Tiana Turtle
Age 4 at the “Little Cove” Shinnecock Inlet, Southampton NY
Field Guide Art https://backtothebays.org/field-guide-fund
Factory primed fiberglass turtle form.
Blue-claw crab showing off his blue claws!!
Using art to shape an influential statement for environmental issues, restoration, protection and sustainable development.
Myself & Tiana Turtle
If I had known better as a child, and a good portion of my adult life, that all the cool wonderful and even yummy sea creatures depend on the eelgrass beds as habitat and nursery, I would have spent every warm sunny day snorkeling over them! I can feel it right now… the front of my body cool and wet, being tickled by eelgrass and my back hot in the summer sun, salt crystals forming on my shoulders. Side story> One time my son and I were swimming at Ponquogue Beach, and he dove down into a wave and popped up screaming with a ginormous blue-claw crab with one claw clamped down on his bicep and the other claw clamped down on the side of his hand…. that left a mark and a scar!
So many of my favorite sea creatures and many of my favorite foods from the sea depend on eelgrass. Sea turtles, octopus, bay scallops, long fin squid, octopus, hard clams, puffer fish, fluke, flounder, seahorses, horseshoe crabs, blue-claw crabs, lobster, sea stars, and sea turtles are just some of the species that spend at least a part of their life cycles if not all of it in eelgrass.
When the turtle was delivered it was the spring of 2022, I was still working on the paintings for our field guide that is currently in the making.
Big white, eye catching, sea turtle…. I thought to myself…. Hmm... that’s beautiful just the way it is, but knew I had a fun and creative job ahead of me.
So, I finished the work on the field guide art and bam… we were in full on summer camp mode!
Every day I spent at Tiana I would think about what to paint on the turtle….
Something bright, bold, funky and eye-catching to contrast all the natural mesmerizing beauty that surrounds Tiana or something that works with and blends into the landscape or more of a realistic rendition of a sea turtle.
I was provided with a factory primed fiberglass sea turtle form and was asked to paint it, given 100% artistic freedom to paint what my heart desired. I thought it would be beneficial for the greater good to make an informative painting representing the species CCE Marine works with. I work with amazing people at CCE Marine who take immense pride in the work we do to protect our waters, providing a clean environment for our fish, fowl, and plants. Working to restore our once thriving eelgrass and shellfish populations and to ensure that our commercial fishing industry continues to thrive while limiting by-catch. This to me is very important work that all of our community needs to be aware of!
What’s your connection with eelgrass?
We all thought it would be great to get the community involved in this project and we want to highlight our community members’ voices. We seek creative, descriptive, expository, persuasive, and or narrative style writings demonstrating your thoughts and/or feelings about our local marine habitats and sea creatures, like eelgrass & sea turtles.
Selected pieces will adorn the belly of the Tiana Turtle and create a lasting memory of our community’s age-old connection with the sea.
To submit your writings please visit our website
