week 9

                        The week 9 page and the giveaway for Dan on the right.

The finished page.
As you can see below,  I still had a few more to do this afternoon.

We have had a glorious week with sunny days and each morning the sight of a blue sky.  One day we walked across the shore and of course I was searching for finds for my sketchbook.  It was so lovely we even sat and had our drink and snacks.  We knew it was only early March but it felt very warm and spring like as we wandered across the pale sand as I was searching and gathering some new finds. The geese were circling around and calling,  hundreds of them,  so beautiful to watch.  Lots of feathers went into my bag.  The many oak leaves I love to see stuck to the sand are blown from the nearby woods and fields, along with the seeds and red berries.  As I collect objects I wonder where they came from and how far they have travelled.
I see the circle of life here on the seashore, the promise of new life  in seeds, tiny shells,  the mermaids purse  which once held  a new life, and so many other examples.  Just as we see dead and decomposing objects.
Today we saw two oyster catchers, two birds choosing a possible nest side,  before long there will be nests on the shore and the thrill of stumbling on one and being able to view some eggs.  A single swan glided in the water, last year the pair of swans had four cygnets,  could this be one of their young,  now grown and left her  parents.  Ducks and other birds provided me with some more feathers,  many of them fished from the water as they floated and drifted to the waters edge.   I found some crabs legs, a claw and some empty body cases.
It has been such a lovely week and we have had the added pleasure of  enjoying  pretty  pink sunsets.  I always feel so calm and relaxed on the shore,  looking at the views of the surrounding landscape, walking on the sand  hearing the birds calling and my head full of my memories of happy days here.   And a lovely sighting was a butterfly,  dancing through the air,  like us chasing the sunshine. This  place always makes me feel so glad to be alive.
The week has been busy but I have managed to record my week 9 finds and complete the little give away for Dan,  it will be on its way tomorrow.  Even though I was just finishing my page this afternnoon.   My objects are first drawn in pencil and then painted using the acrylic inks and my sable brush.  All the drawings are from the real objects and I have left some for you to see.
Thank you for such lovely comments,  they have been so nice to read and I just want to share this with you.
I attended a funeral this week where the son spoke of his Mother and the things she did for many other people. He said they were often only small things,  but that even a small act of kindness can make a huge different to  another person.  We can all make a different to others with the things we do.
Millyx

week 8

Today was a lovely bright sunny day. This shows some of my finds.

I had a present this week off my sister, this lovely memory from my childhood, the Ladybird book of the Seashore. Now it really did bring back some memories as I looked through the pages. I was busy working on the week 8, when I saw the illustrations in the little book I decided I would photograph them for you to see. I guess as children we see things and become interested in them, this interest can last throughout your whole life. Now you can also read all about the Mermaids purses, just as I did all those years ago.

Last week the tide was completely covering the grassy shore and it was so wet in the afternoon when I went to collect my finds. I was afraid of going too far as it was so slippery and wet. It was also bitterly cold with snow on the hills. I collected the red seaweed and the little shells and the lovely oak leaf. It was enough to fill my double page. In the book it mentions the sucker that holds the seaweed, something I liked about my chosen piece. It was a grey day and the red leaves really shone out. I have gathered quite a collection of the Mermaids purses over the weeks, each one different in some way. This specimen had really long curly strands. It is painted in acrylic inks, not quite complete. Hope you like it.

Today the sun was shining, the photograph was taken about 11 o'clock, on a long 2 hour walk as I wandered along the shore searching. Being aware that I always collect too much I went for smaller specimens this week, it will be fun to see how the picture turns out. When I arrived home my objects were washed and I thought I would let you see some of them, some clues to the next picture. Can you see the Mermaids purses? I have a lovely feather and some small pieces still in my pocket. Some of them will be chosen and appear in the next pages. I will look and decide and of course see how much time I have before it is Saturday again.

Thank you for your comments.

