At the beginning of Impromptus yesterday, I wrote,
I have had a little experience in the Caribbean in the past 15 years or so, and here is an observation: Often, Caribbean islands will disappoint. But Caribbean waters, never. Ever. They are everything they’re cracked up to be, and more.
Where do such blues and greens come from? Could any painter dream them up?
A reader says,
I used to work for the National Ocean Survey and I spent months aboard the NOAA ship Mount Mitchell, anchored in the pass between St. Croix and Buck Island Reef national park. We ran hydrographic surveys in small boats. I often marveled at the changing colors of the sea.
Years later I ran across some of the early works of Winslow Homer. He’s better known for his New England sea paintings, but his early work really captured the Caribbean light and shadows, and the brilliant, ever-changing hues of the waters.
When I was a boy, I had on a bedroom wall a Homer painting: Breezing Up. (TMI — Too much information — I know.)