Week 11

                                           The finished page for week 11

                             I  keep my pizza bases, look how they come in handy!

I can hardly believe how quickly this week went by.   I had many interesting sea finds to choose from and then ended up with just three on my page.   I chose the fresh seaweed with shades of greens, the rusty brown bubbly piece and a matching rusty coloured oak leaf.    Oak leaves are one of my favourite subjects, this one  was so interesting with the holes and colouring which glowed when I found it.  It had survived since last year but is now showing real signs of damage and decay.  I also liked seeing how the brown piece of seaweed had also started to lose pieces and change colour.  When I  placed them on the pizza base after I washed them,  the colours looked so vibrant.  I felt  the three were enough for my page.    One week later they  have dried, shrunk and twisted,  and hardly resemble their original colours as they  have darkened to dull drab shades.   I used the acrylic inks and my fine number one sable brush, and used a little stippling on the green with a black ink pen.  The inks can be mixed to make shades and I use them just  the same as using paints.                    

Yesterday, Saturday, I could not go onto the shore at my usual time in the morning as it was a high tide.  I decided to give a couple of hours to the garden,  two hours soon turned into five hours!  So it was almost 5 o'clock before I ventured down on the still waterlogged shore.  It was soggy and slippery but after my gardening and feeling tired I was quite happy to go slow.  The sun was really low and as I walked I realised I had a long thin shadow by my side.   It was a little hazy looking out across the shore but I could see and hear many different birds, the sounds echoing across the estuary.   In the sand I saw bird prints,  the pretty patterns twisting and curling as they made their tracks along the waters edge.  It was a good day for feathers, as I collected an assortment of  different sizes, colours and patterns.   I found a few crab pieces but they always break when you handle the brittle pieces.  As I collected a mermaids purse it was all tangled with a second one and some seaweed,  maybe an interesting piece to draw.  During my walk I could feel the temperature drop as the sun faded.  The swan was settled on the opposite bank,   sat with her neck curled as she was raking through the grass.  We glanced at each other for awhile,  then I noticed she was all dirty on her front with the brown soil, maybe today we are similar...both been gardening and a little grubby after our digging .  The train broke the silence as it thundered past us both,   we both looked up at the track.   From the back of the carriage a fat red faced man poked his head out of the window with a cigarette in his mouth,  from the non smoking train!  As I made my way along to the station,  I could smell the smoke drifting in the air.  I stood on the railway bridge and just caught the last rays of the sun sinking behind the hills.  It was a lovely quiet calm time of the day to go and collect for week 12.  It is something I look forward to,  with the long summer evenings.
Time to sort out my finds and get started on a new page.   Thank you for the lovely comments,  it is always nice to read them all.   Still no news on my laptop!   Hope you like the picture.    
Millyx