Meet Charlie...My Beach Friend

Meet Charlie, my beach buddy from last weekend. I found him upside down in the shallow water. Not a good sign, so I picked him up and his legs moved.

I'm well acquainted with Horseshoe Crabs. We could find them among the rocks when I was a kid in Connecticut. I remember trying to race them too, once we got over that we were a little scared of them.

Well, there's kind of a sad ending to this story. Upon checking out Charlie a little more thoroughly, he had already gone on to Horseshoe Crab Heaven. Big bummer...mostly for Charlie though. I placed his shell back in the shallow water, hopefully to be taken out with the tide. Perhaps his shell will provide some protection or a habitat for another sea creature.

And scroll down this page to see what artist Takeshi Yamada does with the old shells. Pretty cool.

Lights, Camera, Action-

This past weekend a group of friends and I went to a nice beach resort for an end of summer get together. Of course it had the delicious food, beautiful beach and the other qualities that resorts normally require.

But as usual, I tend to look for the details of a place. What is interesting to me? What might relate into the glass world? Lighting often does. And I was busy snapping photos of their lovely ceiling lights that were metal over glass.

The top photo is of one that I spied in their spa building. The combination of geometric with swirls intrigued me.

The center section reminds
me of blossoms with leaves in a very graphic design way. It fit its surrounding.

I found the second fixture in a more social setting. It too was in a hallway, but near their upscale restaurant. The leafy pattern swagging the side along with the swirly design that has a hint of floral again caught my attention. How would one interpret this pattern? It's much more intricate and less easy to replicate. (not that I'd want the exact one anyhow).

So next time you go out, don't forget to look up.
You might be surprised at what you see. It could be the inspiration for your next bead design.

See you tomorrow for my next blog post on http://www.StudioMarcy.blogspot.com. I have some glass comments that I think you'll enjoy.