View Down the Waterway, Holden Beach, 36 x 46 inches, oil on canvas. “The bow of the boat was sticking out of the shed. They were still planking the boat,” he says. “You go up and see where somebody has worked each individual piece of wood. It’s just so fascinating to see that; I’m sure they make wooden boats in other places. … I think it’s a representation of the culture of North Carolina.” Highsmith appreciates the indigenous Harkers Island boat form: the vertical bow, the flat bottom. “The sides sweep down, have the most wonderful curve,” he says. “Typically they’re not going out far from shore. … The smaller boats used for fishing the sound, not more than five miles from shore, most of the larger ones are older boats, are wooden.” Highsmith’s boat paintings have floated around the state’s fine art galleries and fine dining restaurants, notably the Irregardless Café in Raleigh, where he trades canvases featuring subsistence-based fishing boats for meals. 65 www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM
Wrightsville Beach Magazine May 2015
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