I started grouping the pebble monotypes in colour groups, thinking that they might link together to make composite works that said a bit more about the experience of being on the beach. I wanted to put some people into them and made some monotype grounds in the main colour groups so that I could print relief prints onto them. Here are some of the first groups laid out in my studio with two small vinyl blocks that are the crow and seagull images:
I made the first group about the birds I always see on the beach – seagulls and crows:
The second one was about walking on the beach on a hot, sunny day:
Then I made a third composite that had a more mysterious, cool light. I used a relief print of a mermaid for this and called it ‘Strangers on the shore’, remembering Acker Bilk’s clarinet:
