Cruising the Mudflat

Cruising the Mudflat 22 inch x 30 inch acrylic on canvas. The gallery wrapped canvas is painted to the exposed edge that it may be hung without a frame. FAR Tag  # : 1911 Cruising the Mudflat, by Jake Beckman, features a seagull cruising over a mudflat with drainages, the sky and sun are reflected in the wet surface of the mudflat. The predominant colors are blues and rich browns, with white, black and a hints of yellow.

Maybe this painting belongs in the Alaska Series for it is there I got to see some incredible mudflats along the Cook Inlet side of the Kenai peninsula. There are warnings everywhere not to go out on the mudflats, especially if you are unaware of the tide tables. When the tide has ebbed, the muck resplendent in all of its shiny and interesting drainage patterns is pretty much like quicksand. If you get caught out on a mudflat when the tide is coming in, it would not be good thing as the water moves a lot faster than you can run. I was happily perched on a rock, which I thought was close enough to shore, when the tidal bore came rolling in and I realized I really need to leave. I did make it back to the high ground, but I definitely got a little damp; as for the rock, it was surrounded by water in a very short period of time. On the other hand it was during an ebb tide, when all the locals were out digging for clams that I managed to get up close and personal with an Alaskan sea otter, who also was digging for clams.-Jake