Dog Days of Summer....

... are good for only one thing- playing on the beach. And that's exactly what we did last weekend. We are just reaching midsummer here in Florida, and it's hot. And humid, of course. Florida summers are best spent on the beach looking for sea treasures and floating around in the Gulf water.


I have baskets, boxes, bowls, and baggies full of perfect seashells we have gathered over the years. So this year I decided to collect only the imperfect. The pieces of shells and rocks that have traveled with the tides and currents year after year. Washed up with the tides on countless beaches, and washed back out to sea over and over again. Some are pitted by time and the constant movement of the ocean, and some are polished smooth. And some shells merge together to create a collage of lives that once lived in the sea.


This sea rock is about 7 1/2" long and when you look at it closely, you can see that there are hundreds of tiny shells melded together. It feels surreal to gaze at this rock of shells and realize that at one time each of the shells held a living creature. As soon as I saw this rock on the beach I knew I wanted to sculpt a mermaid to sit on it. Click pictures to see full size and details:

This sea rock caught my eye because of the streak of turquoise color on one side of it.

Mike went on vacation to Sanibal Island in July and brought back bags of shells. When he showed me the following pieces, I feel in love and claimed them for my art material stash. Aren't they gorgeous and amazing?

I wasn't feeling well in July, and decided to spend that month putting some order in my life. I'd been spending too much time on-line, and not enough time in the studio and taking care of myself. So I'm eating better, taking vitamins and nutritional supplements, trying do get more low impact exercise (walking and swimming), and spending more time in the studio. And I'm repainting the dining and living room in bolder colors.

I finished sculpting the nude aging beauty but she still needs painted and hair applied. I also finished two practice canvas boards using the new (to me) Golden art mediums. Now that I've played with these new materials, I'm ready now to try playing on a real canvas.

I hope you all had a wonderful July. I'll be visiting all your blogs this week and try to catch up.

Peace-

Linda