Beach Finds : Seaweed with Mussels

Let’s talk inspiration : I have a “Favorites” folder filled with photos I’ve taken 📸 & flagged for drawing reference. 98% of them I never use. Plants & bugs in the backyard, shots from the park, dinner, a visit to the botanical garden, some from a stroll on the beach. I rarely get a chance to dig into this folder because most of my work starts with an idea💡. “I’d like to do an instructional piece about opening clams.” So I find photos of clams, find photos of hands in the positions I need, and work from there. So, alas, my inspiration folder often sits untapped, which gives me simultaneous feelings of “so much visual inspiration for paintings” and “so little time to make them”. 🤓 Anyone else relate? 

—- ANYWAY —

THIS piece was inspired by something from THAT folder. Over the summer, I found this cluster of creatures along the shore in NY. Since July, I’ve kept coming back to how elegant this seaweed/mussel/barnacle situation was. Painting this piece was a super meditative experience, (so many green layers and twists and turns in that seaweed). Hoping to jump back into my “Favorites” folder soon. What do you all think?

Rock Lobsters : From No to Flow

Creative flow is a funny animal. Essentially : sometimes it “flows” and sometimes it doesn’t. Additionally, just because a certain idea isn’t flowing now doesn't mean it will always be that way in the future.

Enter scene : Me vs. Rock Lobsters.

3-4 years ago, it seemed like every other person I spoke to suggested I paint a rock lobster. I’d painted plenty of Maine Lobsters [ see here, and here, and here, and here…. ], so why not extend my love of crustaceans to their cousin?

Maybe it was a case of “no one tells me what to do” flaring up, who knows. I just couldn’t get excited about painting them. There was no flow. Other crustaceans stole my creative heart in the meantime, like blue crabs & fiddler crabs.

THEN recently, I was searching The Google for some inspiration (yes, I did just refer to it as “The Google”, and I will continue to do so because it makes me smile for 5 minutes every time I do). I started to realize that rock lobsters exist in a variety of colors & patterns. They aren’t just armless “regular lobsters”. They’re GORGEOUS intricately textured graceful underwater painted-robots. Ta-da! I found my creative flow with the once dreaded rock lobster.

In my sunny studio, beaming with one of my new buddies.

In my sunny studio, beaming with one of my new buddies.

Fun fact : Rock Lobsters are also called Spiny Lobsters.

I have two of my newest Rock Lobster original paintings available for purchase here, as well as prints here.

Rock Lobster, Watercolor & Ink

Rock Lobster, Watercolor & Ink

Rock Lobster, Watercolor & Ink

Rock Lobster, Watercolor & Ink

Can anyone else relate to the mystical nature of flow? My mind will be blown if octopi, squid or jellyfish flow for me. For now, they remain in the “no thank you” column.