The village where I live is a very small close-knit community. When two of our number where lost at sea whilst securing moorings it hit us all very hard. The search for the bodies went on for several days amid gales and intermittant lulls in the storm. This painting was completed whilst the boats were still searching and although I, like everyone else was clinging to the hope that the two men would be found alive, as time passed in seemed ever more unlikely. The painting is deeply emotional to me and in the painting of it I poured in all of the frustration of the search and grief of the loss. Technically speaking I used acrylics on a 20" x 20" stretched cotton canvas frame. The canvas was first painted with brush and then finished with palette knife. I used a dark base color to bring a greater intesity to the lighter palette knife work above. All the palette knife work was done with long sweeping strokes to keep a fluidity of feeling and a sense of motion.