‘Lure of the Tide’

11×14 Acrylics on Illustration Board

Prints are high quality on 80lb Premium Satin stock

A continuation of my 2018 piece “Wrath of the Kelpies”, “Lure of the Tide” pushes my earlier concept and stands as a personal hallmark of my strengths as an artist.

Kelpies are originally Celtic/Scottish folklore; the story goes that Kelpies are so beautiful and mysterious, people, especially sailors and children, could not help being drawn in by them. Once they touched the steed, they were stuck to it, and the beast would drag them down to the depths of the ocean to consume them. In my early research of Kelpies, I learned the Clydesdale horse was originally bred in Scotland! Immediately I connected the strength and size of these popular drafts to the kelpie story, using their powerful body to represent the power and majesty of the ocean, the horses large feathered feet now made of sea foam as it rises from the tide. Hidden in the foam are the hints of its victims, a subtle and menacing twist as a mane of seaweed whips in the sunlight and its tail drags across the oceans surface.

This piece made its debut at the 2025 67th annual Mystic Outdoor Art Festival! See more info about the festival and other artists here at https://visitmystic.info/blog/