Hurricane Irene and Winslow Homer

We still await news from the Bahamas, post Hurricane Irene which should have passed over by tonight, onwards & upwards. We were pretty lucky here in the BVI and things are already back to normal.

I've been collecting Caribbean ephemera for some time, which was not always the most obvious or easy thing to do when living in Africa.  I'd long been intrigued by these beautiful, slightly bleak images that kept cropping up. So much so, that when I finally decided last week that I really wanted to know/buy/pin down who the artist was, I actually Googled "retro 1950's Caribbean hurricane paintings" on eBay,  as you do.

Amazingly, I found my images. More amazingly they were by Winslow Homer, the 19th Century American 'romantic' painter, who most people - including me, would probably associate with slightly over-blown heroic sea pictures with people clinging to boats and rocks. Stuffy yacht club pictures.  

However Mr Homer must have spent some time in the Bahamas with his water-colour kit (and possibly some rum?) and produced these wonderful paintings that still resonate even today with our modern day Caribbean hurricanes. 

Sadly, although I had optimistically looked them up an eBay,  finding out that they are by Winslow Homer rather rules out any possibility of acquiring one. I might just however, be in for buying my first 'print'.  I really love them.

Enraptured

Shot in the Bahamas by Annie Liebowitz

Well, we’re all still here. No-one (we know) was raptured off. Of course there was an 'End of the World' Braai on Saturday evening, where we ate lots of delicious potjie and boerewors, whilst humming Abigail's brilliant End of the World playlist including REM ("it's the end of the world as we know it") and Blondie (Rapture) . Any excuse for a party, not that you need one here.

The Facebook fascination has already waned a bit since I’ve realized that my rather waspish sense of humour probably doesn’t translate too well onto jaunty Facebookland – so I’m switching myself off, and will resist the urge to make witty remarks, especially after a few Rum & Tings.

  

Shaun Tomson  at 55

The other shock of FB is the age thing. I’ve managed to delude myself for quite a long time that I’m not actually looking my age yet and that on Bad Days when I look about a 100, it’s blamed on the angle/the light/the children/lack of sleep or whatever I can think of really and consider it a passing thing. The reality of course is brought home when you see your peers and how they look now - which is, um, ur, well ......older.  Oy Gewildt (as my favourite and now re-connected house mate, living in Sydney, would say) my delusions have vanished and I'm off for Botox at Christmas (not that my friends arn't beautiful, just a little bit greyer!).

I felt I needed to cheer myself up with some glamorous images of gorgeous Wrinklies – like this super-divine one of Sean Connery at 78 years.  I'm not usually one for pin-ups, but isn’t this seriously good Older Girls crumpet?

Older Girls Crumpet #2 has to be Shaun Tomson, all-round Surfing Hero and Fabulous Fella. A Saffa too. (it was Laird Hamilton, but I reconsidered this. Sorry Laird!). I had this huge poster of Shaun on  my teenage wall, shining down on me. Once a surfer-girl...

Laird, however, is now a SUP hero and  I did like what he had to say (click here) about how people (like me) can SUP, so Laird, you inspired me to get up - without my Zimmer frame - onto a surfboard again, so thank you!

OK that’s enough perving for one day, though I was just starting to enjoy myself here.  I might have to carry on with this ‘research’ – it has definitely cheered me up!!