Brenda Ellis Sauro

The first painting I encountered at a print gallery was that of John Williams Waterhouse's "A Mermaid" painted in 1901. He has remained in my thoughts ever since and will continue to inspire my inner creative spirit forever.

I was born in Wareham, Massachusetts. I have been drawing as long as I can remember holding a pencil. My infatuation with the human figure started as early as five years old and I have spent many years, up until the present, drawing and painting people.

I had the good fortune to live near the ocean for most of my life and it remains a constant inspiration to me. At an early age I learned of mermaids through the stories told to me by my grandfather, a fisherman on Cape Cod. We spent many hours waiting for them to appear on the jetties of Cape Cod Bay. It mattered not whether I saw them, I still dreamed of their existence and my imagination took over.

I will be ever so grateful for merlife touching my soul, it continues to be a creative source for me and hopefully it touches others as well, through my art. The enchantment, the seductiveness, the mystery, the beauty and the romance of sirens are emotions I hope you encounter while viewing my artwork.

Enjoy!

Brenda's artwork is now being displayed at her own gallery, located in South Paris, Maine.
The Gallery is open Wed - Sun, 10 am - 5 pm
Mon - Tues by appointment only

Click here for a Listing of places Brenda's original artwork will be displayed this Summer 2004.

A Mermaid
by
John W. Waterhouse
(1901)

The Mermaid

She must just have left the sea.
Her hair and lips
Smelled of the sea till the morning.
Her rising and falling breast was like the sea.

I knew she was poor -
But you can't talk of poverty all the time.
Gently, next to my ear
She sang songs of love.

Who knows what she has learned and experienced
In her life fighting the sea.
Patching fish nets, casting fish nets, gathering fish nets,
To remind me of spiny fish
Her hands touched my hands.

That night I saw, I saw it in her eyes;
How lovely the sea has risen in the open sea.
Her hair taught me about waves;
I tossed and tossed around dreams.
Orhan Veli

As a partof Waterhouse's diploma work for the Royal Academy of Arts, A Mermaid is one of his "most delicate conceptions, and understandably he had lingered long in bringing it to perfection." - Anthony Hobson