‘Seal Pond’ 25 May 2021 with Phil Sammet.

‘Sous-marine’ – The art of painting underwater - Click Here for Paintings

My enjoyment of scuba and artwork has evolved over more than forty years of diving, traveling and painting onsite ‘plein air,’ as well as from my personal photographic reference after the fact. Water has always called to me.

For this specific type of art technique, which I am calling ‘sous-marine,’ I was inspired by seeing an article on Hussain Ihfal, a talented artist from the Maldives using his talents in an unusual way to highlight the issues surrounding global warming. I wanted to see if I could take this idea and bring it to my diving site, Point Lobos State Reserve in California. Point Lobos Reserve was the first marine reserve in the United States and remains one of the premier underwater sites in the world. I am hoping that capturing these artistic impressions of this site and sharing these images will help raise awareness of the value of protecting these areas now and in the future.

Painting underwater is very difficult in comparison to above water. All the movements are slow and the tidal movement make it challenging. Time is also fixed, based on the scuba tank capacity, to complete a painting. Water temperatures in Carmel range from high 40f to 60f and require a dry suit to maintain body warmth, limiting hand and body movements you take for granted on land.

This seemed a natural progression from painting locations above water from a boat in the Point Lobos State Natural Reserve.