Santa Barbara Tide Pool Treasures

It seems my jewelry career has been put on hold lately with so many school activities, household obligations and making plans for summer activities.  It's all good and my creative juices will just have to be bottle up for awhile to age like fine wine. I am enjoying this time with my little guy and I'm  goin' with the flow.

This last Tuesday, a caravan of parents, first graders and teachers journeyed up to Hope Ranch beach in Santa Barbara to enjoy the beautiful weather and explore the tide pools.  We were fortunate to go to this private beach as one of our teachers just moved there and will sadly not be returning to our little Ojai school next year.  The kids had a surprise waiting for them at the shore....they each were given a beach bucket filled with a sand shovel, flower lei (and real grass skirts for the girls), seaweed snacks, goldfish snacks and a beverage.  Thank you Mrs. Stovesand!  We had a fun day of exploration and treasure hunting.  The kids saw shore crabs, hermit crabs, sand crabs, star fish, sea anemones, limpets, mussels, lots of seagulls and a few other creatures which names escape my memory at the moment.  During lunch we even spotted some dolphins! We came home with a nice collection of sea glass and shells as souvenirs along with tar covered feet. And I found a bunch of rocks with holes in them... my favorite.  I love to use them to tie onto gifts with ribbons or hang with leather cord for necklaces.  I might even play with aboriginal type dot art on them for wearable art. The adults had as much fun beach combing as the children. Below you can see some of the bootie we brought home... and made a little art display for daddy. 

The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea.  

~Isak Dinesen~

Painted Waves from the Past

Erin, a fellow blogger with beautiful posts at Erin's Art and Gardens, was curious about the painted wave in my Halloween eve post so I thought I would share a little history.  

Many years ago in college, I thought I wanted to be in fashion so I majored in French.  Then I decided to be an archeologist, then an anthropologist.  I just couldn't decide.  Then, when I had to declare a major a year before I was supposed to graduate I realized that the only classes that I was receiving A's was in Art ....history, painting, drawing, sculpture, etc..  So, I spent an extra year and changed my major to Art Studio.  Of course, when I graduated I had no idea how to support myself as an artist so I continued waiting tables.

Working in a restaurant gave me time to paint, but I just wasn't inspired.  I looked into teaching and graphic design.... did a few internships.  My passion wasn't roused.  I decided to take a night class in interior design and had so much fun that I stayed on and three years later, I was a certified interior designer!  I missed painting but I found a way to make money and have fun. 

For about 15 years after I graduated, I never picked up a paint brush....until I met my hubby to be.  We met during El Nino when the coastal waters were like a bathtub and spent every free moment at the beach ! I was suddenly inspired to paint....the ocean.  I think this painting was the first time I touched a brush since my table-waiting days.  Then I painted another ocean-scape after we were married.... a gift to my husband for our first anniversary from a photo I took on our honeymoon in Mexico.

Haven't painted a finished picture since!

...... I will paint again someday, I'm sure.