Portfolio > Beachcomber Series

Low Tide
mixed media
Beachcomber IV
mixed media
14 x 11 in.
Beachcomber III
mixed media
12 x 9 in.
Beachcomber I
mixed media
16 x 8 in.
Beachcomber II
mixed media
Adrift
mixed media
12 x 9 in.

Beachcomber Series

At the ocean’s edge, I find calm and fury. As I walk the shore, I feel the wind on my cheeks and look toward the horizon. Looking out to sea delivers a feeling of reverie and restoration. Walking at the high tide line, I bend down to pick something up. Trash and detritus—revealing the unsettling presence of an indifferent and consumptive culture. It all tells a story. I keep the washed ashore boat line—the color and texture draw my attention. I save it, waiting for it to find a place in my artwork.

Other series of my artwork have focused on realistic oil paintings of the ocean. The Beachcomber series imparts the abstract nature of the sea—rhythmic patterns created by wind and tide. The scavenged boat line, shredded to its finest fibers and woven into the oil paintings on canvas, becomes part of the story of the sea.

“The oceans give us life. We give them plastic.”
-Parley for the Oceans