Charlie King - lobsterman - Mattituck

watercolor with mixed media, (23 x 27) SOLD

(see descriptive below photo)

This is a painting of Charlie King. He’s a lobsterman from Mattituck. Originally from Rhode Island, he told me how he first came over from Connecticut to set winkle pots in the sound but they caught more lobsters than winkles. They decided to come over this way and try lobstering and he’s been here ever since.

As I spoke to him more I found that Charlie had a lot of diversified jobs before he was a bayman. He was quite proud of days in the machine shop, as well as his time in the Navy. He came to working on the water, not because he couldn’t make a living with other things, but because he loved the water and got hooked. He said it gets in your blood and that’s it!

Sitting with him in his kitchen, surrounded by a large display of old family photos, there was the charm of earlier times - where you’d almost expect to reach for a Pepsi in the ice box , not a refrigerator.

Charlie recited poetry off the top of his head, as my own grandfather used to do when I was young.

In his bayman portrait, Charlie is in front of an old fashioned wood and wire lobster pot, as is fitting for a man deep seated in tradition.