Mamma Sarah's Straw Market

As I mentioned in my May 8th blog entry, I am starting an Island Time series of paintings which will feature life on the islands I have visited in my scuba diving travels. I have already painted one I call Mamma Sarah's Straw Market and as promised, I have completed another view of the same market which is posted here and on my website under Newest Paintings.


Mamma Sarah Hutchinson is a 92 year old Bahamian woman who lives on Harbour Island, which lies about 100 miles east of Miami in the Bahamas chain. She runs a roadside straw market where she sells handmade straw hats, straw mats, straw bags, dolls and colorful fabrics. She doesn't open her stand herself much anymore because she says she has "the grouch in her foot."

Seeing the tiny colorful buildings on the less populated islands that I have visited, makes one wish, if just for a moment, that you too could live this simpler life. Picture this.....fewer cars, if any at all, no loud industry, no rushing from here to there, no palm pilots.........and the list goes on and on. Since this isn't possible for the majority of us, I hope that you can get a feeling for island life from my paintings.