sanded oil on linen, measuring 24"x36" © 2017  Currently available. Price on request.
It was inspired by the time of day that shrimpers must get out on the water, regardless for the most part, of weather conditions. To scrutinize the sky the evening before every launch has become a sort of semisuperstitious ritual, in spite of excellent weather forecasting. And so from the old rhyme...
 

Respectfully inserted from: http://www.rhymes.org.uk/red_sky_at_night.htm

A practical nursery rhyme about the weather - "Red Sky at night"Practical origins for this English nursery rhyme are based on weather predictions and how a red sky at night would indicate fair weather on the following day. In England the words refer to a shepherd who would say that a red sky in the morning was suggesting inclement weather to follow. In America the words relate to a sailor. It should be remembered that there were no weather forecasts, as such, in days gone by and one had to make one's own weather predictions. Those with the most knowledge and experience, such as Sailors and Shepherds, whose lives were dependant on the weather and were fully conversant with changing weather patterns indicated by a "Red Sky at night".

The original origins of this Nursery Rhyme can be traced to the Bible: Matthew 16:2-32 - He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. 3 - And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?