These pictures are
immediately recognizable to Alameda/Oakland ferry riders. It’s impossible to
ride that line and not goggle at the passing scenery of freighters, cranes and
tugboats.
It’s hard to explain why I think the Estuary is beautiful. My
first thought is of my bulldog: he’s so ugly that he’s beautiful. But unlike
my bulldog, the Estuary is man-made; it was cut in the early 1900’s to
accommodate shipping, making an artificial island out of Alameda in the process.
Also, what you see happening in the Estuary is hardly a pastoral
natural scene. It’s pumping with commercial activity, huge ships filled with
goods coming and going, the very aorta of Bay Area commercialism.
Yet then and still, the Estuary has an undeniably artistic
effect. Sometimes, when riding the ferry, I see my fellow riders stunned into an
almost reverential silence by the passing of an oceangoing vessel, so absurdly
huge that for a moment you feel like a character out of Alice in Wonderland.
It’s quite a different flavor of awe than what is experienced when passing a
natural wonder like Angel Island, or even a static man-made marvel like the Bay
Bridge.
So it was that my eye was caught when I recently happened
upon an art exhibit while passing through the lobby of 101 California, an office
building in San Francisco’s Financial District.
These scenes are by Bay Area artist Jan Lassetter. She is
inspired by what she describes as the "complexity and beauty of the
marine-industrial image". The absurdly oversized loading cranes —
Lassetter calls them her "horses" – that were George Lucas’
inspiration for the walking beasts in Star Wars represent a
"juxtaposition of hard, dense solid metal against soft, fluid, translucent
sky and water".
In the course of Lassetter’s long and distinguished career
she has studied in Japan and Germany and taught at many places including the San
Francisco Art Institute. Her paintings appear in many public and private
collections and can be seen locally at the Oakland Art Museum and the Port of
Oakland. For further information, call 510-891-0343.
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| "TUG FOR TWO"
oil on linen, 45" by 66" |
"This tug boat I liked — I also liked the tug boat
company. It’s Crowley. And this tug boat came in only for two or three
minutes. Luckily I had a camera. I could take a few snaps. Then the tug pushed
in whatever it was pushing — this barge. And then it left. Later, I was out
photographing it in its little berth and some person came out from the office
and said, "Pardon me, but are you from a law office?" And I said,
"Oh, no, I’m not. I’m an artist and I love this tug boat. I want to
paint it." They were so relieved that they weren’t being sued for
something they offered to take me out and then they had the tug boat driver come
and spin it around in the harbor so I could get some really good shots of it.
The reason it’s called "Tug for Two" is because there is a double
reflection. I’m told that this tug has been retired to mothballs."
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| "PEGASUS"
oil on linen, 60" by 42" (1992) |
"I called this one "Pegasus" because it looked like a big
white horse to me. Actually these buildings you see in front are no longer
there. They are gone."
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| "BIG RED"
44" by 66", Oil on Linen (1988) |
"I was down in Santa Barbara just having a good time on the beach and I
saw this wonderful dredge out doing work in the harbor."Big Red" is
now painted green and owned by someone else."
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| "HOOK ‘EM"
oil on linen, 45" by 62" (1990) |
