River Queen & The Captain’s Bride

Widow Jenkins lived in our town for close to 50 years. She had been the bride of Steamboat Captain. He was the love of her life. He disappeared during the First World War.

We all knew her Captain’s fate was at the bottom of the sea, as many sailors who went to war, but the widow never accepted the obvious. She’d frequently say that she had just heard from him and he was coming for her soon. She had no telephone. The mailman swore he had never delivered a letter from the Captain. The town’s people knew it was just the ramblings of an old woman with a broken heart and left her to her fantasy.

The last time I visited Widow Jenkins, she showed me the spring flowers in her garden. She giggled and said, “These are the Captain’s favorite. He’s going to be so pleased when he sees them.”

She took me into her parlor and went to get us both a cup of tea. The interior of her house looked like a maritime museum full of his old memorabilia. A painting above the mantel was of two steamboats docked at a small harbor town. She said it was the Captain’s boat. He had commissioned the work from an artist who lived near the docks.

I think it was a Saturday in April when the Widow Jenkins disappeared. Law enforcement was called to her home; quite sure she had been a victim of foul play. Oddly, all her possessions were as she had left them and there was no sign of break-in or disturbance.

When I heard, I ran to her house as fast as I could. Entering her parlor, I noticed her little eye glasses set on a table near two cups of tea. An officer approached me and questioned when I last seen the Widow Jenkins.

As I told the officer about our last visit, my eyes landed on the steamboat painting above the mantel. I had never noticed that a bride stood on the deck of the boat with the Captain. Her arm was raised as if she was waving goodbye.
Vikki

My painting is based on the Delta Queen Built in 1927, she is one of America’s last remaining paddle-wheeled steamboats and designated a National Historic Landmark.
She took her last voyage a few months ago and is now permanently docked . For more information on her last voyage -
http://www.wsaz.com/home/headlines/30567589.html
To partcipate in preservation of the Delta Queen.
http://www.save-the-delta-queen.org/

The painting is called ‘River Queens’. It is 16”x20”/ acrylic on Canvas For this blog only the original is priced at $250. “12 x 16” Paper prints can be purchased for $69. (Prints are made on request.)

Please visit my gallery to see more of my work.

And if you haven’t visited The Artist Challenge and Dante’s Pub, you’re missing all the fun. Here’s where to find us.

http://www.theredchairgallery.com/
http://www.theartistchallenge.com/

This is an artist blog. My stories are fictional and solely for the purpose of entertaining my readers and marketing my paintings.