19 of 30 Stocky Cerith (Broken Shell Series)

Coverage is Spotty (Stocky Cerith)

5" X 7"

Watercolor

$85

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Do you remember what these shells look like when whole? (If not, look here.)

These shells often turn up with little corkscrew ends, because the coral floor on the beaches acts much like a rock polisher. All that remains is a white shell with a row of dots. I think they are quite charming this way!

16 of 30 American Stars (Broken Shell Series)

The Glimpse Inside (American Star Shells)

5" X 7"

Watercolor

$85

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I can't be sure when it started, but on my shelling trips, I've become more and more picky about which shells to bring home. Over Christmas break, my college-age son took a walk on the beach with me. He kept picking up shells and handing them to me. Often they were chipped or bleached. Since he isn't four and has had to pack up and move with our family six times, he knows that my collection has limits, I explained that I appreciated it, but that I am pretty picky.

This line of thought led me to thinking about beauty in general. TED did a talk on beauty that was quite interesting. Beauty can be hard to define. We know it when we see it; at least, we know what we think is beautiful when we see it.

I can't explain why I love the zebra arks and dislike the red-brown ark. I hoard the colorful moonsnails and toss back the smooth Atlantic tegulas. I adore the long-spined stars and don't keep the American stars when they are whole.

I do pick up a lot of American stars when they are broken. The American star shell is one of the prettiest shells when the waves take a toll on it. At that point, the chamber inside is more visible and the patterns of construction are revealed. I hope you like this painting, the first in a series of broken and worn seashells. There is beauty in imperfection. I hope to show you some of it.

8 of 30 Long-spined Star Shell

"Prickly" (Long-spined Star Shell)

5" X 7"

Watercolor

$85

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The long-spined star shell may have been the first shell that I picked up when I realized there were shells on the beach by our house. I had never seen them before, so they were like a wonderful treasure! Although (five months later) I still like them, there are a lot of them around, so they do not seem quite as special anymore. I still pick them up if none of the spines are broken and they are particularly spiky. The one in this painting is one of the largest that I've found (over 1").

As far as the process goes, this painting started well. I took one work-in-progress (WIP) photo:

About half-way through painting, I got "off" on my spirals. I kept working on it, but was just really unhappy with the result. I debated starting over. In fact, I set the painting aside and did a "sketch" painting to see if I could reclaim what appealed to me about the subject.

In a way, this painting is more how I envisioned painting the shells before the challenge began. Quick! Fresh! But, I have a way of painting and I am trying to incorporate new skills and ideas without remaking myself completely, so I refuse to stress over whether or not paintings end up as I envisioned before beginning.

After the sketch, I took another look at the painting and lifted and reworked a few things. I found my opaque white and used it to highlight a little (something I rarely do). When I stood back and looked, I decided that it turned out well despite the pain involved in bringing it to the finished state.

Sidenote: On Monday, I was three days ahead. I've since squandered my stockpile of paintings while grocery shopping and putting about 25 crockpot meals in the freezer. I need to get back ahead at some point because I am taking a watercolor workshop with Lian Zhen the 27th-29th.