AR TIS T eascape artist Walfrido

Garcia could have died for his ar t. He traveled by boat early in the morning with his family to see lava flow from Kilauea on May

playing Pink Floyd and assuring Garcia and his family that he had been doing the route since he was a toddler. “I felt like I was in Apocalypse Now,”

21, 2012—the day that marked the end of the world, as popularized by the Mayan calendar. “Even if the world didn’t end, mine

Garcia joked a little—but only a little. “I can’t believe the captain knew where he was going.” Garcia and his family persevered, all

could have easily ended there,” Garcia said, recalling that he, his wife and sons, and the boat’s captain journeyed through pure darkness and 10-foot swells. “It felt like hell or high water.” The boat captain remained calm,

28

for the love of the sea and the spirit of adventure. “To be a seascape ar tist, you really

have to love the sea,” Garcia said. “I live my compositions. Everything that I do is something that is created from my memory and imagination.” Despite such adventurous context,

FEA TURE

WALFRIDO GARCIA S

water and light

Garcia’s work is peaceful and romantic, synthesizing

from

memory and imagination—a style he calls Romantic Luminism. “I learned to define art as making

a transparent wave,” Garcia said. “It gives you a peace of mind and inspires the soul and really just puts us more in touch with love from within looking outwards.” Garcia is currently focusing on a

“less is more” philosophy in his work, with plans for big projects such as incorporating architecture with his seascapes—showing the profile of cities through their skylines and through light.

OFF THE EASEL MAGAZINE – FALL 2016