16x20
Oil on Canvas
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A couple of years ago I was driving through Plymouth and stopped by the maritime museum on town's waterfront on the bank of the Roanoke River. I noticed a book titled "Following Francis: A Photographic Journey through Bertie County" by Daword Jones Jr. Jones follows the footsteps of Bertie Native and famous artist, Francis Speight with a pictorial history of many of the artist's subjects in his home county. My favorite pictures are those of Shipyard Landing and its rustic old fish houses lining the midstream banks of Cashoke Creek that empties into the Cashie River just before its mouth on the Ablemarle Sound.
Before the towns of Cashy and Windsor (two future port villages on the Cashie), Shipyard Landing served as a tiny port for English and French shipping vessels carrying goods to and from the West Indies and the early American Colonies. Within the last century it has been the base of operations for many Bertie commercial fisherman tending nets in the sound, and now it mainly serves as a boat ramp for recreational rock fish and white perch fisherman.
Nestled deep in the swamps that border the Cashie, it remains relatively wind-free and can provide some really good photos and painting opportunities with its mirror-like calm water reflections.
So following Francis and Daword, I was able to get some really good pics the other day after almost sinking my buddy's truck, trailer and boat while attempting to put over on the ramp that has a really bad drop off I came to find out - the hard way. With a chain, four wheel drive and some country ingenuity, which I do not possess, my friend and I were able to pull everything back into order before the current owner of Shipyard Landing ventured down the path to see what all the ruckus was about. After the water finally settled back down, I took some really good pics from the swamp side of the creek to get the front of these fish houses.
