Seascapes: Where Memories and Art Converge
There's something magical about the place where land meets sea. It makes me breathe in deeply, my shoulders drop, and I smile. I even love how the wind blows my hair about. Seeing how the waves are forever moving in their eternal rhythm. Sometimes gentle and soothing, sometimes wild and tumultuous, but always captivating..
@kellydbv
Childhood Waves
As a child, I treasured our beach days, whether visiting family in the UK or holidaying along Europe's coastlines. And I honestly don't mind what the weather is doing. Maybe deep down I’m drawn to the sea as I was born in Australia and we had many beach days as a toddler. However, growing up far from a coastline, beach trips became part of the the annual family holiday with my first experience of body boarding in the 1980s on France's Atlantic coast - a place that has remained a favourite destination throughout my life. I can still feel that moment on my bright pink body board, the exhilaration of catching a wave, whooshing toward the beach as water foams around my face.
Then as an adult, living in the UK where you’re never too far from the coast, I would seek out beaches - for weekend trips with friends or evening meet ups after work. Those lovely days where the wind, surf, and sun invigorate you, leaving you tired, happy, and inevitably a bit salty when you finally head home.
Creating New Generations of Sea-Lovers
Now, my Seascapes collection also brings back memories of bright sunny beach days with my own children - building sandcastles, watching their faces light up with thrill when catching waves.
I remember my daughter in a waterproof onesie and wellingtons in a rockpool in January! Sitting happily, examining stones and shells as if each were precious treasure. Or my eldest, always eager, stripping off his t-shirt and shorts to grab his body board, racing to be the first one in the water regardless of temperature and then the often hilarious struggle to get the wetsuits on and off!
More recently, I cherish memories of a New Year's dip in freezing water with my daughter - supposedly beneficial for a woman approaching menopause! It certainly took my breath away. And the occasional beach days I can now experience along the North Devon coastline with my partner, our dogs and our friends and family when they are visiting. It’s always special.
The Seascapes
This is what draws me to capture these moments in my artwork: the joy, the occasions, the layered memories of time spent by the sea.
Each piece in my Seascapes collection is different, reflecting a specific memory, a feeling, the nature of the sea at a particular moment in time. Through texture and colour, I try to translate that sensory experience of being at the beach, including the way light plays on water, the movement of waves, the sense of space and freedom.
I'll share more about my weaving process in a future Notes from the Studio. In the meantime, I invite you to explore the seascapes I've created so far.
Perhaps one will speak to you of salty wind and sandy toes, of hair blowing free and minds clearing. Of that lightness you feel - a reset, a return to peace, a lifting of spirits. The way the sea washes worries away, deepens your breath, makes you smile.
Do any of them call to you?
Or do you have a favourite place you would love to have on your wall at home?
A few of my favourites
Putsborough Beach, North Devon the stunning vista and distant horizon never fails to amaze me here
Shoreham Beach frolics after school with the kids, and chilly dips with friends all year round
The Witterings , windy dog walks early Sunday mornings
Dymchurch (memories of my childhood visits to my Aunt Gwen in Kent)
Sandsale, Haws and Roanhead beach (where I spent a formative couple of weeks volunteering with the National Trust)
Biscarrosse Beach (holidays as a child and with my children too)