Islands | The Jewel Series

Two of my recent posts dealt with imaginary islands made up of pieces of real places. This post will be a sort of coda to those discussions, wrapping up the invented island theme (for now at least) by sharing a few more worldviews based on some of those same locales.

One of the works in those earlier posts was Pearl Islands, inspired by coastal northwest Australia and so titled because the pristine, precious quality of the islands it depicts (with glimmering white sands) was reminiscent of the pearls that the region is known for. That got me thinking more generally about portraying priceless, endangered islands like gemstones, each with a particular dominant hue, maybe even incorporating materials that I’d never otherwise consider using like gold leaf and ornate metallic frames. That last part fell by the wayside, but the gemstone idea did produce three worldviews that I informally call my “Jewel Series.” All are only 10” square in order to underscore the themes of preciousness and vulnerability.

Below are those three islands, each one following some additional photos from the real-world places that inspired them. For more detail on those places and how I re-imagined them, check out my earlier posts on Ecuador and the Kimberley region of Northwest Australia.

Darren

Mangroves, red rocks and earth, tidal flats, and turquoise sea near Broome, northwest Australia

Mangroves and tidal flats south of Broome, Western Australia.

Dramatic color contrast of red rocks and earth against turquoise sea, coast of northwest Australia near Broome

Coastal hues north of Broome.

Darren Sears artist selfie with white baobab tree (Adansonia gregorii) in Keep River National Park in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Baobab (Adansonia gregorii) in Keep River National Park, Northern Territory.

Pearl Isle, abstract miniature watercolor painting of baobab trees, pandanus and mangroves along the coast of the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Pearl Isle, watercolor on paper, 10”x10.”

View from a scenic flight over colorful sandstone beehive landforms in the Bungle Bungles, or Purnululu National Park, in the Kimberley region of Australia

Sandstone “beehive” formations in the Bungle Bungles (Purnululu National Park), Western Australia.

Baobab tree, Adansonia gregorii, in golden grassland near Kununurria in the Kimberley region of Western Australia

Another baobab near Kununurra, Western Australia.

Towering Livistona victoriae fan palms and eroded red sandstone cliffs in Keep River National Park in the Kimberley region of Western Australia

Livistona victoriae palms in Keep River National Park, Northern Territory, Australia.

Amber Isle, abstract miniature watercolor painting of baobabs, surreal landforms, and palm oasis at sunset inspired by Kimberley region, Australia.

Amber Isle, watercolor on paper, 10”x10.”

Lush primary cloud forest in Los Cedros Reserve, northern Ecuador

Primary (virgin) cloud forest in Los Cedros Reserve, northwest Ecuador.

Flowering green tree, Ceiba trichastandra or ceibo, in dry forest along the coast of Ecuador

Floweringceibo” (Ceiba trichastandra) in dry forest along the central Ecuadorean coast.

Green tree, Ceiba trichastandra or ceibo, in the dry forest near the coast of Ecuador

Ceiba trichastandra—not quite as “emerald”-like as painted, but still strikingly green. Except for the buttress roots it looks a lot like a green baobab, and is in fact in the same family.

Emerald Isle, abstract miniature watercolor painting of imaginary Ecuador-inspired rainforest and dry forest landscapes on an island.

Emerald Isle, watercolor on paper, 10”x10.”