I sometimes wonder where the ideas for my art come from. I’m inspired by many things…and it’s sensory overload sometimes when you live and breathe the iconic art-beach-coastal lifestyle here.
There’s SO MUCH INSPIRATION to pull from the Emerald Coast of FL! So, it befuddled me when I got the itch to create a whale! It was in my brain for a while. That’s where things start. I had NO IDEA WHY I wanted to create one. But it lie there, waiting patiently, to come out of my head and onto canvas! I have a pile of old doors I got from my neighbor.
They’re huge..almost 6 ft long and I have a stack of them all primed and ready to go. The perfect size for a whale. Also, I had ArtsQuest Fine Arts Festival (Sandestin) coming up.
I don’t do too many shows, but I do this one every year because I get to hang out with my artist friends and catch up with locals and see awesome art! I wanted to create a unique focal piece of art for the show…something new and refreshing..so…I gave myself that deadline. I worked pretty fast.
I painted one of the panels and sketched out a large whale on it. Then, I started filling it in with glass. I used long thick flowing pieces of glass for the whale’s tail, and pretty chunks of cobalt for it’s body…but..those lines along the bottom of it’s mouth. I NEEDED to have definition there. I decided to cut curved strips of glass to really define that area.
Then, I filled it in with bubbles to really give it that sparkly-water feel. I LOVE the final result and it was a HIT at the show!!! Everyone loved walking up to it and touching it! I finished it the day before the show! And guess what I had planned for the day AFTER the show ended?! A family vacation to ….HAWAII! AHAAA!!! Now it all makes sense! That’s probably why I had whales on my brain.
I love it when I can come full circle. “The Whale” is still available for purchase! Plz call my gallery for price info etc. 850.231.1416. And to purchase cobalt chunks of glass check it out here!
M
