Week 14

Another week and how lucky we have been to have had long sunny days to enjoy.  We have had times to sit in  the garden and look across the shore and to the hills and known that summer is on the way.  My page started as I tipped the contents out of my bag into the sink.  I sort and wash the items,  it cleans them and also makes the colours glow.   I had a real tangle of seaweed and as I began to separate it, it reminded me of being a little girl and playing with a chocolate box filled with strings of beads, some of my mums necklaces.  I thought the bubbly seaweed looked like a string of  beads and then I found the twisted piece which could be a bracelet.  This thought influenced my choice of what is on the page, a matching necklace and bracelet, and with some imagination, a charm bracelet and two little charms in the form of the well worn sycamore seeds.   And finally a little broken twisted piece of black seaweed.  I always try to capture true colours, it amazes me how many shades are found in one piece of seaweed when you really look.  I worked in acrylic inks, yellow ochre, red, blue, green and brown,  and my number 1 sable brush.
 I have photographed them with my beautiful sea inspired necklace which I was wearing.  It was handmade by Delila,  go and see her beautiful blog.  The little shell says "sound of waves".   In a few weeks time she in coming from Finland to spent a week with me,  and I will take her  a walk across the shore and visit some other beaches and beauty spots.  My  page could have had more little charms of crabs, shells and mermaids purses,  but I am leaving it.
Yesterday I did my beach walk around 6pm,  it was still so warm and I could feel the heat and smell the salty sea air.   It was busy with dog walkers,  I counted eight dogs.  There were two dogs splashing around in the water whilst their owners sat on the edge and threw balls for them.  I saw dog prints everywhere in the sand and human footprints,  all the birds must have been scared away.   The shore was also crowded with the flock of sheep which were put out to graze during the week,  now that the high tides are over.  A breed of black sheep with pale faces, Herdwick, which are more commonly seen on the fells.   They were hot and some came down to the water to drink.  It seemed strange seeing so many sheep and people,   the swan didn't seem too happy either.  She was on the water and then settled on the bank digging at the grass.  She looked at me and clacked her beak, then got up and seemed annoyed at the line of sheep walking along her bank just above her.   Two ducks flew up from the water and two oyster catchers moved around together on the sand.   A large black rook scratched about in the grass.  I was thrilled to see two butterflies dancing along.  I came across them as they were sunning  themselves on the limestone boulders.  My hand was overflowing with the little bits and pieces I had gathered.  I carefully carried the little white crabs because they are so fragile and nestled together with some pretty feathers I managed to get them home in one piece. I noticed how the pools of water had all dried up and returned to grass,  how the sand in places has baked and crackled  like crazy paving with the heat of these hot days.   Some huge pieces of the banking had collapsed and caused more erosion.   It was a lovely walk,  a joy to feel the sun and a warm breeze and be able to see the blue sky and the views of pale blue hills, no wonder so many people chose to take a walk today.  I think I know what will be featuring in week 15,  next week    It is so nice  to read the comments and know people are enjoying the weekly pages of my shore finds.  Thank you for the comments, welcome to the new followers.    Millyx    

Week 13

It has been a busy week for me, lots of things achieved.   I had a late start on the seashore page and I still have some finishing I would like to do.  It is a mixture of the objects I found  last week.   The huge crabs claw was washed up on this shore,  we would never see anything that size here but they do exist in the sea.  We  do see hundreds of  the tiny white crabs  mostly  through the summer  in pools of water. You can see  just how tiny it is,   just as I found it clinging onto the huge oak leaf.   An equally tiny and delicate find was this little shrimp case or body,  another creature, yet so fragile in this vast sea.   All  no doubt food for the birds.  I have been meaning to draw the whelks egg case which are often washed up on to the shore,  it seems appropriate as it is springtime,  so like frogspawn only solid and not a jelly.  Whelks are snails, not sure which snail would hatch  from this,  but I found a snail shell that same day to put in the drawing.  The two grey and white feathers lost from a bird probably whilst looking for food on the ground.   And finally the seaweed,  twisted and dry and brittle as it ends its life on the shore completes the page.
It is strange how these objects come together on the page.  I love the grey faded colours and the shape of the oak leaf when I found it on the sand with the little crab like a brooch pinned to it.
They are painted with the acrylic inks,   I need to buy some new ones as they are nearly used up.  The real objects are there to see and a little surprise, as I was  photographing  the sunlight caught a mirror and cast the rainbow across the page.