The winner of my little give away was Dan.

Pondside and Melody came out next so will have a little prize too.

If you can email your address.

Week 7

I thought I would let you see my initial pencil sketch and then the beginning of the painting with my number one sable brush and using acrylic inks. By the time I have finished the seaweed has shrunk, becoming dry and changing in both size and colour.

I can hardly believe it is Saturday again, the week has flown by. This collection was found last week on a calm fine day. It was cold on the shore and very wet every where after both rain and high tides. The bulk of items washed up were in a state of decomposition and a bit smelly too.

In my search for something to draw I was instantly happy with the mussel shell encrusted with Barnacles, yes, straight into my bag. Lots of seaweed rotting and long past its best and tangled up feathers and grasses and leaves all were dismissed. I did collect little snail shells and some red berries and two mermaid purses. Then I found this piece of greeny coloured seaweed with white circular shapes, which I have researched and found it is tubes of Bristle worm. You can also see larger white tubes on the Mussel shell. I do not really want to get into all the naming as it is the drawing I am more interested in.

They were a perfect match for a drawing and with the curly shape at the base of the seaweed, one of the snail shells was always going to feature there with a lovely spiral pattern. This was so nice to draw, lots of detail which I love and I am really happy how it has turned out. Only one page of my book, it was perfect as it was. I played around at adding more but sometimes you just have to leave things as they are.

I suspect the mussel and seaweed have some age, for the barnacles to have grown. If that is true then I hope my older specimens have been well treated, I certainly spent a lot of time with them. Hope you like them.
I am just going to collect my week 8 finds. The tide is so high and completely covering the shore with no green grass to be seen. I wonder what I am going to find ?
Thank you for your lovely comments. Time to have a little Giveaway.

Leave a comment and I will pick a winner from all the names, next Saturday 26th February.

A small drawing of something from the sea shore will be the Giveaway prize.
Millyx

Week 6

When I went for my week 6 walk to see what the sea had washed up on the shore, I knew there would be lots to choose from. The tide was very high the day before, with a strong wind and the sea water had almost covered the whole shore. I found the tide line was full of a huge collection of assorted objects. Fresh pieces of seaweed in long lengths which I held up and the dangling branches measured up to about two feet. I did notice lots of new pieces with lovely colourings, a project in itself recording the colours. I loved the long green piece with the three big bubbles, the many little branches and the strange double tip right at the top, it had to go on my pages.

The piece I am painting above is a new seaweed, not one I have found before. I selected a black mermaids purse and a black feather from my many finds to complete this double page spread. I used my acrylic inks for this and decided to stipple over the bubbly seaweed with a fine black ink pen. The black pen was then used for the mermaids purse and for the feather too. I later painted the shaft with my brush and coloured inks.

I found so many beautiful pieces of seaweeds, feathers, snail shells, leaves, little shells and seeds. I did wonder if this project might run out of ideas, but it is only the time that runs out. It is hard to choose what to draw as I keep finding such beautiful shaped objects and rich colours and drawing these objects really makes me understand their shapes and form.

I used the three colours of ink, sap green, yellow ochre and burnt umber for my palette and this week the black ink pen. Hope you enjoy seeing them.

Thank you for your lovely comments, I enjoy reading them . Milly x

week 5

I am glad you like the feathers, thank you to the people who left me a comment. I do really appreciate reading them. This page for week 5 was a real pleasure for me, I couldn't wait to get started and I loved doing it. I wanted to put in the long dark bubbly seaweed and it was the first piece to go on the page, as with all the objects it is life size, so I twisted it across the double pages. Then I chose the other objects, shells, sea weeds and the feather. Above you can see the work in progress and how I added the sketched seaweed, at the left side. Then I wanted to put the mermaids purse in the centre, placed on a little piece of paper to see if it looks right. I like to place the real objects on my paper and move them around until it feels right. This has come from my experience of adding something in a drawing and then wishing I had left it as it was.

