Gloria Blades: Harbor Sentinels

At art6 June 6 through June 29, 2008

Gloria Blades received her B.F.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University in painting and printmaking and pursued graduate study in Virginia and New York. She has had solo exhibtions in Virginia, Maryland, and throughout the southeast, and received the Chairman's Award for Painting from the Peninsula Fine Arts Center in Newport News, Va. Her work is in numerous Virginia collections, including the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and Capital One.

Artist's statement

I have discovered that there are nine sunken concrete ships in the Chesapeake Bay at Kiptopeake State Park on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. For years these intentionally sunken boats provided a safe harbor for the ferry boats which sailed across the mouth of the Chesapeake. A bridge has replaced the ferry so now swimmers enjoy the sandy beach and protection from bay currents that the ships afford.

These boats have become beautiful rust colored sculptures as the salt water has deteriorated their exterior leaving gaping windows that allow viewing the interior structures. In this series, I am painting my memory and response to those boats and the marine life in that environment. Each painting suggests a given image (boat) and reflects my thoughts about their physicality.

Above: Harbor Sentinels #7, oil and cold wax on panel