"The Cove"
on the north side of Indian River Inlet, a Delaware beach prized by surfers, anglers, sunbathers and treasure hunters alike
20" x 40" oil on canvas by Ellen Rice (sold)
and archival giclee reproductions on fine art paper or canvas
"The Cove"
by Ellen Rice
"The Cove," north of Indian River Inlet in Delaware Seashore State Park, is a magnificent stretch of beach and the favorite spot of surfers, surf fishermen and treasure hunters alike.
In the off-season it's a secluded beach and a great walk from the inlet parking lot up to the old Indian River Life-Saving Station and Museum. In the summer, it's bustling with activity.
It's probably my favorite beach for both its sense of history and its beauty.
I've walked it countless times, first as the wife of a surfer, later doing research for a map depicting the history of this particular spot on the globe, and still later hunting for and finding some of the coins for which this beach is also dubbed, "Coin Beach." I've just completed another painting of the same area at sunrise, called Reawakening (at right).
I got my first - and only - surfing lesson there, to the great amusement of my husband and his best friend, and I found my first ancient shipwreck coin there twenty some years later.
Just off the shore is a line of shoals called the Hen and Chicken Shoals. When it's low tide and rough you can see waves breaking way off the coast on the shoals. It was these shoals that caused the wreck of The Faithful Steward. You can see the spot where the ship lies beneath the sea in "The Cove." Twenty years ago I found a 1700s ship's mast cap right about where the beach in "Reawakening" is shown.
The Faithful Steward contained more than 300 barrels of British and Irish half pennies in its hull, and these pennies and other artifacts from the wreck have been washing ashore ever since. You can read more about this here:
If you're ever in my studio & gallery, ask about the coins and other shipwreck artifacts I've found over the years and I'll be glad to show you a few. There is something very humbling about holding a coin that has not seen the light of day or touched a human hand for well over 200 years.
Ellen
"The Cove" is one of six paintings by Ellen Rice now on display in the ballroom of