River Mumma, or River Mother, is a mermaid in Jamaican folklore who lives at the fountainhead of every river. She is the guardian of the waters and the animal and plant life within them, and her magical protection flows around every island’s coastline.

In this piece at Starbucks on Falmouth pier, she swishes her twin tails across the Caribbean Sea, bringing life to the antique maps in the form of a host of butterflies that extend off the board and float onto the wall. Here they flutter along floating waves of coffee branches, painted in soft cappuccino browns and whites, and amongst which a solitary emerald hummingbird flies.

River Mumma carries a coffee branch abundant with berries and flowers in her hands, an offering of Nature’s gifts to the coffee drinkers in the café. Alighting on the branch is a pair of Giant Swallowtail butterflies, a rare species endemic to the island, and beside her a Doctor Bird hovers, Jamaica’s national bird. The island of Jamaica is a central feature of the piece and is inscribed on an ancient scroll that unfurls near the top of the painting.

River Mumma’s tail begins as a river, clear fresh water flowing over a riverbed of underwater plants, and leads to the sea and a school of leaping dolphins. Here her tail meets up with sailing ships from the Old World, connecting the mermaid with the history of the region, and Falmouth in particular, a significant port in the days of Jamaica’s history.

This reference to the past is continued all around the border, where prints of sea monsters and mermaids, maps of the Caribbean, engravings of butterflies, fish and island people set the historical scene for visitors to the port.

A compass in the Jamaican colors with the country’s flag as its center is placed to the left of the island of Jamaica, and to its right a glowing full moon creates a halo around the head of our beautiful River Mumma, casting a glow over the sea and illuminating the scene, a light that shimmers throughout the work on flakes of gold and silver leaf.