Beach Memories

For about 20 years, our family lived within walking distance of a beach. We went to it in all seasons--not just the bright, sunny, peaceful days of summer--but on the days that it was freezing, and there were big chunks of ice cluttering the beach...or the crisp fall days when it was too cold to swim and the leaves were golden and covered with frost. In any weather, the beach was a place to rest, gather our thoughts, meditate, and recharge.

Now we live in a small city apartment and that beach, on the eastern end of Long Island, lives in our memories. My daughter was recently redecorating her city bedroom. The gauzy curtains and green plants she chose reminded me somehow of that serene beach. I realized that her walls were bare, so I thought: "Why not gift her with a painting of our favorite beach?"

I didn't want to start with a plain white canvas. To add texture and color, I used my go-to supply--recycled turmeric teabags. (I save all kinds of teabags, dry them, empty out the contents, then flatten the teabags and use them in my paintings and mixed media projects. You can see my tutorial on using teabags by clicking here.)

First, I chose a 12"x12" stretched canvas. Next, using a spatula, I covered the canvas with matte medium, added teabags, and covered them with a layer of matte medium.

 

 

I like to use the tops that are cut off the teabags to create visual interest, forming X, L or + marks. 

Next, I pulled out acrylic colors that reminded me of the sun and sea and sand, and a whole bunch of StencilGirl® stencils. I looked for designs that would hint at waves, rocks, clouds or the sun.

The lacy lotus design by Jessica Sporn and Gwen Lafluer's decorative medallion gave the feel of clouds.The golden ochre of the turmeric background gave a sense of sunshine.

A design from the September 2018 StencilClub® set by Carol Wiebe was perfect for rocks--since the beach is on the bay side of Long Island's South Fork there are quite a few rocks mixed in with the sand.

 The painting was starting to shape up!

 I added layer after layer until I got the look I wanted.

I wanted to create a feeling of the little hill on the right side of the beach and the rocky paths leading to the shore. When I added the dark teal wavy marks, I realized it was too much. The color was too dark, and the shapes to obvious. So, I just stenciled over it with a lighter color and the dark teal receded into the background.

There are also wooden fences here and there to help prevent erosion, and also to keep people from trampling delicate beach grasses and flowers, so I used brown paint with a medium sized StencilClub® mash up set from January 2019 designed by Seth Apter and Mary Beth Shaw to give the worn fence effect.

 Another StencilClub® set, Mary Beth Shaw's February 2019 private collection, was used to add the feeling of rocks and water.

A final touch was adding little brush marks and dots with the dark brown paint to make the viewer's eye follow the Z shaped path from the sand and rocks, through the fence opening, and down to the waterline.

I hope she'll love her new painting. I'm pretty sure it'll look great on the wall of her newly decorated bedroom!

Be sure to hop over to each fantastic project and leave a comment for the artist! 

The more comments, the more chances you'll have to win $50 worth of StencilGirl® stencils! Good luck!

Sue Plumb's Cookie Jar and Art Bag

Claudia Neubacher's Tote Bag

Sunila & Aditi Mahajan's Treasure Box

Peg Robinson's Necklace

Shel C's Journal Set

Jennifer Gallagher's Paper Mache Gift Box

Linda Edkins Wyatt's Beach Memories Painting

Jill McDowell's Twisted Treasure Pouches

Carol Baxter's Advent Calendar

Contest closes 10-8-19 at 11:59 p.m. CST.  Winner notified by email 10-9-19.