Seven Artistic Tips for Going to the Beach

WBE-Wild Blue Explorations invites you to join our online community of followers and participants at: www.wildblueexplorations.com as we develop new and unusual exploratory workshops and tours into hidden Great Lakes areas where the water meets the sky.  Places where your body, soul, and spirit can find peace and serenity as we lead you to inspirational locations for your artistic and creative endeavors. Though we are worldwide published environmental photographers, anyone with a burning passion to look at our awesome natural world in the details will want to surely join our small group  adventures. Here are  Seven Artistic Tips for Going to the Beach:

TIP #1: Go to the beach expecting to see some new things! Avoid mid-day wandering and looking out only at the waves.  Watch your feet and what is immediately around them!  Avoid anything that looks like it could bite you! Also, please avoid the tendency to step on bugs! Instead, be curious about what is there if you don't know. Take some notes, take some photos, draw some outlines, then look it up later online or in a field guide to whatever kind of life or nonlife it looks like. You might just learn something new and exciting enough to ask questions about, to find some answers about, something you should attempt to do everyday.

TIP #2: Go to the beach before sunrise and sunset!  You will greatly increase your artistic opportunities. You will learn to see the different tones of light on the landscape. Discipline your day schedule so you can do this. Make it a top priority to be there. Take notes or journal about what you see, what actions are going on beside the water's edge, making sure you remember tip #1!

TIP #3: Go to the beach with your artistic tools and instruments already prepared for action!  Make sure your cameras are charged up and you have extra batteries. This holds true if you want to wander around after dark, which also can be an exciting time.
Bring a flashlight, and if you have a companion along, which we highly recommend,  make sure they understand what you are attempting to do beforehand. Avoid taking along pets if you possibly can, their interruptions are too disrupting for your concentration on the artistic.

TIP #4: Go to the beach with high expectations for artistic creation. Go to the places along the beach that look like good hangouts.  A good piece of a long driftwood log  might seem like a good seat, but beware of hidden discomforts like biting ants,etc. Beware of poison ivy if you are allergic. It grows profusely along Great Lakes beaches beside sand trails to beaches and as vines up trees. You might want to avoid tree-hugging too.  Find places that look comfortable, where you can stay for a period of more than a couple minutes. Bringing along a lightweight seat might be a good thing to remember.

TIP #5: Go to the beach to enjoy using all of your senses! Do NOT smell what looks disgusting, as your appetite for artistic creation might just end there. But at the same time be willing to stick your nose into whatever seems interesting based on design and composition. Take along beverages to drink, take some time and come up with some new ideas based on what you see and experience with each new beach adventure. Make sure you record these creative ideas right away. Avoid procrastination always!

TIP #6: Go to the beach expecting that you may have to return there again on another day, in another season. Overcast and light rain can be exhilerating. Do not let the weather bother your burning need to find new subjects and think new thoughts.  Each new day on the beach is another opportunity to find creative treasures waiting just for you. Be happy hunting for them!

TIP #7:  Go to the beach last of all becauset it is the right thing to do with art first on your mind. Let all the other things in your life just drift away while you are occupied finding artistic treasures. After visiting one beach to your satisfaction, go hunt for another one in a different place. Boredom and loneliness will seldom be your guides if you stay occupied with the adventure of it all right in your pocket!