The Last Boat Out

The Last Boat Out
2022, 30" by 40"
By Ardra Vanessa
 
The Last Boat Out is painted by Ardra Vanessa on a canvas once owned by Philip M. Stevenson. The story is a sad one, it marks the passage of Philip M. Stevenson. His funeral in late June of 2021. Ardra and her family went to Half Moon Bay, California (one of the most beautiful areas in the world) to celebrate the life of her uncle Philip by renting a boat and tossing white roses into the ocean. Her mother, who could not attend due to a severe battle with stage 4 cancer had made all the arrangements for the funeral. While on the road, her mother desperately trying to call Ardra, had notice that the boat was the last one out if they missed it. No reception off the coast of California that day, but her and her family made the boat right in the nick of time and eventually Ardra spoke to her mother. With sadness she knew it wasn't a good sign that her mother wasn't on the boat. It is said that each of the floating white squares represents someone who passed in her mother's immediate family. Her mother later passed only six months after her uncle.