I walked the shore yesterday to collect for week 14 and shivered with the cold westerly wind and realised why I had the place to myself.  I had been working on this painting  and it was well  after six and getting near sunset.  This week has been cold and windy and although  the tides were not huge they have been quite rough.  A new tideline was visible in places  and it was still wet and slippery.  I walked for over an hour and saw how the new blades of grass are appearing through the sand.  It is a grass covered shore, in the past  the fine sea-washed turf was cut for gardens and cricket pitches or the like.  It always seemed to me more like vandalism to see all the lines of dirt as the land was stripped bare of the green grass,  but it does grows back so quickly and it was someones business selling it.    I noticed the acid yellow lichen on the lime stone  boulders,  used as a sea defence to prevent erosion and flooding,  were glowing in their circular patterns.  Perhaps it was the sun light, or is too starting to grow and glow with the springtime.  I remember I read this lichen  grows in places where the air is oxygen rich,  that suits me to know this as I see it growing here on the rocks on our shores.
My lonely swan disappeared from my  sight, to be found cuddled up under the banking safe from the cruel wind. She had chosen her place protected from the cold as she settled in for the night.  I saw bird foot prints but not another bird.  Just as I left  three loud sea gulls flew over the railway lines and onto the shore.  The sun was fading, as I too hurried home to the warmth, my bag of finds to be revealed next week.
Thank you for the lovely comments, as always it is a pleasure to read every comment and I appreciate your time spent doing so.   Hope you like the  drawings.
 Millyx       

Week 12

                                        The tangle of seaweed and mermaids purse

                                             A goose feather and a tiny duck feather

As another week passes by we have enjoyed some beautiful sunny days.  I visited a nearby pebbled beach and we sat and watched as the tide went down and then listened to the calming sound of the waves lapping up and down the beach.  Of course I collected some little bits and pieces to examine.
My week 12 picture features the mermaids purses all tangled up with the sea weed.  I used the acrylic inks, then a black ink pen to stipple and to draw the egg cases and all the tangles.   I then  got a bit carried away and stippled with white ink on my paintbrush. The three colours are on the little tag, press picture to enlarge.   I had collected some lovely feathers so decided to add a goose feather and a tiny duck feather,  first in pencil, then inks.  
I had lots of visitors to my blog this week,  thanks to Pondside pointing them in my direction.  It is lovely to meet new people and discover new  blogs.   I guess it was a strange picture to find,  two pieces of seaweed and an old damaged oak leaf.   Not many people left a comment,  thank you to the ones that did.   It made me realise that this sea project is not always pretty,  but it is real.   I want to show real objects,  just as I find them,  a true record of my shore finds.   This is often earthy muddy colours,  torn and tangled objects and not really pretty things.    Of course objects are washed up and left on a muddy shore,  often  broken and battered by the sea,  they dry or rot,  can be wet and smelly.  It is a wet slippery muddy place at the moment.   Yes,  it looks and makes a pretty view but close up and amongst  it,  it  is often very different.  I do not want to hide that side of my shore line.
The days are  getting warmer,  the midges and flies are starting to wake up and spiders run between the debris of the tideline.   I saw several very large bees this week.   The oyster catchers are pairing,  each couple moving around looking for a nesting place.  My swan is still alone, elegantly swimming up and down the tidal river. The birds are competing to see who is the loudest,  the bird song can be heard everywhere.  I looked up to see a huge bird shape high up in the clouds, a glider twisting and silently flying in circles high above me.   This toy like plane reminded me of my childhood when my Dad would point to show me, eventually my eyes would focus and see it.    So as I looked up,  they looked down onto my shore seeing the whole picture,  and I am here seeing the details.   I  found only a few objects but enough for a new page.  Today we enjoy an extra hour of daylight,  the sun sets are so nice and so is the extra hour as the birds are still singing outside and it is well after seven.

Hope you like the page.  Please leave a comment and let me know you visited.   Thank you to the regulars,  welcome to my new followers.   After two weeks,  my laptop has returned, still some problems....three blue screens and windows shut down ...as I have been writing this!   Until next week.     Millyx

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

Week 10

I told you last week I had collected some nice feathers.  My page is of some of my finds,  ten feathers, quite appropriate for week ten.  I love feathers and find it difficult not to stop and pick them up.   As the shore has a large bird population visiting, there are always lots blowing around or floating on the water.   The green jug houses many of my last years finds, over the years I have drawn many feathers. Three of my art cards feature feathers.
It was lovely to complete this page although at times I did wonder if it was a good decision doing white feathers on white paper, but I like a challenge,  and solving how I will succeed at making them appear against the background.  I gave the paintbrush a rest and used Derwent coloured pencils,  a good pencil sharpener and lots of time and patience.  You can see all the different shades used, browns, yellow, greys, white and blues  and a pencil for the initial drawings. I am happy with the finished page.
I went collecting yesterday, Saturday,  for week 11.  It has been a cold windy week with the tides getting higher and stronger.  A fresh tide line had delivered some nice finds for my next weeks picture. There was just me and the swan yesterday,  I walked back and forwards and the swan glided along beside me.  She looked so beautiful and elegant.  I looked like an old tramp with my hat and gloves and waterproof jacket and wearing my husbands warm lined walking pants, carrying a plastic carrier bag.  Out of that bag I always find something beautiful to go on my page.
My computer is being repaired, not had it all week, so I will keep this short I am using someone else's laptop.
As always thank you for the lovely comments, I really do enjoy reading them all, I will try to return the visit when I can.  Hope you like the picture,  press for close up,  the real feathers are placed on the ground for you to see.        Millyx
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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