Tag Archives: found art

Where Do You Find Art? SOL25 Day 30

Most people see the beach as a playground, a gym, an opportunity to commune with nature, a place to get away from stresses and routines of the work week. Sometimes, though, I notice artists at work.

There are artists who are inspired by the natural beauty of the beach and drag their easels, paints, and canvases to the shore and set up to work en plein air trying to capture what they see in front of them. Today’s artist used the sand as both canvas and paint and a rake as his brush.

When my walk began, he was just getting started and had traced some circles on a large flat spot near where I walked onto the beach. I paused long enough to watch his technique for creating even circles–although I doubt I could replicate his motions. I walked some miles, stopping to watch egrets and other shore birds. I noticed some places where the cliffs have crumbled since my last visit to this beach. I took photos of sand dollars, sea birds, and the piling remnants of a structure that existed on this beach about a hundred years ago.

As I returned back to where I began, I noticed the completed art raked into the sand. As the mom of an artist, I’m fascinated by artists’ processes. I see the compulsion to create, the need to express, and how artists find their own tools of choice. When I see the scale of a piece like this in the sand, I have so many questions!

Is the work pre-planned? Does the size relate to the size of the rake? The size of the artist? Are the measurements a felt sense that the artist intuitively knows as the pole end of the rake traces circles and then the rake is turned to brush in the texture?

What is it about temporary art that is so question-invoking? I’ve seen other sand artists who place their art strategically where they can stand above it and photograph their work. Did the artist take a photo before he left his art for beachgoers to admire?

I did notice others like me taking the time to photograph this piece of temporary art, admiring its scale and shape. And there is something spectacular about art with the Pacific Ocean as its backdrop.

What found art have you come across? What surprised you? What wonderings did you have?

Flotsam and Jetsam: SOLC #7

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The sea was moody today. Thick clouds kept the sun at bay and also kept people at home. That’s a good thing for me–there’s nothing better than an empty beach for walking and exploring.

I love the way the beach is ever changing. Some days the shore is smooth and sandy. Lately piles of smooth beach stones have been pushed up into my walking zone. Low tides, like today, expose stretches of reef, some pieces algae-covered in reds and greens. I’m always on the look out for interesting finds on the beach. Unfortunately, we often find trash on our walks. Pieces of plastic and styrofoam, leftovers of foil wrapped burritos, and all too often straws of all shapes and sizes.

Today I noticed a glow stick on the reef. I know that fisherman often use these as part of their fishing routine, although I’m not sure exactly the purpose. I stopped to capture a photo and then we picked it up to throw away. (Lucky for our local environment, my husband always carries a trash bag when we walk on the beach.)

Next up was the shoe. Just one. Alone. It hadn’t been in the sea long enough to become a home for sea creatures, but it was soaked all the way through with sand inside. I wonder who lost this shoe and when they noticed it was missing. Does this child still have the other shoe tossed in the back of the closet?

Then I noticed the long white structure. Was it trash? No, seems like a bone. A closer examination made me believe that it is the remain of a pelican beak, long and thin and about the right size, washed up onto the shore. This piece we did not pick up–seems best to let it decompose and return to its native environment.

As I was documenting these finds with my camera, I was thinking about that term: flotsam and jetsam. Is one type of debris flotsam and another type jetsam? I turned to Google to check out the definitions. I learned that in maritime lingo, flotsam is wreckage of cargo that remains afloat after a ship has sunk and that jetsam is cargo or equipment thrown overboard from a ship in distress. I also learned that the phrase flotsam and jetsam has come to mean useless or discarded items. So I’m categorizing the glow stick and the shoe as flotsam and jetsam. The beak bone, just ordinary bird remains.

But what about this?

It seems that Shamus and Marisol decided to create some art on these beach boulders. It makes me wonder, did they bring paint to the beach with the idea that they would use beach rocks as a canvas? Was it made with water-based paint that will dissolve into the sea during the next high tide? Did they make it for their own enjoyment or for others to see? Or is it a call for help? (Notice the S.O.S.) Temporary art is common on the beach, there are sand artists who rake intricate designs into the sandy shore. There are rock tower builders, carefully balancing stone after stone after stone. And of course, the sand castle builders who create turrets and moats on castles adorned by seaweed and shells. All pieces meant to last only until the next tide sweeps it away.

I always leave the beach with questions and something to think about. And I always learn something. Regardless of its mood, the sea and the beach is never dull.

Temporary: NPM 2019 Day 30

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30 poems in 30 days…poof, April is done.

Today’s poem was inspired by the art I saw carved in the sand on my walk today and the power of fleeting experiences.

Temporary

Swoops and swirls

scratched in the sand

transform the expanses of low tide

into a canvas

The view from above

reveals a seascape

nautilus shells and giant kelp

dwarfing people who mill around

brushstrokes along the shoreline

Like voices spoken into the wind,

laughter shared between friends,

the magic is elusive

rising tides erase each mark

washing the canvas

into the sea

Though seemingly temporary

art experienced,

laughter shared,

words spoken

leave trails in our brains

and on our hearts

A canvas wiped clean

makes space

for reimagined creations

interactions with

space, time

sand and sea

Temporary

is time enough

to make a mark

©Douillard

Magnitude: SOLC 2019 Day 28

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As I walked down the beach this afternoon my eye caught the juxtaposition of the massive cliff walls and a small stack of beach pebbles. I found myself thinking about magnitude–the contrast of big and small.

I chatted on the phone earlier today with someone from an organization not directly related to education. She was describing the struggles they have in their organization with clear, concise communication of complicated ideas. The same struggles we are always talking to teachers about…from kindergarten to college. Add the equity piece, the fact that some people have tremendous access and opportunity–often based on financial status and skin color–and the dilemma goes from a stack of small stones to an enormous cliff that crumbles and slips at unexpected moments.

Those cliffs keep me up at night, my efforts dwarfed by their magnitude, overwhelming me with the impossibility of the lift. I find myself drawn to the pebbles. They fit perfectly in my hand as I rub my fingers over their surface, smoothing and soothing as I follow the path nature left before me. I pick one up, adding it my carefully balanced stack, wondering how many I can carry before they topple.

Luckily, I’ve come to the place in my career where I don’t have to decide between the cliffs and the pebbles. I try my best to exert influence where I have the agency to do things that matter…even if they only matter to a few. But my eye remains on the issues of magnitude…maybe if I keep stacking those small stones near the small stones of my colleagues and allies our stacks will grow to solutions of magnitude. Those nightmares that keep me up at night will transform into dreams come true. Maybe this art I found on the beach today is a talisman for the future.