Patterns, Barnacles, Driftwood, Colors, Topography, and Reflections

The beach offered so many textures and visuals this last visit that I took over 150 photos. Wow! Thank goodness for digital as I can only imagine what that would have cost in film.
Please let me share with you some of the really great things I saw on my walk. This will be a photo heavy post (my favorite kind).

PATTERNS

I see flowers, landscapes and knitting

BARNACLES

Encrusted Barnacle city on the bottom of a bucket

DRIFTWOOD

It seems since I first found the tower made of driftwood that others have decided to have their hand at it too. I think there is a little Andy Goldsworthy in all of us.

Below is the original structure that started it all but with more wood added and a root ball ornament almost near the top

COLORS

I loved the layered colors in the sand dune. One picture looks like it is flowing like lava. 

TOPOGRAPHY

 The tide had rolled in so far it left the beach completely flat and smooth. A perfect canvas. And as if I was flying high above the Earth, the topography left by the waves being locked in the sand was beautiful.

REFLECTIONS

On my walk back through the dunes and towards the Back Bay waters, I saw Snow Geese headed south. White feathered geese with black feet, their beauty not captured by the camera. And the reflecting waters that  never fails to make me stop and look. 

The End

:o)

Process of painting Sea Snails

Here are a couple of Sea Snails I just finished up. I have some WIP photos included so you can see how I begin my painting process. For the crazy eyed snail, I painted everything including his shell, a base red purple color. For the two horned snail I decided to stick with the natural colors of the shell and let that dictate the body color. So I used burnt umber on the body to bring out the fur details. Some more painting on both, adding lighter and lighter colors but allowing the darker colors to peer through and the process is finished.

From my own collection

In very rare instances, I find it hard to part with something I have created. Below are three such items from my private collection.
The first item is called Peace. She was created back in the 90's using translucent polymer clay along with some embossing powders kneaded into the clay to create her stone look. She has a vintage glass leaf embedded over her heart and she is holding a dove in her outstretched hands. Both the leaf and dove were used in order to symbolize peace. She is about 4" tall and 1" in diameter.
The next two items were also created around the same time frame but are more like a human zuni fetish. I used polymer clay and a polished stone with a sharp edge to shape them. I call them Singing Mothers. They each have a hole in their bellies to place the tiny babies in which makes it look as if they are cradling them while they sing them to sleep. To me they carry an ancient and tribal feel which I find very appealing. Some of the photos give you a good idea of just how small they are.

I hope you enjoyed seeing some of my older work here today. :o)

Bat Boy Resurrected

I am finishing this painting tonight (really!) so I can have it ready to sell this weekend to support the Hampton, Va YMCA. I started him just about a year ago (I know!) and resurrecting and revising him has been so refreshing.


It is my homage to Edward Gorey and I hope that anyone who knows his work will recognize this piece as being remeniscent of, or akin to his art (like the bat wings, and black and white acrylic in place of pen and ink). I need to add more shading to his body as you can see it looks really flat. I like the background though because it looks like a piece of rusty metal. He needs a better name/title than Bat Boy though. My originality falls short here today. Any ideas?

Driftwood Tower

Beauty is everywhere. I found this amazing driftwood tower while walking along my favorite beach. I love the undulating movement of the wood and the stark contrast to the blue ocean.