Galen Mercer's Fly Fishing Art

When we queried artist Galen Mercer, who is MidCurrent‘s featured artist this month, on the background to his saltwater work, he had a very interesting response: “It was July in Key West and hotter than hell both times. We chased permit all over the place, and were chased by vigorous tropical storms in turn. I loved it, and recall being especially floored by the ocean colors, which resembled glazes on ancient Chinese pottery. As we had lots of weather, that is where I put the emphasis. These are brushy, rather fluid things, each done in one session.” If you take a look at his paintings of Keys waters

, you may find it hard to believe that they were painted in a single sitting. But maybe that is what it takes to capture the light of thunderstorms, which is both brilliant and foreboding.