Oil, 24" x 36"
$3000
©2025 Thomas Anderson
The appearance of water’s surface and its interplay with creatures who make water their home has long been one of my favorite subjects. Water is also what makes Earth and its variety of life so unique. This green sea turtle, which spends its entire life in the ocean, appears to be both emerging from and dissolving back into the water. The constant motion of the water and its properties of distortion and abstraction add an extra dimension of magic to the already beautiful pattern of the slightly submerged turtle’s shell. This exquisite surface hints at the mysterious and unfathomable ocean habitat of this ancient species.
How this piece came about: I enjoyed a tremendous burst of creativity during the pandemic-related shutdown in 2020. The day job became a work-from-home situation (and a lot less hours) and we were not allowed to hold group events at the wetlands at the Amigos job. A lot of time at home with only several hours of work a week was a great stimulus to my creativity. This momentum carried over into 2021 and 2022 with a two more new paintings started. Upon returning to the office in 2021, management had changed my job without explanation. Without going into detail, the workplace was growing increasingly toxic and I knew I had to start planning for retirement. Simultaneously, the Amigos job became busier and more complex. There was simply not enough room in my brain or remaining time in the day to focus on painting, and I suddenly felt creatively blocked. I could not even finish the pieces I started (they are still waiting in the wings, so to speak). The only thing that saved me was creating illustrations for the Amigos de Bolsa Chica's "Running is for the Birds" 5K/10K Run and Walk t-shirts starting in 2023. Someday I may put those illustrations on this website; they are excellent as illustrations, but their function and origins are not the same as my paintings.
Finally, after much planning and saying my goodbyes, I left the City of Cypress forever on April 26, 2024. A huge emotional block was lifted. I could find the time for the creativity to flow once again. It took about two months before I knew what I wanted to paint, and it was an easy decision to paint whatever I gravitated to first. And it was not a bird! I photographed this green sea turtle at the Boston Aquarium in the April of 2023. Young green sea turtles are becoming more and more common in Southern California, and are sighted more and more frequently at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve. My photos from the Boston Aquarium are so much more informed and detailed than a brief sighting of a head popping up for air at Bolsa Chica. And the visual magic of how the water played with this turtle's shell . . . how could I resist? I set the bar pretty high for finding future subject matter.
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