Moon Snail Project # 17 – 20: She Sells Seashells . . .

Moon snail shell # 17, tongue-twister

I don’t know exactly where I’m going with this.

As I’ve been thinking about associations with my moon snail shell and this project, the words of the tongue twister, “She sells seashells by the seashore,” have been replaying in my mind.  And this led to the idea of creating an image out of the words.  I started playing around with the concept, incorporating handwritten words.  After finishing Moon snail shell # 17, I accidentally dropped water on it, causing a word to bleed.  Since I was depicting the waves lapping the shore, I went over all of the wavy words with a wet brush to give the feel of water (and camouflage my drip).

I like Moon snail shell # 18 best of all of the images in this post — it’s got the cleanest and simplest lines.

Moon snail shell # 18, tongue-twister

Moon snail shell # 19, watercolor overlaid with words

Moon snail shell # 20, watercolor overlaid with words

I am ambivalent about the success of most of today’s moon snail shells.  This project is a learning experience, and I won’t be pleased with everything.  That’s all part of the process.

“Assignments are supposed to broaden your ideas about what your work can be, and to teach you how to solve problems in art.  But they also, possibly, acclimatize you to the idea that failure and humiliation are part of the deal, and that without them you can’t be sure you’ve really exhausted a possibility.”
— Mamie Tinkler, from Draw It with Your Eyes Closed:  the Art of the Art Assignment, edited by Paper Monument