It was a lazy day today as far as art production went. The rain, wind and low light was not in the least inspiring. My studio in my St. John's home is in the basement. While it is bright with artificial light, it didn't call to me today. There's something about going to the basement. I miss my studio in Duntara with its three big windows, French door and north light. Feeling guilty about wasting art production time, I decided that I would organized my photos. I recommend this as a worthwhile activity because it often leads to ideas for future work. I have a habit of sorting and resorting photos into different categories. Today I explored my Newfoundland landscape file and created a subfile I titled .....
Caught
5 comments:
All seven of these are well worth spending time with, but the one that I found myself going back to most is the one with the fir needles and the... white thing. Is it natural (some kind of mushroom, maybe?) or human-made? I like the contrast its geometries have to the wildness of the needles.
Sherwood,
It is a sea urchin shell. The gulls eat out the insides and drop the shells all over the place. I've found them in the most interesting places in the area around my summer place.
The facts...
Sea urchins, known traditionally as the "whore's egg" in Newfoundland, are echinoderms characterized by its spiny body and five equal body segments. The species found in Newfoundland (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis) is a green sea urchin that grows to approximately 10 cm (4"). Each body segment produces a roe sac, which is the valuable portion of the animal.
the asethetics....
The spines usually dry up and fall off when it "dies" leaving a most beautiful shell that eventually fades from green to white as it lies in the sun. I love its pristine white surface and delicate bumps.
The last two are my favourites. I havn't found a whole urchin shell in years. I love the way it is nesting in the foliage.
Thanks Robyn.
I'm attracted to the last two photos too. I collect sea urchins and find whole ones all the time. Unfortunately I left the jar outside over the winter. With the collected water they all froze and broke apart - three years worth of collecting lost.
In the area around my summer house, lobster fishing is part of the spring season. It is not unusual to find broken lobster pots on the beaches. I love the structured tangle of these finds.
I love your blog entries. They keep me coming back.
Very good concept to explore and great photos for inspiration.
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