Written by Today we start our brand new “Fun In The Sun” art challenge for June! So, this was a lovely opportunity to sketch a conch shell, which is my favorite kind of seashell. Though it’s sunny here at the moment, there was a very brief thunderstorm earlier that darkened the sky and turned a scorcher of a warm day into a shower of cold quarter-sized bits of ice known as hail. That’s the wild and unpredictable weather we’ve been experiencing here, so a month of at least dreaming of sunny days is a wonderful thing indeed! Philippe and I stood watching the hail come down and I have to admit, it’s rather mesmerizing. Seeing bits of ice bounce on the ground captured our attention fully for the short ten minutes the show lasted. Just ten minutes after that, the sun appeared and immediately melted each piece of ice as though the whole event were only a dream. Nature can be rather unpredictable, especially where I live. And, though I had the opportunity once to move to southern California, my choices have kept me here instead. And while I don’t like extreme weather, of course, I adore the four full seasons and, truthfully, I’d really miss the snow. But, sure, right now, I’d kill to be sitting on the beach with cocktail in hand!
Instead, I’m just once again sitting at my kitchen counter, typing a bit after playing around in my sketchbook. All of this in the center of the United States, so there’s not a beach for miles and miles, or even in a neighboring state. But, it’s fun to sketch something and let the memory of the thing take me back to a particular place in time. This time, I went back to just last year when we visited southern California. It was wonderful to catch up with dear friends and spend time just walking along the beach. There’s a beautiful feeling of time standing still when I’m just watching waves roll in and retreat across sand. Though my attention span is typically quite short, I can spend hours just sitting or walking on the beach. For me, it’s that impossible combination of feeling lost and found all in the same moment. Looking across the ocean to get a rare glimpse of infinity while a cool breeze blows by me and I make that silent wish to return to this very spot. Those wishes are made to be broken, of course, since Santa Monica and Laguna Beach are the only ones I’ve ever been to more than once.
But, Philippe and I are considering a trip in August after the festivities of World Watercolor Month in July have passed. Nothing at all has been planned, but we’ve been having fun discussing the possibilities. Imagining where you’d like to be next is a trip all in itself! Though we haven’t settled on a location, a beach comes up more than anything else, so it’s definitely the current frontrunner. As much as I love to travel, I have to admit that home is where my heart is all of the time. Despite the erratic weather and the very occasional ice chunks spewing from the sky, it’s a really lovely place to live. What makes it actually home, of course, is being with my husband and our little dog Phineas. Phineas doesn’t get to come on vacations with us, so that’s the part that always makes Philippe pause a bit committing to making plans. He doesn’t like to leave his baby or be too long gone from daily routines. And I can understand this feeling. As much as I love to be somewhere new, I’m equally thrilled to be back home again once it’s over. Even though I’ll still find myself slipping into my imagination to enjoy a beautiful and relaxing break, at times, somewhere by the sea.
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About the DoodlewashDa Vinci Paint Co.: Opus (Vivid Pink), Yellow Ochre, Terra Cotta, and Cobalt Turquoise. Lamy Al-Star Safari Fountain Pen with sepia ink in an A5 Hahnemühle Watercolour Book. Want to purchase a print of this doodlewash? Send me a note with a link to this post, and I’ll add it to my shop! |
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Beautiful seashell, wild weather where you are.
Thanks so much, Sharon! 😃💕yeah, the weather has definitely been wild here!
That’s a beautiful conch!!
Thanks so much, Mary! 😃💕
Beautiful, they are great shells.
Thanks, Karen! 😃💕 Yeah, I adore these shells!
I keep shells as a reminder of the ocean too, even though I’m much closer than you are! This one is lovely. (K)
Thanks, Kerfe! 😃💕Yeah, I’m frightfully far from an ocean, but it makes those trips even more special!
I miss the beach so much! So you should go to a beach and make a sand castle in my honor. I have been a freshwater gal all my life, so when we went to California and waded into the ocean, it was a whole new experience. I’ve seen Jaws too many times in my life to be totally comfortable in salt water 😂😂.
hehe!! The beach is SO awesome! 😃💕 But yeah, I grew up a freshwater guy. Though I loved the Jaws movie, I can see how it could have a negative effect! lol
I have to admit that hubby and I don’t travel much. We visit the coast – a 2 to 4 hour drive – about 3 times a year and are perfectly happy with that. It’s cheap, it’s relaxing and it’s beautiful. What’s not to love?
Yay to that, Sandra! 😃💕Yeah, travel has a lot of costs and we have to go to Texas and Paris each year, so anything else is definitely a bonus! But, whatever new experience makes you happy… that’s travel… and it’s awesome!
You’ve captured the volume of the shell with just a few lines, and the colors are fantastic. It’s actually been unseasonably cool here in So Cal, definitely not beach weather. May and June are traditionally more overcast at the beach, so August would be a great time to visit.
Thanks so much, Sharon! 😃💕 Yay! I think we’ll looking at August for a SoCal trip… though it might change as we still can make our minds up of where we’d like to go. 😊
I just feel trapped when I’m too far from the ocean, and don’t think I’ll ever move away from it. But the inlands have an unique landscape, and there’s so many fascinating creatures living there. Love the colours in the painting, by the way 🙂
Thanks so much! 😃💕Yeah, there’s always something new and wonderful to experience everywhere. But, yeah, I adore the ocean… it’s so wonderful!
Beautiful shell. I’ve always wanted find one on the beach, but of course we don’t have that kind here. I am not a hot weather girl, so I don’t see it in my future. I’ll just imagine it using your beautiful sketch. I am longing to go home. Well not my home home, but what I call my second home, Disneyland. I normally go twice a year, but the Star Wars frenzy, has put a hault to going this summer. So for now, I am exploring my own backyard, the Columbia Gorge. My son is an avid Gorge historian and took me on an adventure Friday. Now to sketch and journal about it!
Thanks, Lori! 😃💕 And yay to a fellow Disney fan!! hehe… yeah, Philippe and I are already making plans to see the new Star Wars attractions when we visit Paris next year. Twice a year? I would love that!!
That is a great conch shell. I have one that I got from Hawaii when I first moved there. I lived there for 31 years until i realized it was time to nice back to the mainland. It took me that long to let go and move back. I too missed the four seasons. Now that I have lived in Washington for the last two years I just love the fact that I can drive anywhere. of course I miss the beautiful ocean on the islands but it still be there when I go back. For now I am embracing the gloomy weather.. love thunderstorms and love the rain.. hail not so much. But it us mindboggling.. Haha.
Thanks, Doreen! 😃💕Yeah, hail is not the most awesome for many reasons, but it’s so weird that it’s almost wonderful! lol Hawaii sounds beautiful, and I’ve never been there yet. Hope to in the future!
Nice post, and the painting of conch shell.
Thanks so much! 😃💕