Langstaff is one of us narrative painters here in Portland, although he used to live in Portland, Maine, where lobsters abound. Lobsters used to be so abundant in the 18th C that they washed up 2’ high on the shores of Maine and they were known as a poor man’s food. One would assume there to be a legend about a lobsterman. Langstaff explains “As I’m sure you are aware, mer-people legends exist throughout the world. I did some research but I couldn’t find reference to any tale of a lobster mer-man. However, I figured that if such a legend existed in Maine, the creature was bound to be a lobster-man. Essentially, I made up the legend. … In the end, the viewer is potentially a fisherman returning home in the evening when the creature emerges from the water.”
