Watercolor: Perilous Pilgrim Voyage - 20" x 14"

At Thanksgiving time I think of the Pilgrims -- Puritans escaping persecution in England. They England too late in the season, so the Mayflower suffered a grueling 10-week voyage across the Atlantic. After their companion ship the Speedwell was deemed unseaworthy, they sailed from Plymouth, England, on 16 September 1620, and finally set anchor on Cape Cod November 21, 1620.

Some of my wife's and my ancestors were aboard -- Stephen, Constance, and Giles Hopkins. Oceanus was born during the voyage. Also present were John Alden and Priscilla Mullins. Half the pilgrims -- and most of the women -- died the first winter.

My painting is patterned after the Mayflower II, a replica built in 1957 that now resides in Boston harbor. The angry sky reminds me of the courage and struggle of those early American settlers who preceded us in this land. 221205. Watercolor and ink, 14" x 20".