'Deceased Salmon Portraits'

The first time I stepped foot on the slimy, seaweed covered pebbles of Solomon Gultch Fish Hatchery I was completely overwhelmed. I inhaled the salty air and smelled death. Not rot. Not old death that makes you gag and run away. This was fresh. It almost smelled good. Almost. I shut the car door and we proceeded down the path to the shoreline. I was with my family who had just moved there (to Valdez, AK.) When we got to the water I heard it before I saw it. So, I smelled it, then I heard it, then I saw it. The ocean was teeming with salmon. 

Roaring sea lions ripping their heads off, then swallowing them whole. Eagles soaring above, and seagulls pecking their eyes out. There were bodies littering the sands. At first it appeared dark and twisted. I thought about the wasted salmon meat soon to rot on the shore. But then I considered the flies that would lay their eggs in them, and the maggots that would be born in their flesh. It became beautiful. Well, it always was beautiful but I grew to view it as such. A magnificent, intense, visual of the life cycle. These paintings are all based on photographs I took of the salmon, dead, yes, but filled, absolutely, with life.