Our Story Thus Far...
About The Artist: Daniel Richard Benson
Born in the US Virgin Islands and raised on the water; spending his
formative years aboard 36' sailboat, "Isla Niña". Daniel drew inspiration of the many creatures and things to be found on nearby "Happy Island" and the adjacent wildlife sanctuary. Though his artistic media has changed many times over the years, the focus remains the same: honoring Mother Nature and her beautiful creations.
These are surely some of the most beautiful islands I’ve laid eyes upon; Islands so charming, one might easily forget the seasonally-looming, inevitable possibility
of hurricanes...
There is no rational explanation for when where or how hard a tropical storm may strike, mostly we get lucky.
My name is Daniel Richard D. Benson. Born in 1991 in St. Thomas, USVI in the wake of hurricane Hugo. The island was still recovering from the extensive damage when shortly thereafter in 1995, Hurricane Marilyn struck.
Our boat “Isla Nina” suffered only minor damage from a collision with another sailboat, on the other hand the trawler vessel my mother, father and I were in suffered substantial damage. Luckily the ceiling only collapsed partially when a nearby structure landed Wizard of Oz style on top of the boat. The island went back into recovery mode once again. A few storms of note rolled through between then and 2017; but not even “Backwards Lenny” had anything on the ferocity Irma would unleash in September.
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My parents, Richard and Linda Benson had initially moved to the islands from Salem, Oregon to pursue a career in underwater Photography. Although storms made many unsolicited changes to that plan over the years, a theme persisted nonetheless;
a love for art and the ocean.
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