#100daysofbeachfinds
On the 18th February this year I embarked on another #100dayproject. After trying to come up with a different approach I decided on #100daysofbeachfinds which I completed on 27th May. I have taken part in this project on a couple of other occasions with collage & pattern themes so wanted to try another idea this time.
The 100 days of beach finds theme enabled me to have 2 elements to the project. Part one was being out & about on our local beaches to collect the inspiration. This included both natural & man-made items. Unfortunatley this did include rather too much plastic but the collection was a good way of doing a little beach clean at the same time. If everyone did a few minutes when they visit the beach it really would make a difference!
The second part of the project was the sorting & selecting of the pieces found. This was a way of creating interesting compositions with shapes & forms I would not usually be drawn to. This has resulted in various bags of bits waiting for further development or recyling!
These pieces are approximately postcard size 10.5cm x 14.5cm pieces of water colour paper. I found cutting the paper myself from a A 4 pad a more cost effective way than buying pre-cut 'postcards'. I purchased a Daler-Rowney Aquafine Smooth hot pressed 300gsm pad. The drawings were done with a V5 HI-TEC POINT pen which I like to use all the time. These pens are especially effective as if adding a wash the ink 'bleeds' nicely. On the majority of the days the colours were applied with INKTENSE coloured pencils which blend & create a good dense colour. Occasionally I also used a marker pen if I did not have the vibrant colour required especially for some of the plastic fragments.
I generally did one postcard each day. On the odd occasion if I had missed a say or 2 I would catch up before it became too much of a task! I think that is something artists often struggle with sometimes thinking they are too far behind so it is not worth carrying on. I enjoy having the discipline to create daily which is way I do a lot sketch book work. This is also why I set up the #365dailycreate group with other friends to share ideas & inspiration. You can read about that project on an earlier blog post here. Having a theme is also helpful as it gives you a starting point. My palette for this project is also fairly limited with pops of colour from the plastic finds.
I intend to exhibit these 100 mini works later this year quite possibly at my forthcoming exhibition at the St Ives Arts Club this October. I would like to display some of the actual beach finds too so it may become a separate display depending on space?
I have really enjoyed this process again & I am sure that it will benefit my practice. I would really like to explore using some of the beach plastic within my work particularly. To combine the bright colours with silver or create wall pieces? As we are now approaching the busy summer season this might have to wait until things slow down a little but we will see!
If you search online, particularly on Instagram #100dayproject #100daysprojects you will see lots of examples of other creative ideas which may even inspire you to take part yourself!?
