and a bit of a surprise when I received a copy of Somerset Gallery Winter 2008 issue and discovered that a shadowbox I had submitted many months ago was published. There are so many wonderful pieces of art in this issue... the first box below is the one included in the Gallery - the other two boxes were companion pieces created at the same time. Thanks for taking a peek!
Inspiration:
The ocean has always been more to me than ever-changing shades of azure, turquoise and cerulean blues. Subtle tones of mauves, pinks and gold shine through, creating a harmonious mosaic of color and light.
The New England coast offers a gem called Moonstone Beach.
This national reserve harbors, among others, the elusive and endangered Piping Plover who nest and breed in a protected environment of windswept dunes and vast expanses of pristine beach. The public has limited access to this little piece of paradise and it is here that many treasures are waiting to be discovered… raggedy streamers of purple seaweed cast up like folded ribbons, skeleton horseshoe crab shells long ago abandoned , twisted and bleached coral bits gleaming like small sculptures. All of these gifts from the sea are, in my mind’s eye, awaiting new life.
In creating these three shadowboxes, the detritus of a foggy beach morning become the elements of playful collages. I chose to work with pearlized paint to evoke the lustrous quality of wet shells and the luminosity of the ocean waters and sky. Tags flutter like whisps of paper dancing in the breeze. Sanded wooden cigar boxes provide a safe enclosure reminiscent of bleached wooden picket fences that guard the dunes and their inhabitants.
