“Vern Weighing Shrimp” 14″ x 11″ Acrylic on Canvas (sold)

“Vern Weighing Shrimp” is the first of a series of paintings from Clyde Phillips Seafood in Swansboro, NC, that will soon be available at Tidewater Gallery in Swansboro.

Over a two-day period some weeks ago, I had the opportunity to spend many hours at Clyde Phillips Seafood taking pictures and learning more about the fishing industry in Swansboro. Clyde Phillips is one of the few remaining “old-timey” seafood markets in North Carolina. No doubt the market has been freshened up over the years. However, Clyde’s still retains many of the old “look and feel” traditions of seafood markets that are fast diminishing in this country.

As I walk in the front door, all of my senses are immediately alerted to the fact that I am in a seafood market. It is easy to imagine that things have not changed radically over the years at Clyde’s -  even with freshly painted white walls, bright, tropical green trim, and comfortably padded rocking chairs for “staying and visiting awhile.”  Old, black and white photographs of commercial fishing boats and crew from days long past adorn the walls like trophies. New colored photos join the old on the walls to help create a virtual history of this special place and the community it serves. Customers, both local and summer vacationers, form a steady stream into the market to see the catch that has just arrived and make their selections for the  evening’s dinner.

My many visits to the Swansboro area indicate to me that Clyde Phillips is truly adored by the Swansboro community and it’s summer tourists. It is as though everyone knows that one day Clyde’s will no longer be as it is today -  a thriving, vibrant hub for fresh, local seafood… a place where old-timers still tell stories of days past.. and locals share their life-long passion and enthusiasm with a stranger who says she wants to paint pictures of their day’s work.

I had the opportunity to see fishing boats and shrimpers coming in to deliver the day’s catch in the back of the market. Fascinated, I keenly surveyed the seafood coming off the boats, being cleaned, weighed, iced down and packaged for shipping… and asked a lot of questions. Proudly, all questions were met with answers to help educate this unfamiliar observer. I watched other ships being loaded with ice to depart for a week-long trip to the Pamlico Sound. Throughout my visit, I had the freedom to just follow around the fishermen and the Clyde’s staff just to see what would happen next.

I met fishermen – captains and crew -  who not surprisingly told some tall fishing tales of times long gone. One gentleman, a local photographic chronicler of Clyde’s,  shared his own digital photos from his camera with me. I impressed upon him that I was not there to “take his job,” but only to take pictures for my artwork.

As well, I was able to watch the guy’s at Clyde’s cleaning fish and shrimp to be freshly and immediately prepared for retail sales. In the painting above, Vern was weighing freshly caught shrimp for a regular customer’s purchase. In the background, there are a couple of kids checking the latest news on their PDA’s. Ahh… the old – and the new – both have a home at Clyde’s!

I do not know Vern’s story or how he ended up at Clyde’s, but I do know that he is beloved by the locals and tourists alike. I do not usually paint people, as this is not my strength…  However I found Vern to be an interesting character – a character I felt compelled to try to paint as accurately as possible. My sense is that he has a story to tell…  a much longer story than my brush can bristle. I wanted to find a way to somehow memorialize Vern’s work at Clyde’s as one of the familiar and cherished staples of the Swansboro community…  And, in Vern’s words.. “Maybe we’ll be famous!”

Here’s to you, Vern!

I owe a sincere “thank-you” to Jimmy Phillips and the crew at Clyde Phillips Seafood! Stay tuned! There is much more to come!