There’s a quiet magic to witnessing a sea turtle. Something ancient. Something humbling. Every encounter I've had with them—whether it’s a lone green swimming beside my paddleboard, a loggerhead turtle silently emerging to nest under the light of the moon, or a hatchling making its first, fragile push toward the waves—feels like a blessing from the ocean itself.

 

One moment I’ll never forget happened in the summer of 2016. My son and I were fishing just off the shore of Stuart, Florida, when we stumbled upon a group of leatherback hatchlings emerging from the sand. I can still see them—tiny, determined, scrambling across the sand under the golden morning light, drawn instinctively to the shimmering water. That moment was profound. It felt like witnessing the beginning of a great pilgrimage. Life at its most vulnerable… and most courageous. Right then and there, I knew I had to sculpt them.

 

That experience became the spark behind a growing body of work inspired by sea turtles. I’ve sculpted hatchlings, swimming pairs, and even entire reef scenes where sea turtles glide through a cast-bronze ocean teeming with life. I’ve painted them, photographed them, and studied them. Because each time I return to these animals, I find something new—a gesture of grace, a powerful curve of the shell, the wisdom in their eyes. Guided by the sun and moon, they carry the rhythm of the tides in their very being.

 

Sea turtles are living relics of a world far older than ours. They’ve been navigating the oceans for over 100 million years, long before we ever set foot on a beach. And yet their survival today is anything but guaranteed. That tension between resilience and fragility deeply moves me. Through my work, I try to honor both.

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I invite you to explore this journey of paintings, sculptures and stories from over a decade of observing and revering these magnificent creatures.

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To me, art has always been a way of listening—and giving voice—to the natural world. And the sea turtle, in all its ancient silence, has so much to say.

— Geoffrey C. Smith.