Sunday, June 28, 2009

Shoreline

This is the second month's BJP that was inspired by my trip to Kauai this past winter. A few of of the shells and bits of coral in this piece were collected as I lay on the beach, idly sifting handfuls of sand through my fingers. I spent hours looking at all of the teeny tiny bits of wonder that had washed up on the shore. There were impossibly small shells , fragments of coral and minuscule broken bits from the invertebrates that had once inhabited the coral reef. I loved the meandering patterns that the waves had made upon the sand. A lacy line of foam followed by a scattering of shells, coral and debris that transitioned to smaller and finer particles of sand. I had such a wonderful time beading this piece, which as a result did not take long to complete. I began by gathering up an assortment of shells and treasures that I've collected from a lifetime of beach combing. I glued down some of the shells to my base fabric which is a piece of batik sewn to light weight card stock. I added the twisty lines of white beads to represent the lacy ripples of foam that wash up on the shore with each wave. The rest was purely improvisation. The limited color palette certainly made things easier. I sewed on pearls and stones and baubles, followed by rows of my favorite size 14 seed beads. I listened to Hawaiian slack key guitar music as I beaded and it kept me in a mellow beachy mood. There was no frustration or indecision about where to sew down the next bead. I just let the blissful beachy memories flow from my mind to my hands to the shells and the beads.
Ahhhh, pure beachy beading bliss....

12 comments:

Julie said...

Oh what a delight to look at. Its a perfect representation of a Hawaiian beach. Ive never been but this is what I imagine. Julie C

jodi said...

It is incredible. A really beautiful piece.

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

What a pretty piece and the perfect way to remember a wonderful vacation.

pam T said...

This is beautiful! I can definitely tell you enjoyed beading it, it is so lovely and probably put you right back on that beach as you picked up each new bead or piece to stitch in place. very nice.

Brenda said...

Fascinating beadwork!
You did a wonderful job putting all the ingredients together.

a2susan said...

Just wonderful!!!

KV said...

This is wonderfully dreamy, Pam. And delightfully beaded, too!


Kathy V in NM

Robin said...

Bliss for you as you stitched and listened to slack key guitar music... and bliss for us to see your beautiful creation, your magnificent representation of a sandy beach and meandering patterns of foamy seas. WOW!!!

Glad you're finding the time to show your work now!!! Robin A.

Marty S said...

This is just gorgeous!
Marty S
Crackpot Beader

Susan Elliott said...

Pam, I feel wonderful after seeing and reading about this piece...I feel like I've been to the beach myself. You have captured the image beautifully -- it really is absolutely lovely.

I have such a strong love for shelling and so have placed this piece in my inspiration file. Beautifully wrought....wonderful...

Mountain Salt Studio said...

breathtakingly beautiful

Timaree said...

This is beautiful. Really beautiful. I just want to look and look at it. I bet you are still looking at it!