Pool, Two Ways

Pool, Two Ways

"There’s a poignancy to being a swimmer now, in that we’re not able to do it just when we need it most. But even though public pools are closed and we are limited in the wild places where we can swim, thinking about immersion in our favorite watering holes is still a balm. From afar, it gleams and glistens, a shiny liquid jewel. It swirls, fans, and coalesces, embracing you. It holds you and yet cannot be held by you." - Bonnie Tsui, "Why We Swim"

While you are swimming you are not entirely tethered to the earth. Your world is liquid, your sounds are breathing and splashing. It is an activity made for introverts. I have been swimming regularly for 45 years; many of those years I swam every day. Now my body physically aches to be enveloped in water. I think about my first swim post-COVID; how it will feel to plunge in, push off, and take that first deep breath. Soon, I hope. Very soon.

I have been creating digital homages in Photoshop to water, pools, and swimming for many years. This particular piece is a combination of two larger pieces: the lane line tiles on the pool floor, and the abstract pattern and color of water in motion.

Created 2020-05

Digital image created in Photoshop