Sea Glass Jewelry

I have a confession to make.  I have a beach combing addiction.  I cannot walk on the beach without staring at the sand, hoping to find the wonderful little treasures that come from the ocean .  I have mason jars full of shells, and also sea glass.  Every once in a while, I make jewelry out of the sea glass.  I guess I feel that using it justifies me constantly adding to the collection.  Last week, I got the urge to make some jewelry.  I got out my soldering iron and picked through my sea glass.  I had so much fun!

Beach Glass Watercolor - 9X12

Beach Glass Watercolor

140 lb cold press- 9X12

beach glass detail

I am really trying to get back into a painting routine, and think I have finally gotten a start.  I haven't painted much at all since starting the moving/relocation process and I am definitely ready for some creativity!  About a week ago, I got out my palette, and a pad of watercolor paper and got nowhere.  Sometimes, I think the most difficult part of painting is thinking of WHAT to paint and getting focused.  Yesterday I sat down with a plan to just paint a few small watercolors and to paint things I enjoy painting.  Well, with a pile of beach glass and sea shells in front of me- it worked!  Sometimes, artistic mojo and too much thinking just don't mix.  After I relaxed and didn't worry about painting a masterpiece- I just had fun.  Now to find (and keep) my artistic mojo- wherever it may be.

Cherries Painting- Oils on Masonite

Finally got a good photo (actually a scan) of the finished cherries. I had a lot of trouble since the finish is reflective and I kept getting glare with my photos even with the flash off. So much for taking a quick photo to post! Fortunately, my scanner has a professional mode and definitely gave me a perfect image. There isn't much difference in the two photos, I just put some final touches on the glass to give it more of a shine- but it was definitely worth it!

Thank you for visiting and for any (much welcomed) comments-

Sheryl

Seashell Trio- oils on canvas

I am finishing, one at a time, the oil paintings that I started earlier this week. Sometimes I find I get more done by starting a batch of paintings at once. If I prime multiple canvases, they are then ready to go and easy to start. No excuses. Painting on these small canvases is so fun, too!

The dark still life starts out on a canvas covered in dark (usually black) acrylic paint. It is faster and uses less of my more expensive oil paint. Then, I can mix my darks for the background- usually alizarin crimson, burnt umber, and ultramarine blue. For the beach/sand paintings, I usually start with a raw sienna mix. Then come the grains of sand, then the shells and beach glass. Some of my shells and fruits (cherries, pomegranates, etc.) get a pure black background to make them really stand out.

Time to go paint- I have more than a few paintings waiting in my studio!

Thanks for visiting-

Sheryl