Girl on a Jellyfish

This was a gift to me from Seth during the time he lived in the Oki Islands (in Japan), so around the same time as yesterday's drawing: about 1997.

I have spoken a number of times about Seth's love for the sea and the creatures in it. He was a good diver (not scuba--just with his own breath), and diving became a passion with him. Last April Hisako, Tofu, and I went to the Oki Islands for a week to visit Seth's friends there and just spend a little time in that beautiful place which I think he loved more than anywhere else on earth. Probably Seth's best friend in Oki was Mr. Hiraki, who was his next door neighbor in the first apartment he lived in. Mr. Hiraki was a school administrator, and is now a school principal, and a very warm and open-hearted person. He told us that one time Seth decided that he wanted to know if fish sleep. How do you find out? You dive underwater at sleeping time (midnight) and see for yourself, of course. So he did. I don't know what he found out. I presume that he satisfied himself with his answer and went on to the next question.

The girl in this picture is cruising around happily on the back of a giant jellyfish, her dress, corsage, and high heels neatly in place. Or maybe she is tiny and the jellyfish are regular size; that is how I always picture it. She doesn't seem to have anything to actually hold onto, and you would think jellyfish were slippery, but it doesn't matter; all is well here. The jellyfish are her friends. An elegant, almost Art Nouveauish image.