Cricketts Inky Art Blot

Leaving Reno's cold, snow covered mountains and stepping ashore Gran Cayman's warm, humid tropical landscape felt really rather breathtaking. All the adventurous myths and legends of plundering pirates were in the fore as we donned snorkel gear and hoped for treasure. My three little girls, quickly figured out how not to gulp in large quantities of sea water instead of air and off we launched ourselves looking for marine life. We did not stray very deep and were always close to shore, the darting fish blazed our trails. We, saw their shadows moving in the water. The waters were dotted by small and medium turtles somewhere out in the distance. Only a couple were really close enough to clearly make out their shell pattern, but it proved to be completely thrilling for us all!

I have taken one half of a painting to work with as I found it interesting in isolation. Digital manipulation is an interesting tool for an artist. I find that I can try 4 or 5 different colour combinations and compositions, in the time it would take to make one traditional study with pencil or paint. Technology is amazing!

I'm still manipulating the images to get the final look that I want. I have been thinking that it would be cool to combine these images with a collograph overlay for more texture. I may have to find some press time soon! I am pleased with how the water ripples came out. It is something that has really captured me lately and I have made many images in the last 6 months which carry something of this nature. Some are more realistic than others 😉 I first started attempting the ripples after seeing reflections from glass on the walls in the Dale Chihuly Museum in Seattle last summer. I loved the feel of colourful underwater immersion when walking through his wonderful glass displays.