the art of collecting

I am a collector- not to be confused with a hoarder :) I collect inspiration, photographs, momentos, things from nature and my favorite- treasures from the sea. I have only recently started to share my love of collecting in this public space but my passion for the ritual of gathering things has been such an important part of my creative process that sometimes I cannot tell where one starts and the other ends.

I am pretty sure this part of my life may have been influenced by my grandmother. She was a nature lover, an environmentalist and perhaps if she had been born in a different time she would have been some kind of biologist or a botanical illustrator (she was also an amazing artist).

She loved everything about nature and around her home were all kinds of treasures from her hikes and travels. My favorite was a big jar shaped like a turtle where she kept a collection of butterfly wings, colorful beetles, a squirrel tail, leaves, seeds, arrowheads, shells and more. My brother and I would spend hours looking through everything over and over again- 20 years and we never got tired of looking at her collections.

This appreciation for the natural world has stuck with me and has been a huge part of the way that I find inspiration and come up with new ideas. Since I have lived at the beach for a most of my life, the ocean has always been my muse and beach combing is the most accessible way to explore, seek and hunt for my own treasures. But...no matter where I am I will always find a way to go treasure hunting- ANYWHERE!!

I now have my very own jars that hold years of collecting.

They contain items that inspire,

things that spark ideas

and creativity.

There are big jars filled to the brim

and little bottles packed with tiny treasures.

There are handfuls of sand from different places.

There are the unique,

the peculiar,

and the beautiful.

There is a jar for everything.

And a place for every jar- displayed around the house to keep me inspired, to help me remember that there really is treasure out there and to remind me of my muse- the sea.