And full to the brim!

This latest project left me ‘brimming over’; I have so enjoyed it.

Tom came to me with his ideas and requests back in July – he wanted to commission something really special for his Dad’s 65^th Birthday.

Now it was obvious that Tom loves this beach and that it also held a firmly fixed visual feel in his minds eye too. He provided lots of lovely images and had even trawled the beach collecting ‘goodies and treasures’ with his family.

Oh how was I to translate all this into a workable feast for his eyes? (Oh and did I tell you that his sister,  from whom the gift would also be, was an artist! – so no pressure.)

Thankfully I had the summer and my own beach holiday to mull things over. And youtube of course; a fantastic reference source to fill in the ‘gaps’ in the images. (I have now flown over Beer numerous times in a small DJI Phantom and swum with dolphins there too).

I drew up the design and hung it on the door and left it there. I usually find this works well. It hung there for a while and I kept rubbing out and adjusting lines.

Then the kids went back to school….. Oh dear, I was going to have to commit.

I procrastinated over colour palette for a few days then bit the bullet. Glass was ordered, delivered and it was time to start cutting.

Tom and Gemma liked the hotch-potch way I had put together sea-side scenes in the past and Gemma particularly liked my applique techniques. I decided this would work and I would combine it with paint to add the detail.

I had great fun trying out new techniques for the beach and cliffs…splattering finely with a bristle brush and smudging the wet layers.

I jiggled about with the beach huts making many extras to get the flow of colours just right.

The free-standing boats in the foreground, numbered up to suit family member initials, add depth and alter the scene when viewed from different angles. Fun was had constructing the wee wire jetty.

The Fishing Trip sign was made from a piece of Tom’s flottsam. (Incidentally he liked the way I had misspelt ‘mackeral’ in the same way that the Beer locals also do – lucky that, as I hadn’t actually realized I had it wrong! (Or ‘right’ as in this case!!))

I have enjoyed making this piece so much I almost didn’t want to finish it.

But, with a cracking day to photograph it down on the shore at Silverdale, ‘tis done and Tom and his family are now enjoying it before delivering it to his Dad – PWB 65.