Beachy Things
The Beachy Things project ran between 2009-2011, initially starting as part of my DipCipris during the time I lived in Cyprus. I was inspired by all of the treasures I kept finding washed up on the beach. These 'Beachy Things' were nothing special to most people. In fact a lot of it was other people's rubbish that had been thrown into the sea only to wash up and contaminate the beautiful 'Lemba Bay' where I was collecting. And yet something about finding these broken bits of plastic, scarred driftwood and bashed metal bottle tops really excited me.
I started collecting every day, recording my finds on a calendar and in a log book before categorising, cataloging and organising all of the Beachy Things I'd found that day. Some were turned into sculptures or mixed media pieces, others were hung from found string and rope in installation pieces. The shapes, colours, patterns and textures that recurred in these found objects then become the subject matter for a whole series of bold, semi-abstracted paintings ranging in size from 15cm square to 4m x 2.5m.
Below are some examples from this series and supporting journal/sketchpad work.