Snowy Egret
Redwoond Shores, CA

Iceplant
Redwood Shores, CA

Dollars in a Row

Work Table

Pelican on Reef
La Paz
January 2005
D&J

Please visit My main blog, and Seaglass.

More Dollars

Painted Dollars

Our Blues

Snorkeler
Hawaii
July 2005

I shot this from shore, as this lovely creature kicked her way out over a reef, looking down all the while at clusters of fish, coral, eels, turtles, rays, shellfish, and other marine life. She was as happy then as I had ever seen her. Seeing her happy made me happy.

Palms
Hawaii
July 2005
D+J=:)

Coastal Trees
Hawaii
July 2005
D&J

Hawaiian Sunset, July 2005, D&J

Desert Bricks
La Paz (Mexico) coast
January 2005
D&J

Q - What you can do with sticks and stones and army men?
A - Build a fort.

By Aidan. Mountain Home Ranch 2006.

Tissue after water painting pieces of beach glass and stones. SF. January 2005.

What we saw on the beach near La Paz, Mexico, January 2005, D&J.

Three sunbathers at water's edge



Hawaii, July 2005 D&J

Coral from Mexico
Orange and Pink shells from Sanibel
Brown glass from San Francisco
Sandstone from Marin
Round stone from Hawaii

Painted Stories.
One aspect of beach walking is being in the experience itself. The sound of the waves, the feel of the sun and the wind. Another aspect is the ideas that come to you there, as you gaze over an ocean that stretches all the way to China, Japan, Vietnam, to mention three particular places where I have friends who are in my mind tonight.

Another aspect of the beach is how it can inspire each of us to feel like we can produce our own art. My older kids and my wife and I used to visit a virtually secret little beach in Marin called Pirate's Cove. Its name alone is enough to keep young children alert and observant. But even as an adult, I always felt a bit of an excited chill, as if I dug around enough there, I might just find a gold medallion. Who knows?

At such places, at such times, many of us gather little pieces of driftwood or shells as well as seaglass and stones, and carry them home with us. Afterwards, at least in my families, we then often get out some water colors and paint the things we've gathered.

These five stones and one piece of glass in this photo came back home one day last year with us from Ocean Beach. We were all tired and sun/wind soaked that Sunday night when we applied some paint to our finds.

p.s. Can you identify which one is seaglass in this shot. The first one to do so can ask me to write any kind of story you'd like to here.

The Rarest Finds: red, yellow, and orange seaglass. But sometimes, I get lucky...

Yellow bird. Near our hotel on the coast of the Big Island, Hawaii. July 2005. D&J.

Where the lava hits the Pacific.
Big Island
Hawaii
D&J
July 2005

J holding a broken piece of a large conch shell
on one of our beach walks south of La Paz, Mexico. Click on the image to expand it and admire her
pretty orange nail polish. Orange is her favorite color.

December 2004.

Beach Stones
Big Island, Hawaii
July 2005

This is what the jagged black lava outcroppings turn into once the ocean has had its way with it. Just like seaglass, the stones end up rounded and smoky.

Bunker in the Sand
Ocean Beach
2005

Silver Lava
Big Island
Hawaii
July 2005
D&J

Lava Moonscape
Big Island
Hawaii
July 2005
D&J

This feather is from a roseate spoonbill in Ding Darling Sanctuary, Sanibel Island.

Abalone Shells. The story is my girlfriend and I went up the coast to Occidental for her birthday. We drove to the coast, where I found these shells. February 2005.

Big Shell. I don't remember where I found it.

Painting beach stone (that otherwise would be a good skipper) and sand dollars from Ocean Beach, SF...

The story here is a bittersweet one. A little under two years ago, I realized I was falling in love with my friend, J, but from all indications she was not available for a realtionship. I took a long walk at Ocean Beach one hot day, and drew this silly, romantic image in the sand. Then I photographed it with my digital camera, printed out the image at home, and painted it with water colors.

I emailed a bunch of friends that I had taken this walk and written secret messages in the sand. I confided my feelings for J to one friend. She said this was the best of times, knowing I loved someone but not knowing how it would turn out.

She was right.

A month later, J and I were lovers. Two years later, we have broken up. I have lost her. All that is left now is my small collection of memories and images. This is one of them, from an early, hopeful moment.

When anything was still possible.

Sea Wall, Big Island, Hawaii, July 2005.

All of my Hawaii photos are from a trip we took there last summer. My girlfriend really wanted to see the active volcano, and we did, but that is another story. Most of the time we roamed the quiet beaches. I didn't find much seaglass, but I did shoot lots of photos...

Turtle by Log, Big Island, Hawaii, July 2005

Red Crab on Rock, Big Island, Hawaii, July 2005

Little Brown Bottle from the Pacific

Bottles from the sea. Lots of mythology around bottles. In my wanderings, I have found notes in bottles, though nothing very romantic -- mostly scientists measuring currents, etc.

Sanibel Island -- a small collection of shells found along Sanibel's Gulf beaches. Sanibel is one of the best shelling venues in North America.

Scroll down to see some of the reasons I love her...

Our browns.

Our greens.

Our blues.

Around two years ago, a friend came over to my house for the first time and said she needed something to do. She sat on my living room floor and sorted my seaglass collection. I am a collector. This was the first time someone had offered to help me in this way since another special friend sorted my stamps, years ago. This photo is of our Whites.

Recent Haul
San Francisco
Spring 2006

Bottom of a green bottle

Off Oahu

Circles and Squares

Fossils in Clay

The original. September 2004.

Bringing my secret to my wall. Nobody knows, but later she tells me she suspected this is what I was doing. September 2004