Newburyport MA, June 2, 2010. Anyone who has ever viewed the undersea world of the Caribbean Sea through a snorkel or dive mask will know that John Soward has captured all the amazing colors of saltwater life in his work to share with the landlubbers among us. Now you can get your feet wet in the island-inspired art here at the Firehouse on Market Square, Newburyport, June 9 – August 1 when the watercolors of John Soward will be on display in the Gallery. This event is free and open to the public during regular Box Office hours (Wed – Sun, 12N-5P) or until curtain. A reception will be held Saturday, June 12 in the Firehouse Gallery (upstairs) from 4-7pm.
To those of you who have never been so lucky to even stick your big toe into the clarity of the Caribbean Sea, imagine a rainbow emptying its many hues beneath the surface of the ocean, spilling those prism-colors into the fish swimming below. To the uninitiated, John’s work might seem to take excesses with the proverbial artistic license, but it is to John’s credit that he has been so successful at traversing the border that lays between the art world and the research world -- what the Florida Museum of Natural History wants in its collection for the purpose of cataloguing the indigenous life of the Sunshine State’s coastal waters, we all want to hang on the walls of our houses.
When he was a child growing up in the urban environment of Chicago, John and his family, including his grandfather, would set off on fishing adventures at every opportunity that school- and work-vacations would permit. Years later, the Chicago boy, now grown and the father of his own children, would spend winters at his second home in Spanish Wells off the island of Eleuthra in The Bahamas. John would go down to the docks of the active fishing port and review the catch of the day with the local fishermen. It didn’t take long before the beauty of the salt-water fish sparked his imagination and took him in a different direction than casting his baited hook into the water. Seeing these colorful species of marine life not only as an art form but also as an engineering feat of nature, Soward began to photograph the fish as they were hauled off the trawlers. A pair of local fishermen couldn’t help but respond to the passion of a fellow fisherman. Soon the two were bringing in all sorts of fish just so that Soward could see them and record them. Even if a particular fish did not have a commercial outlet, they would bring it to the docks just for John and then release it once it was immortalized on the artist’s film. It was but a short leap from the camera to John’s canvas.
The passion to find an elusive, never-before-seen species, and create a permanent record of it; grew each winter that Soward would return to Spanish Wells. Bernard Sweeting and Chuck Albury, fishing partners for 25 years in the Bahamian waters, rose to the challenge; despite the fact that it became more and more difficult to find a fish that was new to John.
Although Soward has been quoted as saying he never tried to “slavishly replicate every detail on the fish…” but to “capture the essence;” his work is so accurate that it is in fact both in the Florida Museum of Natural History and appears on their website to serve as a reference for fishermen. Soward’s water colors are beautiful and the fish appear to swim across the paper. One can’t help but feel mesmerized by the detailing of the scales and the sheen and subtle color changes along the body of the fish. The metallic quality of a swimming fish is present in these images, and the luminosity displayed by the coloring on a yellow-fin grouper will astound even the non-sporting among viewers.
Fish paintings make up the greater portion of this exhibit, but John Soward also has created watercolors of birds -- his summer residence in Newburyport, MA is a noted stop along the way of many migration routes and the surrounding marshes afford a perfect environment from which to catch glimpses into the avian world.
This exhibit has been planned for several months, but the original concept was to stage a joint exhibition with John and his son, John Soward (John Soward Wildlife Glass), an artist who creates blown glass fish. On May 15th John Soward, the elder, passed away after a six-month battle with cancer. Subsequently the decision was made to honor John, his work and his passion for all things fish with a solo exhibition. In an ironic twist of fate John Soward’s recent passing from this world has coincided with one of the worst oil spills in history. As the estimated 12-19,000 barrels of oil a day continue to gush into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, the total effect on the wildlife there and in the surrounding waters cannot be known. The risk is always that one or more species of aquatic life could be lost forever except for what remains as seen in paintings, films, and photos. Like Alexander Wilson and John James Audubon before him, Soward has documented the world around us and done it in such a way that we will want to look at it for a long, long time…keeping the memory of John Soward, friend, neighbor and local art hero, alive in our hearts.
Note: John’s friend and neighbor Everett Chandler has established an account in the name of The John Soward Memorial Fund 2010 at the Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank to hold funds that are being collected to procure a piece of art to be displayed adjacent to the Clipper City Rail Trail behind John’s old house. The exact nature of the work of art to be commissioned is being developed by Mr. Chandler in coordination with Geordie Vining, Acting Planning Director and Senior Project Manager, with the City of Newburyport Office of Planning and Development, along with the family of John Soward: wife Nancy Soward, son John Jr., and daughter Jen. You can read more about this at http://johnsowardmemorial.blogspot.com/
Contributions can be made to The John Soward Memorial Fund 2010 and can be mailed to:
The John Soward Memorial Fund 2010
c/o The Newburyport Five Cents Savings Bank
63 State Street
Newburyport, MA 01950
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