Mermaid at Strands Beach
COMMISSION SALE OF AN ORIGINAL: Dana Point, California, 1993-ish: A television producer commissions a "Realistic" mermaid concept sketch and pays out $3K. He's recovering from runaway diabetes. He recently lost a leg. I come up with a tattoo concept--with the expected scar shades of ink--and once the stump is healed completely, we add a few appropriate bull shark tooth scars in the appropriate bite pattern.
He ends up married to a lovely girl from Luzon, Philippines. Fast forward to 1997. His health crashed, and he died. His missus decided to return to the Philippines and she didn't want this drawing, so she returned it to me. Can you imagine? Go figure!
The model for this drawing perfectly replicated a very famous seafoam pose originated by former Victoria's Secret Angel Stephanie Seymour and actually worked as a hotel concierge at the Ritz Carlton which overlooks Strands Beach.
A well known original member of the first Victoria's Secret Angels models mailed me eight-by-ten glossies from a South Pacific photo shoot. She became my mermaid. The juvenile gull was one which I fostered and raised.