Summer Stories Behind The Seabird Collection
September 2025
One of my favorite parts of this past summer was creating new art with my two boys. Having a former teaching background definitely helped to give my ideas structure, and this summer, I picked a cultural study of Japan. We read books, tried new foods, and even tried to replicate a few of their art styles. We made origami (It's a lot harder than it looks!), put together a 3D puzzle of a Maneki-Neko cat, created some dot patterns and decorated some Yayoi Kusama pumpkins, and studies the Mt. Fuji Series of Hokusai. The boys then carved their own "great waves" into a piece of rubber and learned the art of linocut stamping! It was great fun! I loved watching them learn about different ways of doing things, different belief systems, and the beautiful diversity of mankind!
The linocut stamping project got me exploring as I combined two of my favorite subjects--learning about other cultures and birds! I ended up creating a very small collection of seabirds on linocut patterns that I call “The Seabird Collection.” The seabirds are representative of the native species one can find in the beautiful Lowcountry of Charleston, South Carolina. Each bird has been drawn in ink and superimposed on a hand carved stamp background. The featured seabirds include the Great Blue Heron, the Sandpiper, the Woodstork, and the Belted Kingfisher. The background patterns are inspired by a technique from Mali, Africa called mud cloth. Mud cloth (or Bògòlanfini) is a made by dyeing and painting cloth with fermented mud. Each fabric’s patterns are unique and symbolic to the culture with no two pieces of fabric being exactly the same. After our study on Japan, I wanted to celebrate the art and techniques of another people’s culture as well as a piece of my own. I find the boldness of the black and white pattern contrasted with the delicate detail of the seabirds create a beautiful and interesting juxtaposition of cultures and creatures from around the world.
What are YOUR thoughts on this collection? Are there any particular birds you’d like to see added? Let me know what you think in the comments below. In the meantime, I’ll be brainstorming the next country to do a study on!