I was going to put more shells in but time ran out, Saturday came around again, so I am calling it done. The shells were hard because I wanted to get the details and this paper did not help nor did my tired eyes. I know my shells would be better in pencil but I wanted to show colours and painting with the fine brush was very time consuming.

It has taken me many hours to complete this but I think it was worth it.

I am really happy with this page, it is how I wanted it to be, like a tangled arrangement ....to me it just feels like how you find the objects on the shore, as the sea has left them. The colours are rich and the more I find these objects the more I am enjoying this project. There are lovely decorative qualities in the shapes of the seaweeds, such rich colours and somehow they just cry out to be painted.

Today I have been collecting again, a huge bag full of treasures but I will tell you about it next week with the drawing.

Hope you like them, I would love to know what you think.

millyx

Please do not use my pictures without asking my permission, thank you.

week 4. Feathers

Here are the pages for Week 4. I loved the shapes of the battered and tatty looking feathers and decided to arrange them across the double pages. We have many different birds that visit or live in the estuary. I know from my experience that in the summer months the feathers will be pristine and plentiful, so lets show the scruffy winter ones. We always know when the geese arrive with their distinctive noise. Look up to the sky and there will be the V shapes as the Greylag geese fly in and land on the grassy shore. It is often hard to see them on the ground as they blend in so well, then a low flying jet blasts across the sky and in those few seconds they panic and frightened by the noise fly up and circle around in total confusion. I could hear them calling across the shore but could not see them, but I was thrilled to see a Kingfisher, if only a blue flash flying along the river. In this estuary, the fresh water rivers from the mountains flows into the estuary, the main river is the Duddon from which it derives its name and then sea water flows in with two tides each day. The estuary attracts much bird life and the two swans who have raised a family here were swimming along the tidal river. I am not a great bird spotter but I love finding the feathers.
I drew my collection in pencil and then used acrylic inks. I wanted the fine detail of the feathery shapes so I used the number 1 sable brush. It was rather slow progress this week completing the feathers. The problem of white on white was solved with yellowy or grey to capture the paler feathers. I love the brown striped feathers, this one was a little green but I kept it a little cleaner. Thought you might like to see my colour palette. In the end I was really happy with this page.

I can't believe how quickly Saturday comes around. Today is week 5 collecting. It was a beautiful clear day with a hard frost. Football was cancelled so I had some company. The seaweed, oak leaves and feathers were all frosted. I liked the frosted seaweed which looked like pieces of white lace. The feathers felt strange as frozen shapes, they soon melted in my jacket pocket back to their soft textures. I saw many oak leaves with their familiar shape, but they looked so pretty edged with white frost. Today the water was so low that the old remains of a jetty from days gone by was visible, where slate from our village quarry was taken away by a flat bottomed boat. Old pieces of blue and white china and broken glass bottles were visible on the seabed. Yes, we fished out some bits and pieces, maybe they will appear on my pages. Today I found lots of shells. We were able to walk across areas which last week were completely covered with sea water, large expanses of sand with wave ripple patterns, bird prints and lots and lots of shells uncovered and stuck in the sand. The many tributaries and deep gullies were dried up today, but exposing the dangers of this shore and how deep the water is when the tide is in. I fear the sand and often feel nervous, too many childhood memories of sinking sands getting my feet, then ankles stuck and the panic. My steps kept to the very dry areas and if sheep or human footprints are deep it is a no go area for me. I know this shore, but I also know the dangers. The village and the shore are seperated by the railway line. The sea is eroding the grassy banks and the railway line has recently been protected with a stronger barrier of limestone rocks at vunerable places. I found a seaweed growing on the limestone boulders and collected a sample. As I sort out my treasures I suspect the shells will feature strongly for week 5, wait and see.
Thank you for the comments, hope you like the feathers. Millyx

week 3 Wind and Rain

The oak leaf was the first object I collected and it blew straight out of my hand. I had to chase it and then fish it out of a large puddle but I am glad I did. I loved the shape, the holes and the colours. The arrangement consists of just some of the items I collected on this wet and windy day, things go together by colour or shape as I select them for the double page. The orange colours really shone on this wet stormy day of week 3.

