Lee Mothes | watercolor

Lee Mothes loves nature, especially the ocean, and has been fascinated by beaches, waves, and the ocean’s energy as far back as he can remember. He grew up on the California coast, spent most of his childhood on the beach, and began drawing beaches and waves (and imagined tsunamis and other disasters) while still in grade school. He studied art at Cal State University at Long Beach, California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, and received his Bachelors Degree in Art at Western Oregon University. In 1987 he and his wife Vicki moved to Wisconsin from Oregon to raise their three daughters and be near family.

It was probably the irony of being away from the ocean that compelled Lee to spend a lot more time painting it than he otherwise would have. He found that he could “be there” by painting imagined beaches not so much from California but from some other place. In 1990 he began creating and exhibiting his ocean paintings full-time beginning with art festivals and expanding into gallery shows and commissioned work.

A few years later he began to think about what kind of “other place” these images were coming from and he came up with The Commonwealth of New Island. Over the years he has “documented” the history of this imaginary island-nation and its free-thinking, nature-loving culture. The island now has a guidebook, maps, coins, stamps, a flag, and a website so anyone can visit or even “relocate” to New Island by obtaining residency and a two-acre building site!

In 1997 Lee opened his studio website, www.oceansanddreams.com, and this year has opened a new blog-format site called Rusty’s Beach, www.rustysbeach.com. Here he talks about his paintings and growing up near the beach in Southern California. New Island can be visited at www.newisland.net.

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On the Path Near North Cape	Winter Morning