"Beach Boyz", Watercolor, Figure Painting by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

Our sweet family loves to go to the beach...maybe because we live in dry west Texas and the water beckons to us like sirens of old. You know sirens, the sea nymphs...part woman and part bird who lured mariners by their seductive singing. They were also quite beautiful. Getting a little off track here but the beach does call our name and we do make several trecks  a year to enjoy the sea.

Maybe that is why I enjoy painting the kids doing beach things so I can flash back in my mind to the days we were there and having great fun. Life is slower and a little sweeter there and we play more. Nothing like fun in the sun on any beach.


                                             
                                                

"Beach Boyz" by Leada Wood ©2017

I have painted this scene twice before but still I am trying to capture the essence of the scene. I think I am getting closer! I loved the light in the photograph and the closeness of the boys sharing an experience they both enjoyed. 

Thanks for stopping by!



Beach Bum by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

Day 10 of Leslie Saeta's 30 paintings in 30 days challenge. Woohoo! I am 1/3 of the way done with this challenge. I started to name this painting Feeling Crabby...but painting brings me such joy I couldn't do it. I know I am very fortunate to work at something I love to do and have the ability to do it.

The crab painting comes with a story...no extra charge.  When our kids were at home we took them to the beach every summer on vacation. We  all like the beach and doing beachy things. One day we decided we would go crabbing. We get the chicken necks, string, nets and hit the beach. Oh my the crabbing was great! We had a big cooler full of crabs but we started noticing they had a funny orangey spongy under bellies . Not knowing anything about crabs we decided that was the way they were suppose to look. A nice man walking on the beach came by and started talking to us so my husband shows him our big haul of crabs. The man said we had several thousand dollars worth of crabs! Come to find out the spongy under bellies were eggs and we had a whole mess of female crabs and it was illegal to catch them when they had eggs. We quickly let the critters go! To this day seeing crabs reminds me of our fun day crabbing on the beach. I especially like the blue crabs and the tiny little sand crabs that skittle quickly across the sand. Aww nothing like spending time at the beach!

"Beach Bum" by Leada Wood ©2014

Fun In The Sun by Leada Wood, Contemporary Texas Artist

 

FUN IN THE SUN by Leada Wood Copyrighted 2013
DO NOT COPY!
www.leadawood.com/blog  or  www.leadawood.com

 

 

I love to go to the beach! Texas has 600 miles of shoreline so there are plenty of beaches to choose from. Our family favorite for years has been Port A and we try to get there 3 or 4 times a year. We would go more often but it is an 8 hour drive from where we live. Before we discovered Port A we enjoyed going to Crystal Beach.

When we are at the beach I enjoy watching the brown pelicans fly up and down the shoreline. They were nearly extinct at one time but are back in great numbers. We also swim, play in the sand, hunt sea shells, go crabbing, fishing and eat lots of fresh shrimp! I also take lots of pictures of everyone and make mental notes of what would make a good painting. We also find plenty of time to relax and enjoy the tranquility of the splashing waves and screech of the sea gulls. It seems the sea breeze has a way of blowing all stress away and keeping you on island time.

I am very thankful for the good times I have had with my family at the beach having fun in the sun!

Sea Shells by the Seashore by Leada Wood©

Sea Shells by the Seashore by Leada Wood©

This is for Inspiration Avenue's weekly challenge. I painted it in my journal so it is pretty loose. I enjoy putting interesting quotes that I want to remember with my journal paintings. I also write them inside the front and back cover of the book. I like to use a sketchbook with paper strong enough to take whatever medium I may want to work with. I also like having a hardback cover so I can make the outside of the book interesting as well. I usually start with a coat of gesso and them start adding layers until it pleases me. I am trying to do more journaling as it is fun to look back at later and see what you were up to. It is also very good therapy!