Today, week 4, I spend two hours wandering up and down, stopping to take in this beautiful day. Such a still clear day, of soft colours with the misty blue grey hills and pink and blue colours of the sky. The tide was coming in and the water in the estuary looked like a mirror with the reflection of the hills. Lots of birds about, as a single white feather came floating on the water and stopped right next to me. I enjoyed the walk, the silence and the frosty chill which had made pretty ice patterns in the pools and pockets of white frosted grass. It all added to the calm scene. The sea mist is again creeping in to make it all a frozen winter wonderland as evening falls. I am about to start week 4 as I sort my finds.
Thank you for the comments, I am enjoying my beach finds, hope you are too. Millyx

Week 2 and the little things

So last Saturday I ventured down onto the freezing cold shore with layers of clothes and only my face exposed to the biting wind. I know that if this strange behaviour is spotted by the locals there will be questions. You see today I went in the pouring rain, I had the place to myself! What on earth is she doing down there on a day like this?
I so enjoyed the first week, loved recording the seaweeds but I had a niggling thought that it might end up being seaweed each week. Well yes seaweed is going to feature strongly but I did find lots of little things, tiny shells, berries, seeds, leaves and snail shells. So I decided to capture them together on a separate page from the larger specimens. This means you are getting an extra page of finds with week 2 double page.
Week 2 features the biggest black mermaids purse that I have ever seen, it was a WOW moment for me. I am really loving the colours of my finds...rusty oranges, greens and browns, deep inky blue blacks...and everything seems to blend with each other.
It is a very tactile experience, feeling wet slimy strands, soft slippery objects and sometimes a bit smelly...a foot or a piece of stick to poke around helps.
It is really making me look, seeing how beautiful some of this sea weed really is, the different shapes which you really start to notice when you draw them.
In my enthusiasm to get started I chose a large sketch pad I already had, the paper is quite thin and it is not taking the paint too well and resulting in wrinkled pages. I have decided it adds to the sea theme.
Thank you for all the comments, glad so many people are interested and some new followers. Please let me know what you think, leave a comment, as you join me on this journey.
Must go now and sort out my new bag of treasures for week 3. Hope you like them. Millyx

My New Project for 2011

Welcome to my new project. On January the first I walked along the shore and enjoyed the fresh air and the views. The snow had melted and the grassy shore was very wet, soggy and slippery so I had to pick my way carefully. As usual my eyes scan the ground for interesting finds as my head continues to sieve through my thoughts. I need a new project, something fresh to occupy my need to draw. Gradually I start to find little interesting pieces of sea weed, lovely colours and then a snail shell, so out comes the collecting bag.
Maybe I have found my project, if I can find some more interesting objects. My foot pokes about in tangled debris and I collect tiny shells and leaves and seeds. There must be a sycamore seed, there is always a sycamore seed and I felt the delight as the large blackened shape appeared before my eyes. The sea water gives the leaves a dark blackened colouring, especially the many oak leaves. Red berries are always collected, that is my unwritten rule. Gradually after my hour and a half walk my bag is bulging with the wet tangled up treasure.
I have decided that each Saturday I will collect for my project. It is a big book, a double page spread will record my finds. There are some rules, only natural objects and walking the same piece of shore. One week to record and then a new week and new finds.
Here is Week 1, recorded in pencil and acrylic paint. Hope you will follow and see what the sea washes up, what grows and lives here and the lovely feathers from the birds in this beautiful estuary.
Hopefully 52 weeks later ...a fantastic book of my shore line finds.
Thank you for your comments, I love reading them and they are appreciated. Millyx