From sand to sky - starry starry night

Switchfoot -"This is Home" - THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA



I love not-too-hot walks along Lake Erie. There are piles of inspiration everywhere along the various wash lines. I stumble and shuffle through the debris ... large trees... pieces of weekend parties offshore (oh those boaters toss some no-no's in the water sometimes!) ...

In those long wisps of wood and beach rubble I see shapes that beckon to me ~~ a fish or a sign or a whimsical creature waiting at the tip of my brush -- I never see just "driftwood". It is like seeing a bunny in a cloud for me ... the wood calls to me to be painted or transformed. I especially like the oldest, deepest wash lines - where the wood has been dried and weathered the most.

When I wander from the older, dried wash lines - I move closer to the lines of pebbles and seek that illusive beach glass we all crave. So many more beachcombers are scouring the edge of the water for it now that there seems to be less. Blue used to be the magic find - but now it is yellow, orange, or red. What or if I find any good sized pieces depends on the lake and what she brings in and when. I was surprised last summer to get a bucket load (literally) after a storm - it is the most beach glass I have ever collected. I still have it in a bucket - waiting for some transformation.

Wood is still the most wonderful for me. Two years ago (about this time) I spent a coldish stormy June day with my family (on my birthday) collecting the best load ever. I ended up drying those treasures and painting about 100 pieces that sold on eBay over the following year. Last spring I went with my son & his friend to another beach nearby and about froze... I have since found my best collecting to be serendipitous - just whenever and wherever - with no assignment in my head... (oh so hard for me!).
And so it has been this spring - on warm Sunday evenings - strolling with my boys and just being calm. I grew up on the very same beaches. When I moved away for college I never would have imagined my life's journey would plant me back along this same water so that my beaches would be my boys' beaches.
God is so kind.


~joy in the journey,

katey~D

ORIGINAL Contemporary FOLK ART ~ Direct from the artist (me!)
A Seaside Angel- mixed media painting - on genuine Lake Erie driftwwod

I have used acrylic paints, crackle mediums, antique mediums, and varnish -- the results are amazing rich coloration and depth!

Approx 11” by 4.5” (irregular) and about ½” thickCollected and dried by me

Ready to hang or display on a shelf ~ Hanging hardware included

TITLE: Starry Starry Night

http://www.blueyeduckstudios.etsy.com/