Days Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten

Well, I've been so very busy between painting and shoveling snow that I've neglected my duties as a blogger. But, having burned myself out, I present to you, the reader, my finished painting. I am varnishing it in between typing, and have just finished submitting in time for the Pensacola show. Now I bite my nails for three weeks while I wait for the letter.

Curtain Call, Acrylic, 18 X 32"

Detail of U-853

Detail of Bradley

The brief description submitted, which will hang on the wall next to the painting if I'm juried in:

Curtain Call
On 5 May 1945, just days after Germany's capitulation, Ensign John Bradley was flying a TBM-3E Avenger at low level on a training mission over Block Island Sound when his radioman, ARM-2 Clifford Brinson, spotted the distinctive "laundry-basket" conning tower and angular hull of a type IX-C U-boat, U-853, as it breached the flats off of Montauk Point. Observing strict radio silence, Bradley turned and sped at wavetop height to Quonset Point NAS, where he reported the sighting. It is unclear why no immediate action was taken, but late that afternoon the collier Black Point was torpedoed in shallow water. Three destroyers in the area quickly responded and intercepted U-853, dropping over 200 depth charges and sinking it with all hands. It was the last U-boat sunk in American waters. Today it lies in 120 feet of water just off of Point Judith, RI, and is a popular but treacherous dive site. Bradley went on to fly Mariners and Marlins for the Navy, retiring as a Commander, and resides in Rhode Island.

Onward! I've got a surprise project laid down and lined up for painting, and then two or three really good ideas to be developed. Stay tuned.