The process of painting Sally the Octopus:
During my first few years of college, I worked as an Aquarist at the Scripps Aquarium in San Diego, feeding and cleaning a great variety of ocean animals. Among the brilliant creatures I had the pleasure of working with was a giant Octopus named, Sally.
A large female cephalopod had recently been caught for the aquarium, off the chili Washington coast. My boss must have noticed my excitement for the new arrival. “What ever you do Aaron, don't name her,” … naturally I asked her, “why not!”? Her response has never left me … “because you'll fall in love with her.” Ignoring her funny warning, I immediately took markers to paper, and drew a colorful name tag above her Aquarium, it was the first name to pop in to my head, “Sally.” Over the years to come, this wonderful animal became my dear friend. Sally was fearlessly curious, powerful and fascinating. I remember the first few times I fed her. “Behind the scenes,” the aquarium felt like it was all mine, I did good work and was trusted quickly to take care of precious wonders like Sally. Feeding time was always tremendous fun, always fascinating. I loved testing Sally’s brilliance, she was incredibly intelligent. Barely touching the surface ripples with a chunk of mackerel was enough for her to catch the taste in the water and come explore. By the end of the feeding my forearms were covered in large hickies, red spots due to her suckers clinging to my arms. I couldn't get enough of that animals curious touch. The sensation was remarkable, each and every sucker moving with total independence, all together in a perfect locomotion. As time went on, she seemed to grow a knowledge of me, a trust. She went from pulling me, to a tender and inviting caress, bringing me closer everyday to tell me her secrets.
I remember the day I fed her for the last time. She was big that day. Ready to entice her with my freshly sliced bucket of fish head chum, I find that she's already at the surface, awaiting me to unlock the safety gate of her aquarium. I remember her glossy eyes and head slowly breaking the waters surface. Her skins color was a brilliant red and orange, subtly changing in ways I've never seen. I could almost feel the color. Using several of her arms now, she wraps herself around both of mine, gently tugging at me. Im amazed at her insistence, as if she were asking me to pay attention. Suddenly, her colors begin to change dramatically now, shifting throughout the spectrum. I remember seeing greens and purples and even blue, florescence in the most gorgeous patterns. In between her eyes, arguably the location of Sally’s “third eye,” the colors lightened, as if to actually Give light. The color there was brilliantly glowing. What happened next still makes little sense to me today. but it happened.
I felt a pressure on my own “third eye,” something I knew nearly nothing about then. A feeling as if someone were taking their thumb and pushing down deeply in to me, through the space above and between my eyes. Covered in goosebumps and suckers, I look away, and I attempt to pull out of her grip, but she in turn would easily bring me back in to "position." Our eyes were locked again, and the intensity became enough that I began feeling uncomfortable. This discomfort then shook, relaxed, and I simply gave in. I felt a rush of light in my mind, a peaceful moment of a unity flowing through us. I could remember hearing a deep rumbling base intensifying all around. In those moments, I belonged to her, I belonged to the sea.
And then, as if to say good-by, she let go all at once and gracefully submerged in to her corner cave. In the years that I had spent time with Sally, never had she been so firm in trying to communicate with me. Although we were from completely different worlds, we did speak to each-other. It seems to me, we perhaps spoke on the one frequency that we both shared … love. In those fleeting moments, I felt a harmony that I haven't felt in the same way since, a “Oneness” with the soul of a creature, a deep and profound love with, in this case, the soul of an Octopus.
The very next day, Sally had managed to pick her locked gate and jump in to 3 surrounding exhibit tanks for dinner, before she “drowned” on the concrete floor. Sally was simply too smart for the world she had been confined to, and she had perhaps decided it was finally time to leave, even if it meant leaving directly through heavens door.
Over a year ago now, Sally visited me in a vivid and beautiful dream, she reached out of the darkness of a deep blue sea, and came to hold me, to tell me her secrets once again. This painting (re)presents that sacred visitation, moments before we entangled into a shared dream. Taking her out of the sea of my subconscious and on to the canvas, I found great joy and penetrating peace. With every brushes stroke, she revealed her self once more. This life-sized rendition has taken a little less then a year to paint, picking it up and putting it down many times. Its metaphysical nature was truly daunting yet exciting and calming. In the end, my boss was right, I did indeed fall in love with Sally all those years ago, I love her still ... and my hope is that this painting expresses that love we shared and share, well.
AH
