One of the most popular pieces of artwork that I sell at The Sandy Sea Shell is our dolphin mosaic.
We were inspired by the recurring themes of dolphins in art and how they stand out in our ideas about the romance of the sea. Humans have long had a fascination with Dolphins, particularly seafaring cultures. Some of the earliest known depictions of dolphins come from the island of Crete. The Minoans who lived there painted an astonishing fresco called the Akrotiri Dolphins depicting the animals in exquisitely preserved details.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Akrotiri_dolphins.jpg
Other cultures also have a fascination with Dolphins. The Dolphins of the river Ganges are said to be signs of the Goddess Ganga's descent from the heavens.
Dionysus the Greek God of Wine and Fertility was said to have been captured by pirates. He used his divine powers to scupper the ship but taking pity of the pirates who through themselves over board he transformed them into dolphins to help save drowning sailors.
This perhaps gets to the mystique of dolphins, how closely they resemble humans. The indigenous people of the Amazon believe that the Boto river dolphins are in fact shape shifters that can walk on land and have children with humans.
They are after all known to travel in packs with deep bonds of friendship and family between them. They chatter in a language who's sophistication is hard to grasp. They have brains as large as humans and engage in play and mourning behaviors.
It's not surprising then that humans find so much fascination in dolphins. They combine so much we recognize with an other worldly quality. That's what makes the seaside such a significant place and why I love sea shells. They offer a chance to bring something from that world back into our homes.
Arranging these mementos into the image of a dolphin, that creature that most reminds us of ourselves beneath the sea creates a wonderful reminder of the romance and mystery of the ocean.
