Bruce Bingham's Plein Air Diving Competition

Plein Air Diving Competition

Bruce Bingham

A funny thing happened.....

on the Jersey Shore

hilarious really if it didn't happen to you.

The Place:

I spent an entire afternoon painting Polly's Bait and Tackle on a dock on the bayside.

It's was very windy so I tied a beach umbrella around a piling and set

up my easel in the shade underneath.

I kept my left hand on the easel the whole time even though it was

heavily weighted down.

Until I didn't.

Honestly I felt the wind had died down late in the afternoon,

and I was getting tired, and I needed to clean my brush.

So for one second I took my left hand off and THAT was THE MOMENT

my entire painting kit did a back flip off the dock 

four feet down into the murky water.

My jaw dropped with shock!  

Just before I shouted a four letter exclamation (oops) in front of

a deck full of families eating dinner after taking a ride on the Pirate Ship,

most of which turned to look as I jumped into the water before everything floated

away on the tide.

After all I still had another day, I needed my stuff!

I knew it was low tide but it was deeper than I thought!

The Ugly Truth:

Everything you see here except the umbrella went in,

the palette box, backpack, easel, painting, me....

The Challenge:

It was clearly more challenging getting out than it was getting in.

After all it was a boat dock and not a swimming area.

But I didn't even think about that until a nice group of ladies ran over to ask if I was OK and

"Can you get out"? 

hummmmm

I hauled myself into a near by boat, no small feat I might add,

and they helped pull the ropes in so I could reach the dock.

Nice peeps, we'll probably keep in touch.

Most everything was salvaged successfully.

My new fried Polly from Polly's Bait and Tackle let me use her crab net

to fish out my turp can, part of it at least, once I realized it was missing and

the water settled down enough for me to see something shinny on the bottom.

Everybody need a little help from their friends:)

The plein air adventure continues.....

Next time more about the show and what I painted there...

Thanks for following along!

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