“The title of this painting comes not from the predicament of the travelers, but from the creation of the piece itself,” says artist James C. Christensen. “Every once in a while, I work on a painting that baffles me so much that I set it up on a shelf. This one got shelved three or four times until I got excited about it again and finished it - twelve years later.”

The boat-as-metaphor for life’s passage is a familiar Christensen motif, as is the fish as faith and spiritual guidance. Christensen collectors will notice additional familiar travelers in this land-locked community of birds, passengers and apparent royalty, all guarded by a petite knight in armor on a pig.

- James Christensen