Natural Materials in Art

Natural Beach Stones and Oyster Shell
with Cobalt Blue Glass, Copper, Brass
Wind Chime by Coast Chimes
$87 Free Shipping

Using natural materials from local beaches is something I really like to do.

Working long hours in a rather dark workshop basement, getting out for an hour or two each day is beneficial to my mental and physical health. A walk from my home has it all. My workday hike takes me through urban, beach, and forest environments, and I never fail to come back refreshed (also with a stone or piece of driftwood!).

It takes time to find stones that are of the sort I like. Driftwood, around here, is even more challenging to find. I try to keep a good collection in my workshop, so that when the urge to use natural materials strikes I have a generous selection to choose from.

All these natural materials seem to compliment my artist-made sea glass in a most excellent way. Visit my website to see some of the many exceptional works I have on offer: Coast Chimes

Natural Beauty of Sunshine Coast BC Inspires Wind Chime Artist Coast Chimes

Round Smooth Beach Stone Flow
Sunshine Coast, BC, Canada

One thing is certain: The Sunshine Coast, BC, is all about natural beauty.  I've lived here for 25 years, and still get wowed by the beauty almost everyday.

The longer I live here, the more grateful I am, as I realize how this natural beauty influences my work as an artist. Not only do I use the natural resources, such as rounded smooth beach stones and driftwood in my wind chime designs, but I know my love of rounded edges and sea glass comes directly from hikes along the shore and through the woods. Nature knows a thing or two about design, and all I have to do is look closely and try to get some of the elements I see in the natural world into my own designs.

You can see how the  naturally Pacific Coast beauty has influenced my work by checking out my website. Probably the Beach Stone section or Driftwood section would be a great place to start.

Snowy Mountains
Seen From Gibsons BC Canada

Wind Chimes: Natural Beach Stone with Handcrafted Antiqued Brass Chimes

Natural Pacific Beach Stone Wind Chime $65
by Coast Chimes

25 plus years ago when I started making wind chimes, I used only glass and copper. Over the years I have added new materials to my inventory, especially local natural things, like driftwood and beach stone.

What I find interesting is that while the glass looks its best when the sun is shining (sun catchers), the beach stone and driftwood looks best when wet from rain. If you have ever walked along a Pacific beach shoreline as the tide goes out, you will know what I mean. The stones when wet show dark and their features, like speckles or lines, become more intense. So I have wind chimes for the sun and wind chimes for those cloudy wet days. Actually, they all look great all the time, just even more beautiful at certain times!

Something else interesting: if you have walked a Pacific beach you might think I can just go and pick up buckets of stones--  a short task. Not true. Depending on my needs, I have to go to the right beach and spend a long time walking about, choosing the stones that call out. I know the best beach for the small rounded stones I use for the clappers of my large copper wind chimes, another beach is the best for the larger rounded stones used in chimes like the one pictured above, and yet another beach for even larger beach stones I use as bases for freestanding works. Over the years, I have learned where to go for what I need.

When I finally get my stones back to my workshop, I spend time selecting those that fit together nicely, before proceeding to drill. Stone is a lot harder than glass, and so drilling the holes is a lengthy process, and also hard on my diamond bits. I can cut many holes through glass with a single diamond bit, but stone wears them out fast, so it's more expensive to work with stone.

I love beach stones, and more and more customers seem to share my enthusiasm. You can see all the different things I use beach stones for at my website: Coast Chimes. You can find the beach stone chime pictured above here: Beach Stone Chime

Bears and Sale

A local Big Guy ~ Photo courtesy of Tella
See more of her images at her website, and also
see her husband's amazing artwork there.

For the past year I have gone on a daily hike with my pup, Yukon. Rain or Shine, or Bear(!), we go. Almost daily for the past couple of weeks, we have run into at least one, and sometimes two, bears. Or the bears have run into us!

My theory is that there are not more bears, but that the bears are less afraid. In past years they would hear us coming, or smell us, and take off. Now they just stand there, curious and clearly not afraid at all. That makes me (a little) afraid.

My dog, the most non-aggressive animal imaginable (typically flopping on his back in total submission at the approach of even the smallest toy dog), for some reason goes nuts when it comes to bears, and chases after them like they are chipmunks. When the bear and the dog get in the heavy rain forest where I can't see them, and I only hear a tremendous amount of crashing around, it's pretty freaky.

I'd be more alarmed but a week ago my dog starting charging towards one of these creatures, and the bear didn't feel like moving. The dog stopped quite a distance away, and they had a staring match. The bear somehow got through the dog's thick head that he didn't feel like being chased, and the dog backed off. That was a good thing to see-- that the dog is not totally crazy.

Many days I have kicked myself for not having my camera along. So when my friend Tella showed me her bear pictures from her property, I asked if I could use one. Now you can see what we see everyday.

The introduction of my weekly featured sale wind chime is a success! This week, the wind chime was snatched up within hours. The next sale wind chime will be posted to my website sale page on Thursday late afternoon or early evening (depending on you time zone). Thank you to all those who are visiting my website-- and for all the lovely, positive comments. I'm very happy to see so much activity!