The use of a sea creatures’ home for my inspiration has been a slow engulfment. Although using this inspiration for a time, it is recently that I realised my paintings are imitations of shells. This muse first found its way into my work with the Mollusca Femella series. Moving on to using a smaller scale I started to paint the surreal depiction of a shell thinking more of the attachments to objects rather than the material. Working on this smaller scale achieves a more intimate experience that exemplifies the feeling behind an object rather than the visual quality.
Painting in lockdown made me look at innominate items, such as shells that are often acquired in admiration for beauty, but once collected they often become ignored. I am interested in why we find attachments in objects that do not necessarily have a high monetary value. We pick up a little slimy sea creature skeleton as ornamentation from our memory of the beach. Because they retain such sentimental value to us, they hold this meaning when they are involved in important events in our lives. How valuable possessions are often only so, because of their provenance. This interest brought me to paint a surreal depiction the birth of a memory. Attached in this post is some of the paintings that brought me to muse upon the retain of sentiment.
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Dottie-may Aston 