Stonington painting found in bottle in Bermuda

Dennis Wade dropped a bottle in the ocean with one of his paintings rolled up inside. He forgot about it until a phone call last week.

By Jenna Lookner

STONINGTON and BERMUDA–When Dennis Wade took up the hobby of painting more than 15 years ago, he never dreamed that one of his works would end up in Bermuda, carried in a bottle for two years across 800 miles of open ocean. 

That all changed on the evening Oct. 1 when his phone rang at the Wades’ Stonington home. 

“We thought it was a spam call,” Wade and his wife, Laraine, said in unison.

On the other end of the phone was Katie Trimingham of Bermuda, who had found one of Wade’s paintings, an oil on canvas depicting red roses, tucked into a bottle. Wade had dropped five paintings in “wine bottle sized” bottles from his boat while on a cruise from MDI to Stonington.

The red flowers that are the subject of this particular work were among Laraine’s favorites, and she recalls him tossing that piece into the tranquil blue waters off of Stonington. 

The call with the news it had been seen again was captured in a recording.

The Bermudan who found a Stonington bottle on a beach with a painting of red roses inside recorded her conversation connecting with the artist. Video courtesy of Chloe Lusher.

Of the five paintings Wade sent into the sea, only the one found by Trimingham has surfaced. Wade said that the paintings were each about 10-by-12 inches, rolled up to fit into the bottles after they had dried and been lacquered. He sealed each with a cork.

The idea to send the paintings on an ocean journey came to him while painting on MDI.

“I thought, ‘I have all of these paintings, what am I going to do with them?’” he said. 

Laraine said she had shared with her husband that, when working as a nanny years ago, she had known a family that hasd a tradition where the children would throw a message in a bottle into the ocean every night after dinner. 

“I had mentioned that to him,” she said. 

The couple had collected lots of “fancy” glass bottles in their travels, and the idea of paintings in bottles gifted to the sea took hold. Wade included his business card in the bottles in the hope he might one day be contacted.

That was two years ago. Then last week, Trimingham, who owns “All the Trimmings,” an event planning business in Bermuda, went on a stroll on the beach with her mother. 

“We were having a roam around before the storm rolled in,” she said. The previous day there had been a tropical storm and an incoming hurricane was close on its heels, she said.

“I was able to find the bottle in between [the storms],” she said. 

She said she spotted a bottle sticking out of the seaweed at the rackline. 

“I thought I could see little red roses,” she said. “Then I realized what it was.” 

Katie Trimingham holds the painting of red roses that Stonington resident Dennis Wade tossed into the sea in a corked bottle two years ago. Photo courtesy of Katie Trimingham.

She took the bottle home, placed it in double plastic bags, and smashed it open. The painting—bearing few signs of its remarkable travels—and Wade’s business card sat in a small bit of water that had seeped into the bottle during its years at sea. 

“It was a very serendipitous moment,” she said. “From one seaside to another.” 

Trimingham called Wade. 

“It was a really sweet moment,” she said. “I am still blown away.”

So far, the Bermuda bottle is the only one of the five that has turned up. 

“I had kind of forgotten about them,” the artist said. “But I had a hard time sleeping that night.” 

Coincidentally, Trimingham had briefly visited Maine for the first time in August.

“I’ll definitely have to come visit again now,” she said. 

After talking on the phone, Wade said he and Trimingham have kept in contact. 

“I’ve never had a pen pal before,” he said. 

Trimingham said she plans to mount the painting and have it framed. It will hang in her office. 

“I’m still blown away,” she said. “I feel very blessed to be the finder.” 

The Wades recently purchased their Stonington Village home after selling their boat. They divide their time between Stonington and Massachusetts.

Downstairs in their 1858 Stonington cottage, Wade paints in a small studio overlooking the harbor. He often depicts scenes of Stonington life, painted on a variety of materials including slate, copper and even shells, working primarily in oils and watercolors.

Presently, he is working on a painting of Trimingham’s beach in Bermuda as a gift for her. 

“That was really exciting,” he said. “It still is.”