Portraiture: Captain Peter Hammarstedt

I have never before this created a portrait. And I don't usually portray men in my art.

But this guy.

He's so inspiring. If you're not aware of who this man is, he is Peter Hammarstedt, Captain of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society vessel MV Bob Barker. If you are not familiar with the show "Whale Wars" that airs on Animal Planet, this is where you can visually experience Captain and founder of SSCS Paul Watson, Peter Hammarstedt, Siddharth Chakravarty and the rest of the amazing, brave and selfless ship crews of SSCS's three vessels, MV Steve Irwin, MV Sam Simon, and MV Bob Barker go toe to toe with Japans whaling fleet. We are talking about a donation supported group of volunteers against an entire GOVERNMENT. And a wealthy one at that.

The Japanese whaling fleet have been operating illegally under the guise of lethal scientific "research" in the Southern Ocean since the 1982 global moratorium on commercial whaling. They hunt whales off of the pristine coasts of Antarctica in a designated whale sanctuary, for commercial consumption. International waters have proven to be a tricky place for governments to enforce laws, and conservation laws don't seem to be high priority on any governments lists. This is to our peril. No government as of yet wants to step up, and spare the resources to enforce these laws, so many illegal poaching operations (whaling and otherwise) go on without repurcussions even though they are blatantly illegal and highly unsustainable. SSCS is a group of compassionate, concerned citizens of the Earth who have made it their lives work to defend against the pillaging of the oceans, by any non-violent means necessary. These laws are in place to protect these fragile ocean ecosystems, but there is a vaccuum void in the enforcement of these laws. The fate of the planet rests upon the crux of the oceans health. The oceans are the lungs of this Earth. If you like to breathe, you can thank the balance of the oceans ecosystems for 70% of every breath you take.

When I started painting again I knew I wanted to use my art to raise awareness, so it's important to me that people want to see my images, and really SEE them. So if you find yourself inspired, as I have, by the work that Paul, and Peter and everyone else who has come together to fuel this movement that is Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, then maybe you'll do some research, and consider donating or helping them out with any number of campaigns to protect nature worldwide. I intend to spend as much of my life as possible doing both.

Reference photo: Simon Ager