"Crusty Crab", Coastal Painting by Leada Wood, Texas Artist

Leada Wood, Watercolor, Mixed Media, Collage

"Crusty Crab" by Leada Wood©2016

Art takes you places and all this rain in Texas has me dreaming of sunny days at the beach. Don't get me wrong, after ten years of drought we Texans are very thankful that our rivers are running and lakes are filling up. The state is lush and green and cattle are grazing again. Not complaining just letting my mind wander...thinking of summer fun... like crabbing, fishing and swimming.

Art is more than a hobby, it is a way of life, a different way of seeing things. I am an observer and life inspires me. I endeavor to capture a moment in time, to express an emotion, to dream aloud on paper or canvas. I am not trying for photo realism, but to capture the essence of the subject with a painterly feel.

I guess you wonder what a west Texas gal has in common with crabs? Our family loves to go crabbing when we are at the beach...sometimes with a net and sometimes just observing them. I think they are pretty cute...God certainly has a sense of humor...don't you think?

"Crusty Crab" is interpreted in transparent watercolor. He would look so cute at a beach or lake house. Prints are available, just contact me. 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