Fish are flying once again ~~~

Walks on the beach finding driftwood ... sorting the piles of treasures and knocking off the sand ... drying them thoroughly for the longest time while my imagination runs wild... THIS is the stuff of summer! I made (and sold) so many crazy, wacky, wild fish characters in the years before and up to 2008 ~ look at this funny guy... purple polka dots and such a grin!

As many of you know the last couple or so years have been plenty rough with so many funerals (three in my own family), hospitals, surgeries, and oh-so-many changes... and as a result my art slipped behind the curtain a tiny little bit as I focused on commissions and small-format projects. If there is one thing that remains constant throughout my life it is that I am adaptable; I shift into whatever zone I need to and go forward where I am at. Right now I am rather alert and a bit stunned after all that has transpired. I might even look that way ~~ deer-eyes in headlights ~~ but I am happily standing still for this moment because there have been no major traumas or necessary adjustments needed in the last few months or so. It feels a little strange after the long journey of the last few years... kind of like being thrown from the back of a farm truck after getting used to being in said farm truck. I can't yell "I'm back!" because I was never gone. I was just occupied with several other callings some of which are complete. I guess I'll yell "I'm done!" since several of those callings are retired, and "I'm ready!" as new ones rush in to give me more to adapt to... thrive in...    

I struggled briefly ~~ a tiny bit ~~ getting back into making larger, long-term art messes and looking too far ahead (or so I thought). That didn't last long though and when my son went looking for something in the attic just last week he unearthed my last great beach combing box of super-dried driftwood from the summer of 2008. I immediately recognized fish bodies and potential signs --- all my previous intentions and ideas came flooding back like there had been no loss, or cancer, or death, or hospitals. Here are some pieces of driftwood that will become FISH (and a sign [sold] tossed in at the same time - by special request for an ETSY customer).

Here I have added wood FINS and TAILS ~~ you can see them GETTING THEIR WHIMSY ON already!

Next I added the wacky SMILES and place the EYES...

I will be "playing" with them all week - making them seriously FUN... painted details will cover them as the shapes and textures direct...
The largest ones in this group are over THREE FEET long!

... and when they are finished there are more waiting to be born ...



It is already shaping up to be a fabulous summer!

My Art - check it out at
http://www.blueyeduckstudios.etsy.com/

XOXOXOXOX
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Remembering my Dad here: Waitin' on a woman ...
and here: Sam