Amidst all of the beach exploring and snorkeling, I did find a little time to make some art while my grandbabies were napping. I brought a small moleskine and a few stamps and an inexpensive, small watercolor set. Also a small lump of plasticine clay to press into textured shells to make stamps out of.
It’s interesting what the beautiful sunshine and tropical colors and textures will bring out in your art. It made the colors flow. In a span of a couple of hours I completed 4 backgrounds and one finished page.
Some of the beaches were full of treasures to collect and also some to just collect their image and leave them behind for someone else to enjoy. I was tickled to find that broken pieces of coral become beautiful little hearts after they tumble around in the sea. A metaphor for our own lives when we let the tough times and stress shape us into something beautiful as well.
One beach was a treasure trove of sea glass because it was near a pier and businesses and I imagine lots of careless parties on the shore. I ordered some diamond coated drill bits when I got home and transformed them into necklaces with pearls and leather.
It took a bit of fiddling to figure out how to attach the coral hearts without drilling them, but I figured it out. These are combined with trade beads, frosted recycled glass beads, wooden and bone ones and leather at the back. Three of them have already been claimed. Maybe I will make one to keep for myself. You know what they say about the shoemaker’s kids…that kind of applies to jewelry artists too. Sometimes though, I do get attached to one that I can’t part with.
I couldn’t resist leaving some cairns and rock structures to entertain future visitors to those beaches. Like leaving a little part of me behind. I know a part of my heart is left behind in this beautiful place also. Maybe someday I will have an art retreat there. You never know. 🙂