Sealover - Solo Exhibition, Geraldton

400 Seagulls / Lynda Howitt / 91x91cm / oil on canvas / 2019

The sea has always known how to change how we feel. Step close enough and something in you quiets. Opens. Returns.

Sealover was my solo exhibition of new works exploring exactly that, the ocean's natural ability to bring us back to a state of peace. Seascapes and SoulCircles, side by side, each one an invitation into stillness.

Among the works was 400 Seagulls.

Four hundred seagulls, one for each year since Frederick de Houtman made the first recorded European discovery of the Houtman Abrolhos Islands in 1619. I painted them in the blues and turquoise of the Abrolhos, sky and sea flowing together, wind on the waves. Lighter blues for a sailor's optimism. Darker blues for the depths, the unknown, unexplored thoughts and emotions that don't surface easily, hidden from view just as those islands were on that dark starry night.

For seafarers across history, the seagull meant land was near. After weeks of open ocean, that first sighting carried everything, hope, relief, the courage to keep going. High above, they soar with freedom and grace. A reminder that there is always more still to be discovered.

400 Seagulls was gifted to the THE CITY OF GREATER GERALDTON for their permanent collection.

Sealover ran from 22 June to 31 July 2019 at the Geraldton Visitor Centre, Marine Terrace, Geraldton, Western Australia.

Celebrating Balayi Open Your Eyes Houtman 400
Special thanks to THE NORTH midlands Project