Sail of Many Colours

When we were out sailing one day this boat buzzed behind us very close to our stern. I joked with my husband Robert that the sailor was posing just so I could take photos of his boat, which I, of course, did straight away.

The light that day was silvery, filtering through a high overcast and very intriguing. The thing that caught my eye most of all, though, was the sail. What is interesting about sails is that they are not simply flat triangles of fabric. Rather sails are constructed of angled fabric panels cut and pieced together to give it a slight bag-shape that catches the wind.

This boat had a high tech sail made of a fabric that reflected the odd light of the day in a way that made my artist's heart sing. It glowed where the sun came through, and yet there were cooler notes bouncing up from the water below, giving it an aura of aged copper and silver. Each panel of the sail was a slightly different shade and the reinforced patches and seams introduced yet more colours.