Sunday, July 6, 2014

Seashell thread painting, adding to my plant seaweed collection

The wind calmed this morning and the sun was shining. In our yard there are many leaves and small green apples strewn about but nothing major down. Chain saws could be heard nearby. Our backyard neighbour had a tree come down, luckily without hitting anything.
There are still many people around the province without power and much more damage in some places.
We opened the windows to the breeze and had a pleasant Sunday AM breakfast. Then, as I often do on Sunday, I made muffins for lunch.

I sat down at my machine for a bit to get started on thread painting the seashell. Also, I scanned my stash for a few coordinating batiks.

More to do yet. I want to do the seahorse with silk for shimmer. The seashell needs a bit more definition with a dark grey and I plan to add a few small pebbles and shells in the forefront.

After lunch we drove out to my husband's parents who live on the beach. They're about 10-15 minutes from us.
I took my bathing suit and my boogie board in case the waves were up. They weren't, but the water though brownish from the storm was very warm, so I had to go in for a dip.
I simply can't come home without some collection! At least it was only smelly seaweed. My mom used to be afraid to check my pockets when I was little, never knowing what sort of critter she might find!

The shore was littered with seaweeds of all kinds, bits of shells and even lobster claws. The pieces below that look like tiny tree roots are actually the root ends of the seaweed that was ripped up from the ocean bed during the storm.
And can you see the tiny barnacles on the black seaweed? They're the size of a pin head.

I'm always entranced with the translucent shades of this seaweed.

Now I have two reference books I need to buy-- one on lichens and mosses and one on seaweeds.
My husband just left for the golf course and I'm going to sit down to eat a market size lobster for my supper. He golfs , I need a treat!

3 comments:

What Comes Next? said...

nice! enjoy your lobster.
Your seashell piece is looking really good. Glad to hear you weathered the storm without damage

Jeito Mineiro de Ser said...

O bordado vai tomando corpo e eu sigo com atenção.
Huuuummmm....almoço parece delicioso
Um abraço e boa semana!

The embroidery will take form and I follow closely.
Huuuummmm .... lunch looks delicious
A hug and good week!
Egléa

Watercolour and Textile Artist, Eileen Gidman said...

Excellent that the storm is over. That translucent seaweed had a very interesting color. Quite beautiful.
I like the idea of adding the shell embellishments but haven't gone beyond thread and beads in my own work.