Rusty's Beach

Alison's Beach, New Island

I spend a lot of time daydreaming about being somewhere else...usually a place similar to an ideal Southern California sometime before it was built up, maybe in the 1920's. Then there were only small towns, lots of primitive natural beauty, few cars (people used streetcars and trains!) and a laid-back proto-hippie ambiance.

Most of New Island is a result of these daydreaming jaunts.

Here's a place called Alison's Beach. This part of New Island's eastern coast is little-known and seldom visited, but you might find a meditative hermit. Swimsuits are optional, and the surf here is ideal for bodysurfing.To get here from Victoria Harbor, take Route 6 north all the way to Smallwood, then take M25 to the trailhead near Bailey's Beach. Pack a picnic lunch and water, and have a delightful time.

See map below, with arrow.

Sketches from that island

I'm going to post some sketches of places on that island in the Indian Ocean. I'll include the island's landscape, beaches of course, settlements, lighthouses, 'natural' houses, harbors, etc. They will be from New Island, where I get much of my inspiration.

The picture above is an old watercolor I did of the Poloustrov Lighthouse, also known as South Light at Roaring Cape,the southernmost tip of New Island (see map). 

I'll be traveling there soon.    - Rusty

Painting Islands

 Ok, it’s time to put it all together!  My art work and

New Island

are one.

It says “We are one.” on the

New

Island

one-roger coin, which is the slogan of the country. I guess that means all the parts of my work too.

I’ve been painting scenes I’d like to see most of my life. I love to imagine things then draw them out or paint them as detailed as possible. I grew up in small towns on the

Southern California

coast and was enchanted by the ocean, big surf, the beach, and the nature-loving, laid-back lifestyle. I learned to draw things I wanted to see, everything from tsunamis, explosions, storm-driven surf to snow-covered mountains and pretty girls.  Ever since, I’ve wanted to capture certain beaches, landforms, small towns, older houses, and the woman-who-dances, and have painted these from memories, dreams, and from images of actual places and people. When my customers used to ask me where these places are, I could only say they are imagined…maybe somewhere in California, maybe Oregon, maybe Ireland, or even South Africa.

Eventually I envisioned an island in the south

Indian Ocean

as the location for these drawings and paintings. It emerged as a large, hilly island with a mild, rather dry climate, a friendly English-speaking population that loves nature, and is only sparsely-populated. The idea started with the watercolor below, titled “Dancing on the Edge” done in 1989. I looked at it and wondered where this place was and why was she dancing. So I looked in a world atlas for a place with a climate similar to Southern California’s, that was far from the USA, and that might have a culture that encourages dancing just for the joy in it.

The

South Indian Ocean

is a region that was not fully explored until the early19th century. So an island there could have gone unnoticed until, by chance, ships bearing Australia-bound prisoners from

Britain

might have been blown ashore by storms, allowing a unique culture to flourish there, even under Russian rule beginning in 1820. (You’ll have to read the

New

Island

guidebook to get the whole story…)

So the woman is dancing for Joy, or it’s a meditation, or she’s doing it just for the hell of it. The sun is out, the breeze is fresh, the waves are pounding with a hypnotic rhythm, and the weather might change any minute…

The Wave Dance No. 2   Watercolor, done in 2000
Top: The one-roger coin, common currency of New Island

Back to Painting

Wow, it’s been well over a year since my last entry. 

I’ve been going through a “Who am I, What am I doing?” self-searching period while spending over a year (off and on) working on my dad’s tuna boat, and (earlier) at a fire truck factory delivering parts to the assembly lines. I guess it was the right thing to do, since now I’m doing some new paintings I feel good about.

Here’s one I call “Lost in the Light,Big Sur”.

Write a short novel?

Jesse and Kaity Taking the Great Walk on New Island.

While on the boat, I began playing with a story idea that takes place on New Island, that little-known island-nation in the Indian Ocean.  Here's the idea:  Two girls become pen-pals; Kaity lives on New Island, Jesse in a small town in Wisconsin.  They become close friends after several months of writing and Jesse manages to travel to County Mulhenry, New Island, for a summer visit with Kaity.  Kaity has finished high school and wants to go on The Long Walk, a popular rite-of-passage amongst kids her age.  The New Island Wandering Guide describes The Long Walk:

The Great Walk

For a 16-year-old New Islander, it is an exciting time.  Upon completing high school, girls and boys are encouraged to take the Long Walk, an unforgettable experience of adventure and self-discovery.  The practice was inspired by Roger Putney's long walks and has been popular since the 1880s.  The Long Walk gives one a chance to find one's interests in life, to meet new friends, and to donate some time for community service.  These coming-of-age wanderers traditionally take a year or more to walk the back country and coastline paths, and visit various tribes and settlements along the way.

