November 21 2006

Text By Catherine Jamieson

Almost silhouetted against the winter horizon, these icons of the English seaside stand like a row of stalwart sentries, firmly planted in the pebbles, resolutely facing the darkening sky. Perhaps they are remembering sunnier days, laughter and motion ... perhaps they are simply waiting, listening for the sounds of summer. If you come from the sea, you will have an affinity with this image - after all, what better way could one spend a day than sitting on a beach staring at the ocean?

It is a fine work of art that can transport you to another place and time, like a song from your youth playing on the radio. This image, in the grand story-telling tradition of "the blues", has bits of the wispy wind in its delivery and vestigial sea spray in the air. There is not one story here, or even a hundred - there are millions of personal remembrances in these three perfect striations.