Isolumes

Isolumes explores light in the ocean at three times of day: noon, evening, and night. The angle of the sun affects both the depth of illumination and the color of the light. The daily change in light level controls the daily migration zooplankton up and down the water column. The eyes of different shrimp species have adapted to perceive different wavelengths of light, and they relocate vertically to remain in their preferred light habitat.

During the middle of the day, light penetrates deeply into the ocean and the depth of the shrimp’s preferred light habitats are far apart. At dawn and dusk, light only reaches surface layers, and their preferred light layers bring them closer together. Isolumes began as an exploration of color and perception, and became a meditation on the cyclical nature of life. When life is challenging, nature’s cycles are a comforting reminder that nothing is forever, the sun will rise again, and darkness can bring us closer together.

Isolumes 123

10’ wide x 6’ high installation of paintings. Each panel is 1’ wide x 64” tall. Oil on panel joined with spacers.

Isolumes, Detail of upper panels

Detail of upper three panels of Isolumes .

Isolumes detail

Detail of orange panels of Isolumes paintings. Note chaotic organic borders contrasting with smooth gradations of color. The panels are joined together while painting, then separated and spacers are added.

Isolumes

Multi panel oil painting on 12” x 12” cradled hardboard panels joined vertically using spacers. Vertical radations in tone and value explore change in light penetration in the ocean from day into night. 40” x 64” x 1.5”. Copyright Liz Ewings 2020.

Isolumes

Squared Seas

The Squared Seas installation incorporates images of Puget Sound plankton from photographs taken under a microscope and combined with oceanographic data and images of the coastal ecosystems to explore the nature of life in the ocean.

The collected paintings of the Squared Seas installation reflect the “now you see it, now you don’t” patchwork nature of life in a continuous, fluid environment. The paintings are square following the oceanographic convention of simplifying the ocean into squares and cubes to facilitate comparison, bringing order to chaos. Taken together, they inspire conversations about how oceans work and how scientists study them. Squared Seas invites dialogue regarding the possibility of truly understanding the nuance of nature, and whether it is possible to impose boundaries on interconnected natural systems.

Squared Seas

Squared Seas Installation for Shunpike Storefronts. 10’ wide x 8’ high. Photo: Ethan Chiem.

Uncharted Waters

16” x 16” x 1.5”. Oil on retired nautical chart on panel. 2022 Copyright Liz Ewings. Purchased by City of Seattle.

Kitsap Beach

16” x 16” x 1.5”. Oil on retired nautical chart on panel. 2022 Copyright Liz Ewings. Sold!

Puget Beach

16” x 16” x 1.5”. Oil on retired nautical chart on panel. 2022 Copyright Liz Ewings.

Golden Gardens

16” x 16” x 1.5”. Oil on retired nautical chart on panel. 2022. Copyright Liz Ewings.

Point Roberts

10” x 10”x 1”. Oil on retired nautical chart on panel. 2023 Copyright Liz Ewings.

Sturgeon Bank

8” x 8” 1”. Oil on retired nautical chart on panel. 2023 Copyright Liz Ewings.

There Be lions

36” wide x 24” high x 2” deep. Oil on retired nautical chart on panel. 2024 Copyright Liz Ewings.

Sailing Into the Future

12” x 12” x 1.5”. Oil on retired nautical chart on panel. 2022 Copyright Liz Ewings.

Victoria Traffic

8” x 8” x 1”. Oil on retired nautical chart on panel. 2023 Copyright Liz Ewings

Icons of the Inside Passage

Licorice Creek

Oil on canvas painting, 40” x 52”. Copyright Liz Ewings 2025.

Wallace Falls 2

30” wide x 40” high. Oil on canvas. 2024. Copyright Liz Ewings.

Northern Falls

Oil on canvas painting. 30” x 44”. Copyright Liz Ewings 2024.

Path of Water

36” wide x 44” high. Oil on canvas. 2023. Copyright Liz Ewings. Purchased by Seattle City Light.

Exploding Waterfall

Oil on canvas painting.24” x 30”. Copyright Liz Ewings 2025.

Cascade/ Torrential Falls

Oil on canvas painting. 36” x 46”. Copyright Liz Ewings 2025.

Rock Pool

Oil on canvas painting. 42” x 36”. Copyright Liz Ewings 2025.

Wallace Falls

44” wide x 30” high. Oil on canvas. 2024. Copyright Liz Ewings.

Intertidal Bears

48” wide x 54” high. Oil on canvas. 2023 Copyright Liz Ewings.

Upper Falls

30” wide x 40” high. Oil on canvas. 2024. Copyright Liz Ewings

Internal Waves

Internal waves in the ocean are found below the surface at the boundary between warm and/or fresh surface water and cold, salty, deep water. When currents force deep water to flow over bumpy seafloor features like seamounts, internal waves form.

Internal waves don’t create surface waves, and only show up on the surface as slicks of flat shiny water. I love the idea that the deep ocean is active in ways that are not revealed on its visible skin. There may be more going on than is apparent at the surface.

Internal Waves 8

Oil painting on canvas 24” x 24” x 1.5” with painted sides. 2019. Copyright Liz Ewings.

Available through SaatchiArt

Internal Waves 7

Oil painting on canvas 24” x 24” x 1.5” with painted sides. 2019. Copyright Liz Ewings.

Available through SaatchiArt

Internal Waves 6

Oil painting on canvas. 18” x 18” x 1.5”. Painted sides. Copyright Liz Ewings 2019.

Internal Waves 9

Oil painting on canvas. 18” x 18” x 1.5”. Painted sides. Copyright Liz Ewings 2020.

Internal Waves Small Works

Small oil paintings of ocean internal waves

Internal Waves 3

Oil on canvas. 10” x 10” x 1.25”. Copyright Liz Ewings 2019.

Internal Waves 1

Oil painting on canvas. 10” x 10” x 1.25”. Copyright Liz Ewings 2019.

Internal Waves 2

Oil painting on canvas. 10” x 10” x 1.25”. Copyright Liz Ewings 2019.

Internal Waves 5

Oil painting on canvas. 10” x 10” x 1.25”. Copyright Liz Ewings 2019.

Liquid

Plankton form the base of the Puget Sound food web that scales up to larger, iconic megafauna including salmon and killer whales. Place is important, even in oceanic real estate. So is timing. Seasonal changes in Puget Sound chemistry and physics result in spatial and temporal patchiness, creating micro-neighborhoods within the larger scope of the Pacific Northwest marine environment, and an elusive ‘now you see ‘em, now you don’t’ pattern for hungry predators.

These images are based on diatoms and zooplankton larva I collected in Saratoga Passage near Whidbey Island during the spring blooms of 2016, 2017, and 2018. I photographed live organisms under a microscope, and based these paintings on the photographs.

I use layered glazes to build depth, and experiment with liquid paint application to evoke unconstrained water movement. Inspired by the oceanographic convention of simplifying the ocean into a mosaic of squares and cubes, I build square panels and join them together, creating a sense of order in chaos.