They meet people their own age, explore the island, and have time to think about what's important to them.  Little money is needed, as most places along the way willingly provide meals and lodging in return for an hour or two each day at a community task.  The work experience and social benefits are priceless.  The only hazards to a wanderer on the island are the weather or an accident.  Fear of others is unknown, though intuitive caution is a given.

Most of these young wanderers eventually settle in one of the communities they have visited, or choose to go to University.  If the choice is to settle, he or she will live in the singles' house or may be allowed to build his or her own hut nearby.  In the singles' house, everyone has their own or a shared bedroom, and the shared kitchen, parlor, and other common rooms provide opportunity for socialization.  At this stage, there is no expectation that a young person will stay with a tribe or neighborhood permanently.  If they are incompatible, the newcomer can simply move on.  Some wander from tribe-to-tribe for years until they find the "right one."

At first, Jesse things she's only going on a hike for a few days, but is up for the adventure when Kaity reveals that this is much more!  They gather their supplies and set off on a route around the island, stopping at various campgrounds, hostels, and settlements, helping out when they can and having many adventures in the process.

Now I'm a bit stuck on how to develop the plot...

Re-entry

Watercolor of The Pacific Tuna King, a long way from Louisiana; September 2007.

I got back a week ago and am beginning to feel like I'm at home again.  There was quite a shock of arriving in a darker, colder climate from the always-warm south -- and also finding it hard to remember all the details of being here again.  I kind of wandered around the house in a daze the first day or so, feeling like a ghost.  At one point, I began to wash the dishes by hand... "This isn't the way I've been doing this, is it?"  Then I realized that we've had a dishwasher for the past 12 years.  Oops.

Bayou Bouef from the fishdeck/fantail of the boat.

This is where I like to sit and space out.

Dispatch -- Day 54

Watching the Bayou

I like to sit on the back of the boat and watch the bayou during off-hours, especially in the evening when it's cooled off.  Though the water is murky and a not a little polluted, the place is alive with wildlife.  Great grey herons, snowy egrets, bald eagles, seagulls and tweet-tweet songbirds are everywhere, and fish constantly jump and slap themselves back on the surface.  There are also turtles, watersnakes of some kind, and the occasional alligator.  This bayou, which I think is called Bayou Bouef, is also busy with all kinds of boat traffic. Tugs push barges back and forth constantly, supply ships head out to the offshore drilling rigs, while shrimpers, speedboats, sportfishing boats, and sometimes houseboats cruise by.  It's fun just sitting and watching the free entertainment.

Dispatch -- Day 33

I get up at 6:25 a.m. and go down to breakfast at 6:30 in the mess hall.  I then take my coffee out to the fish deck and look at the sunrise.  Most mornings they are spectacular!  I work from 7:30 to 11:30, when lunch is served.  Then I'm back at it from 12:30 to 4:30, when I can peel off my sweaty, sawdusty clothes, shower off, and go to supper at 5:00.  The meals are first-class, by the way, though often a bit heavy on the meat and potatoes.  Tonight we had green beans, ham with pineapple sauce, and baked potatoes.  Yummy!  Right after supper, or sometimes during, someone puts in a video movie.  (There's no TV reception...)  Westerns and suspense thrillers are the favorite genre.  I'll watch, or else take a walk, or just sit out the fish deck and enjoy the evening looking at the boats going by on the bayou.  I write and paint out there, too, and will put up a painting or two when I get back!  By 9:30 I'm done.  Lights out!

Dispatch -- Day 23

Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival in Morgan City.  We went for a couple of hours to see the 72nd annual festival in our neighboring town, Morgan City, on the Atchalafaya River.  There was live music in the park, an arts and crafts fair, and a carnival under the big bridge -- a smart move because it seems to rain here everyday lately.  There were two artists:  one guy did ink drawing of local scenes, and the other from Baton Rouge did watercolors from pigments all derived from Mississippi River mud.

"Only the green came from Alabama, all the rest came from Louisiana clay," he told me.

There were a few shrimp boats on the river and several houseboats all spruced up with streamers.  Everybody was friendly and the place was crowded!

Dispatch -- Day 22

Water on the lower deck hallways!  The fishing crew has their own level on the lower deck (below the water line) -- a galley, rooms with bunks, and a small lounge area.  We came down to work on the plumbing there and found water.  We thought the hull had sprung a leak!  It turned out to be an overflowing holding tank.  I helped mop up.  There are so many pumps and tanks and systems on this boat, it is mind-boggling.  I'm glad I'm just the carpenter and not the engineer!