How Can Coastal Scenery And The Sea Inspire Fine Art?

Art lovers who admire the works of Carla Raads may be struck by the influence of the sea, both in terms of the scenic element and the way this can be adapted to create a sense of abstraction.

It may come as little surprise to note that Carla has spent most of her life living close to the sea, first on the rugged coast of South Africa’s Eastern Cape and now in Lytham on the Lancashire coast.

Just as inland landscapes have their own character, often rooted in a largely unchanging scene and its associated sense of permanence, the sea offers something dramatic, ever-changing, always active, and yet as permanent as any river or mountain.

Indeed, the ocean has inspired some very famous paintings, which have frequently combined the raw power of nature with the abstract or metaphorical.

These include The Great Wave by Japanese artist Katushika Hokusai. This image, with a vast wave threatening to swamp two boats, depicts Japan’s iconic Mount Fuji occupying a distant but central point in the picture, pointing to something more than the power of nature.

Painted in 1831 at a time of Japanese isolation from the rest of the world, the image takes on the metaphor of the perceived threat of other nations to Japanese culture, with the permanence of Mount Fuji offering a fixed point of permanence in contrast with the roiling waters.

Many other famous paintings focus primarily on the power of the sea, such as The Ninth Wave by Ivan Aivazovsky, or Snow Storm - Steam Boat Off A Harbour’s Mouth by JW Turner, better known for his landscape pictures of the flat East Anglian countryside.

Whether it is the raw power of the sea, the combination of the sea with rugged coasts, or the desire to add metaphor, this is a rich source of inspiration. In drawing from this, contemporary artists like Carla Raads are drawing on a rich tradition.