Have you ever wondered what life was like under the sea? Painter Monique Nerman explores nautical themes in her work and intricately elaborates on the mystical aspect of life by the sea.

The sea has always been a major part of Nerman’s life. She learned to free dive with her father as a child and also held positions as an underwater camera operator and professional scuba diver.

In several of her pieces, Nerman paints mermaids, the fairy-tale creatures that roam the depths of the sea. With exquisite use of color, attention to detail and smooth strokes, Nerman creates a whimsical universe of exotic mermaids. “I take the colors and patterns from the tropical seas and make them my own with my paintings”, says Nerman.

There is a sexual undertone that celebrates survival and the cycle of life as these carefully painted creatures come to life on canvas and intrigue the viewer. Onlookers are left to wonder, “What is life like under the sea?”

The World by Monique Nerman

In Nerman’s painting to the right entitled The World, onlookers create the world that they live in, adding and subtracting details of their surroundings as they see fit.

In the painting The World the body of the mermaid is designed with replicas of the country of Mexico, Cuba and the Bahamas.

In the center of the piece, golden dots are splashed to represent the Republic of the Maldives, where Nerman lived for 2 years and has shown several of her paintings. The Republic of the Maldives is an archipelago of 1200 islands. There, one is surrounded by the expanse of the sea and dependent upon the deep waters that border the islands.

In this painting, every brush stroke and embellishment depicts the fine points and seemingly irrelevant details that make up the world from an individual’s perspective.

Where Everyone Should Be by Monique Nerman

In the painting Where Everyone Should Be, the central theme is about finding a place of fulfillment and self-assurance in life, sentiments that everyone should feel.

The mermaid lays casually on the sands of the Saba island soaking up the sun. She is clearly happy with life by the water. The island represents youth. On the road from young to older and wiser, an array of emotions, memories, and dreams are left on the sands of reality. The ocean comes and washes away what life lessons and disappointments forced us to leave buried in the islands’ sands.

The piece was completed while Nerman lived in St. Maarten in the Caribbean. With this work, Nerman was inspired by the journey that ends in the comfort of knowing oneself and being pleased with it.

The first photo at the top right of the article is the work of Biliana Rakocevic

More of Monique Nerman’s work can be found at www.imagesbelow.com

If you were an artist, how would you paint the life with water as a theme?

With the idea of Nerman, how would your world look?

What would life by the sea look like to you?