SWIM FREE 2023

"Swim Free 1 and 2," Montana BLACK spray paint and acrylic paint on glass Coke bottles.

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It's been six years since my mother died. On each July 10, some of my family members gather to honor her life and remember her death with art, conversation, and food.

A few days before her death, I painted a small octopus on the Bremerton Art Walls. On the first and second anniversaries, I returned to paint larger octopuses there. Then the octopus (Ann) escaped from the wall and started to truly swim free. She became a small block print, a pole puppet that made a pilgrimage to the Walls, painted rocks that were hidden near the Walls, and, now, Coke bottle garden art.

My mother loved Coke. She loved to drink it and she collected Coca-Cola paraphernalia. So it seemed appropriate to marry the "swim free" Octopus with Coke bottles. My original plan was to simply paint them so they could be placed in a garden or on a shelf. I placed them on bamboo stakes in my garden so I could paint them hands free. Once I had them inverted, however, and the base coat of spray paint applied, I realized that the stake could be part of the art and they could reside in the garden or flower beds.

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It was a wonderful day to reminisce and remember, to paint and eat, to just hang out together as a family on my father's deck. Swim Free 2023 is in the books and it was a good day.