As the days are getting longer and we slowly move towards spring, I have been feeling a little more inspired to start "creating something" again.
That has more or less been the story of my life, for the past 30 years: I go back and forth between creating art and then being in the business of art, and then back again.
With the Red Dragonfly — the actual gallery — not far from three years in the rearview mirror, the creative "itch" is starting to make itself known!
I've been considering taking up a really old hobby of of mine, of collecting driftwood; carving it, making sculpture, making walking staffs, jewelry and more.
I was always fascinated by beach combing and "found objects" washing ashore on the coast.
There were numerous pictures of me as a small child, "looking for things" on our local beach and not too long ago I actually came across an old cigar box containing shells, bits of pottery and other things I'd picked up as a child.
The appeal of driftwood is that is comes to us with a "patina" of aging already built in. The wood has been beaten smooth, the bark removed and sharp corners rounded by surf and rocks. And yet, the wood is still strong and generally not decaying or rotting... meaning that it can be finished and shaped without falling apart.
A rootball, scoured clean by the ocean
I am blessed to live in a part of the world where there are forests everywhere, often right up against the seashore, and frequent storms will send entire trees into the ocean where they gradually get "processed" until they wash up on the sand as the smooth grayish driftwood most people are familiar with.
Many years ago, I had a brief spell of creating what you might call "Wizards' Walking Staffs" from driftwood. Later on, I had a period where I would carve geometric patterns into wooden staffs (again, driftwood) and fill the carvings with color. More recently, I tried my hand at drying pieces of driftwood, then cutting "slices" out of it and finally using woodburning tools to put very intricate patterns on it (mostly Celtic and Viking designs) and eventually turning the smaller pieces into jewelry.
For no particular reason — aside from maybe feeling the need to learn how to execute a new creative/artform — working with wood has been "calling" to me, lately.
So... maybe it's time to take a walk down to our nearest beach and start drying some interesting looking driftwood in the garage!
You can't use driftwood when it's straight from the beach/ocean because it's far too waterlogged and heavy. It also needs to be dried pretty slowly, or it will crack all over the place and that's not useful for what I have in mind.
But I'm pretty patient, so I'm OK with this not actually becoming "a thing" till the summer or fall.
In the meantime, this may also be the answer to what "direction" I could take this blog... because I am gradually running out of reasons to reminisce about the "old" Red Dragonfly!
Thanks for stopping by! Do leave me a comment if you feel so inspired.
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All images are our own, unless otherwise attributed