Beach treasures£275

Watercolour on Bockingford
15 x 11 inches

I like the intricate shapes of shells, the pretty colours, the rough exterior as opposed to the translucent inner parts where the sea creature lived, the gorgeous beauty and sense of natural history attached to them.

I started by picking out the shells that interested me for colour or shape and laid them out in a composition that pleased me, noting the negative shapes next to the positive shapes of the shells, and liking the formation of the design I was making. Then I started drawing it out, and made sure I was fully happy with my design on the paper before I did any painting. I decided to do a wet wash to start, to get some background in, and pull the image together before I started on the tiny details in the shells, and had that lovely piece of serendipity. As the paint wove its magic on the paper, it created the lovely wet beach effect before me - sand and water, light and shadows appeared, so it was easy enough to paint the shells afterwards, to pick up the contours of their shapes, and patterning, the way they sat together, the depth and form of them, and how they related to the shells around them, and the beach they were sitting on, and as I painted, I realised that they had got a life. It may be still, but it told a bit of a story, of the way the shells had been collected together on the beach, for their interest and natural beauty. I've called the painting "Beach treasures" as that's what I think they are.