About « Forest and Fin

Hello! My name is Lara. In 2009, I moved onto an old Chris Craft sailboat and decided to become an artist. In the years that followed, my partner Brian and I renovated our 37’ sailboat Illusion, sailed up and down the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, and explored the islands of the Bahamas. Utilizing as much wind and solar energy as we needed, we cut back on our water usage and transformed this unique mode of transportation into a lifestyle.

Although I haven’t been traveling the entire time, the Adventures of a Traveling Artist began in 2009 and follows the pursuit of my dreams, traveling, exploring, and creating art. You can visit my artist portfolio at www.laraneeceart.com to view my fine art, or check out my cruising interview for Newly Salted here!

My artwork is an effort to visualize interactions within ecosystems and emphasize human connections to the natural world. I paint, draw, and print nature-inspired, line-driven imagery onto wood, paper, and fabric. Each line that I create within my work strengthens my understanding of and bond with my subjects. In this way, I am always striving to generate a greater connection between myself and the natural world that surrounds me. Early on, I began hand-printing my designs onto organic apparel to share my inspiration with friends and family. Now Forest and Fin is proud to celebrate active, sustainable living; the appreciation of nature; and outdoor adventure with a simple, yet elegant aesthetic. Each design that I create is a footprint in the sand; a reminder of our connection to the natural world, they follow the tracks of my story.

The Name: Forest and Fin is a circular and symbolic reference to the natural world from which my inspiration comes. Forest symbolizes land and fin symbolizes water; forest represents plant and fin represents animal – thus connecting four important parts of an ecosystem. The name represents both my lifestyle and my Eco-friendly shirts that are for sale at ONE Boutique in Charleston, SC; Patriot Tours & Provisions in Yorktown, VA; the Filling Station Gallery in Bluffton, SC; and Red Clover Boutique in Savannah, GA.

How it Began:

In March 2009, Brian and I moved out of the comfort of our rented house in Charleston, SC, and permanently onto a 37′ sailboat with the intention of undertaking a substantial sailing and travel adventure to Central America the following November (2009). Brian bought SV Illusion the previous May (2008) with the intention of fixing her up for a cruising adventure. The trip was in the making for almost three years (and really it still is).

Our original goal and plan was to sail from South Carolina down the east coast of Florida to Key West, wait on the appropriate weather window, and then continue straight on across the Gulf to Isla Mujeres, Mexico. Later, we considered a more southerly route through the Bahamas to Jamaica before turning west towards Mexico or continuing south to the Virgin Islands. Unfortunately, by the time we finished most of our major projects and had the boat cruising capable, we found ourselves facing hurricane season. We altered our plans with hurricane season in mind and sailed north to Annapolis, MD, to avoid the storms and to work for three months. In early November 2010, we once again began our southward journey to the Bahamas, where we spent three months sailing down the Exumas and circling north through the Abacos. We circled back to Hilton Head Island in May 2011, and began looking for our next cruising boat, which we found in September 2012: a Nantucket Island 38′. We are in the process of refitting her and, while our plans are always changing and evolving, with a little bit of elbow grease and luck, we will be sailing south on our new boat, Selah, soon!

Our first boat, SV Illusion was a 37′ Chris Craft Apache built in 1967.