The Tuesday Exchange

Sometimes we just need a friend, a kindred spirit, to help us keep on the creative track.  That is exactly what I need.  Someone I can count on to swap ideas, to give me feedback, and to be accountable to.  I need someone to be a partner along this crazy twisty turny path of creativity.  I know I am not alone with this thinking.  There are many of us that need a kindred creative person to be a sounding board and inspiration. 
In this world of connectivity, I can accomplish that connection through the internet and other social media.  Its not the same as being together in person, but it is as close as I can get for now.  I am happy with that. 
I'm excited to say, that I am taking on a project: embarking on a creative juncture.  This project will bring me and my friend Ingrid together to inspire each other as we continue along our creative paths.  We do totally different things; she is an accomplished textile artist and I am an encaustic painter.  We share a love of photography, modern art, color and lots of other things.  Ingrid lives in the UK and I live in Seattle.  We are literally 1/2 a world apart.  But, that really makes no difference these days, does it? 
Our project is to pick a theme and run with it for 4 weeks.  Each week, we have a check-in where we toss ideas around, give feedback to each other, listen, write and most of all encourage.  The fun is to see how we can learn from each other; how her week inspires my week and vice versa.  This is the first week of four where we will be exploring the SEA.  You can find Ingrid's blog HERE
In order to get the creative juices flowing I spent an afternoon at the beach with dog and camera.  I wanted to take in the atmosphere and see what inspired me.  Here are my favorite photos from the day.

This beach is in Mukilteo which is a little north of where I live.  It really is Pudjet Sound rather than the Pacific Ocean.  I was looking to see what was inspiring to me.  The colors this time of year are blues and grays.

 I love the grasses and the textures of driftwood.

 The gulls have such a distinctive voice.  They really conjur up visions of the sea, don't they?  I love the soft brown/gray of the young gulls.  I especially love that color against the blue sky.

 That soft brown/gray becomes the white and gray of the older birds.  Don't you love their bright yellow beaks?

 This beach has stones rather than sand.  The colors and the textrures are beautiful.  The wood is so soft in color and feel against the gray stones.  I love the contrast.

The driftwood.  The sun bleaches the wood leaving it such a soft gray.  This large log has been here for a while.  The green algae is a soft contrast to the whirls and waves of the grains in the wood.  Overall, the beautiful neutral palette of grays, blues, greens is one I could live with indefinately!  It is soothing and serene.  I could lounge in it all day long. 
So starts my collection of inspiration for the next 4 weeks as I use the SEA as my muse.