Jellyfish And 14 Year Old Girls

​A 14 yr old girl comes up to my table one day and takes her time looking at everything I have to offer.

​She points to an octopus necklace and says, “I thought that was a jellyfish.”

I smile and say, “No.”

She answers, “I love jellyfish.”

Hmmmm... jellyfish. I grew up on Long Island. In the summer, our family went to RobertMoses or Jones Beach. Jellyfish sightings were definitely common and I can’t say i was a fan. Even so, the jellyfish were the more benign terrors of the sea.

I never did like the fact that the ocean water wasn’t clear. Step by step, I wandered out into the ocean depths wondering when I would step on a crab or worse. The nice thing about jellyfish is that you can avoid them if you are careful. They swim close to the top of the water and are visible. If I ever saw one, I muttered, “Yikes!” and slowly moved away from it.

So, this girl was a lover of jellyfish. In her honor, I decided I would do an alcohol ink painting of one. I knew the orange-pink color of the jellyfish would contrast well against the blue of the ocean.

Funny how people affect each other. If it wasn’t for this young girl, I don’t think I would have ever painted a jellyfish.