Perils and Pearls

Manufacturer: Taboo Island

SKU: THOR056

Price: $20.00

$75.00 12x16 Limited Edition Giclee - $75 5 in stock
$30.00 7.5x10 Image Matted to 11x14 - $30 5 in stock
$20.00 5x7 Image Matted to 8x10 - $20 5 in stock
$20.00 7.5x10 Image Only - $20 5 in stock

Perils and Pearls

A deep sea diver in a classic Mark 5 diving helmet and dive suit explores the mysteries of the ocean’s depths in search of its aquatic treasures. He stumbles upon a rare giant clam and finds the jewel within, a flawless giant white pearl. As he tries to escape with his new found wealth, the giant clam clamps down on the diver’s foot. His first reaction is to quickly grab his trusty knife and pry his way out of this aquatic vise. However, the clam is much stronger and his knife snaps in two!

Now, the diver knows the end is near. The giant clam has got him and the sharks are circling above. But wait! Out of the depths of the darkness comes Marina the Mermaid. She uses her mermaid magic and muscles and frees the diver’s leg. The deep sea diver lives to see another day, and wonders if Marina the Mermaid is the true “pearl” of the ocean.

Print Formats:

Limited Edition Fine Art Print - Edition of only 100! - This is a top quality giclee fine art print printed on thick watercolor paper. Each is signed and numbered by Thor and Marina and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity.

Open Edition Mini Prints - These are smaller high quality prints archivally printed on thick Epson paper and hand signed by Marina the Mermaid. They are available as the print only or double matted with our hand made canvas wrapped mats.

About Marina:

Born and raised in the islands of the Caribbean, Marina Duran - Anderson learned free diving at the tender age of three from her father, an avid dive enthusiast, aquarist, and boater. Her marine interests made her an enthusiastic student of marine biology & physiology. She began working at sea aquariums and science museums from age 13, becoming an honors marine biology student throughout her scholastic years.

Her mother's influential interest in vintage Hollywood films, stage performance & dance also led Marina to explore & study a variety of diverse dance styles. Her studies and skills led to accomplished international performances in both Polynesian & Middle Eastern dance as well as in Japanese dance and percussion.

As Marina's diving and dance style began to further progress, she became quite interested in aquatic spectacles - dive shows and water ballets combining the graceful movements of dance with her familiar underwater environment. Pool and tank shows featuring aquatic theatre, dance & spectacles, once seemingly plentiful in years past, unfortunately began to quickly loose their luster with general audiences, almost entirely disappearing.

Marina's seemingly diverse disciplinary background appeared to evolve quite naturally into a unique style of retro-performance art, a combination of dance and aquatic theatre, influenced by the movements of sea creatures and the human form dancing in liquid space. Marina chose to dub it "MeduSirena", the combined names of Medusa (an adult jellyfish) dancing in the water, and Sirena, a woman of the sea.

Marina later began to teach this style of performance art to a small group of students. Eventually becoming aquatic performers themselves, the MeduSirena Pod was created, a group that currently continues to grow in number. It is Marina's sincere wish to continue to help preserve aquatic shows, and to help influence new aquatic performers for future generations.

About Thor:

      Tom Thordarson, or "Thor" as he is best known by both collectors of his work and the growing awareness in the art community, can truly take your imagination on a journey unlike any other. His life as an artist began when he was just old enough to hold a pencil. With his mother being an artist as well, she would hand him paper and pencils to "keep him out of mischief," as she would say. The years spent drawing and painting would soon become a powerful tool to communicate his intense imagination and endless spirit of adventure in his career to be.
?      In his own words, Thor explains, "Creating my own entertainment and building my own toys was an activity I was highly encouraged to do as a kid. I learned to believe in the real magic and power of my imagination. I believed that if I could draw something with enough passion and thought, then what would stop it from becoming something I could touch or walk into one day?”?
      "My entire childhood was filled with endless curiosity, drawing and adventure. I loved building tree houses and forts from scrap wood and stuff I could find in my Grandfather's workshop. The experiences that would lead me to what I paint today were inspired by my family's incredibly fun vacations every summer to Hawaii beginning at age 6. I also have two sets of cousins on the Big Island who encouraged me to become a certified diver when I lived with them for many summers growing up as well. So, Hawaii is my second home. I love the sea. I spent endless hours on Maui and Hawaii combing the beaches and climbing trees in the nearby jungles pretending I was a pirate or some ingenious castaway living off the land in a high seas adventure."?
      An honors graduate in Illustration from the prestigious Pasadena Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, Thor was immediately discovered by the entertainment/theme park industry which he remained in for 17 years. His imagination and talents have led him to conceive, illustrate and paint concepts for countless rides and attractions with many major entertainment companies. With strong skills in both team leadership and his art, he served as the Director of Attraction Development at MCA Universal Studios, Hollywood and then as a full fledged Disney Imagineer with his role as a Director/Senior Concept Designer.?
      Among his many assignments at Disney was the task of the concept design for one of the main "E-ticket" rides for the new Tokyo Disney Sea theme park in Japan called, "Journey to the Center of the Earth," a top rated thrill ride currently in operation.?
      Residing now in both California and Hawaii, Thor has put aside the entertainment design industry to focus on his art inspired by those early days of tropical adventures that shaped his art and imagination. "I am painting the fantasies and stories now that I imagined all those years sitting on the beaches, diving in the sea or building hideaways in the lush island jungles," Thor explains. "I am hoping that everyone finds these enchanted places, intriguing contraptions or playful characters I am painting now as much fun to look at, as they are for me to paint. Please feel free to step into them. Come by and share some Aloha spirit with me and I will tell you a few magical tales. The tiki torches are all lit and fluttering in the trade winds.... I will see you on the lanai!"

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