Boats, modus operandi

 “There is no such thing as passive vision… only active envisioning, that is, the creative construction of a vision from a certain perceptual perspective.” 

- Donald Kuspit



"I once had a dream a long time ago, in it I saw a boat falling off a cliff."


-Steven Rhude




Falling Boat, oil on canvas, 54" x 14", private collection



When I moved to Nova Scotia in 1990, I vowed to avoid boats as subject matter. I did the same thing when the Harry Potter series came out ; eschew the popular, explore the enigmatic... but for what? and really - why?. However, individual biases dropped as reason prevailed, and conversely dreams intervened as reason devolved. We're all conscious of the cycle of life, and in it art always produces the requisite metaphor whether one makes pictures, or is provoked to ponder them. The boat is the alpha and omega of the Maritimes, and if one lives here long enough, it is accepted as a the big metaphor for the life cycle, so willingly or unwillingly, it becomes an index for meaning, a modus operandi for the painter at large.


A boat is unique in that it is built like a person. It has a skeletal structure that lasts long after the covering disintegrates. However, were one to see a boat deteriorating on a beach one might deduce that the ribs (rames) of that boat will no doubt decay, long before similar ribs are continually created in the sand by timeless waves and particulate matter, a sculpted relief that intentionally arranges and rearranges our related metaphysical patterns for eventual analogy and tangible metaphor.



                                   Flash Lightning, oil on canvas, 40" x 58", Steven Rhude, private collection.


First installment: The dory is the first and only boat I will likely ever desire to own. Like a newborn, it represents our initiation into life. It is fundamental to the culture of the Maritimes, and swaddled in a colour of dory buff; it is without doubt the progeny of a deity intent to "givith and to taketh away." A funerial declaration of "ashes to ashes" at birth when life is full of newness, it echoes while we admire our newfound purity of expression. Lightning has struck and we are eventually told that thematically this is the beginning of the end.



Water Taxi, oil on panel 24" x 24", Steven Rhude



Our second installment in the metaphorical order of the boat is "Water Taxi" . In a vessel that is being towed by an invisible spirit, we have grown into quite a collection of persona with no real direction. This boat is not meant for leisure, fishing or racing, conversely it is the prototype of the ferry. It's strength lies in its dependability. Its creator is delighted with it's purpose and reliability. The cargo on the other hand leaves their home for further destinations. It is the beginning of consciousness where invisible forces are imposed without reason.




Lunenburg Boat and Voice of Fire, National Gallery, oil on canvas, Steven Rhude



The third installment is a life boat that has made its way in the creators mind from the wharf to the museum for all to see. It hangs in the autumn of its life, an aesthetic symbol with the security of knowing its real purpose was once a saver of lives. It had retained good health while being there for others in times of duress. At sea it flashes in the back of the minds of those that have relative emotional stability but are aware of the unpredictability of what the head doctors refer to as ""self-actualization." In the twilight hours it represents grace in the face of adversity. It hears the voices of fire, it is a prelude to Elliot's Wasteland, Dante's Inferno, and St. Paul's treatise on love.




Canoe Lake 1917, oil on canvas, 40" x 96", Steven Rhude, private collection



Last Installment. Tom Thomson, a once proud warrior of the Canadian north, with a feverish brush made up with oil and dirt, met his eternal voyage with one final violent chord. His boat, like all eventual boats in art, becomes a sepulchre. Thomson's is a boat of pathos that will never dissolve. Charon the ferryman will need to right this boat in order to carry the soul of Thomson to the underworld. We on the other hand are left to ponder this cycle and the residue of what remains . Our memories of boats are shape shifters while our dreams of them are not bound by truth.


Steven Rhude, Wolfville, NS










More boat images.





Boat at Brigus, oil on canvas, 30" x 48", Steven Rhude






                                                Boat on a Cliff, oil on canvas, Steven Rhude




                                                                     The Fortunate Isles, oil on canvas, Steven Rhude





                                                     Woman in a Boat, oil on canvas, Steven Rhude






                                                     Dory on a Wharf, oil on canvas, Steven Rhude






                                                                  Flash Lightning, oil on canvas, Steven Rhude







                     Lunenburg Boat and Voice of Fire, National Gallery, oil on canvas, Steven Rhude





Dories on a Road, oil on canvas, Steven Rhude



                                                             Water Taxi, oil on panel, Steven Rhude






Canoe Lake, 1917, oil on canvas, Steven Rhude

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