In winter, beaches in the Pacific Northwest aren’t for the faint of heart. The coastal line in Washington State is rough, much of it is pebbles or dark sand, and the water is cold. The stretches between the beaches are rocky headlands, with high cliffs and forests running almost into the surf, which in turn are leaving behind big, bold and beautiful driftwood.
My favorite beach time is the quiet days “between the years” (Christmas to New Year), camping at Cape Disappointment, at the mouth of the Columbia River. I deeply appreciate this cold, windy and harsh piece of coast, and that is exactly what I love about it. Observing the sea birds, walking on forest trails between majestic coastal spruces or on sand along the surf, dodging snicker waves and thrift wood.
But the stormy season also brings a wash of stranded trash. The Pacific is an enormous body of water, with about 84,300 miles of coast, shared by many nations.
During the winter months, floating plastics gets pushed back to land, which feels like the ocean spits out the indigestive. Consumer plastic, lost fishing gear, even washaways from natural catastrophes such as the earthquake in Fukushima ends up at the Pacific Northwestern coasts.
As I was working with the hand dyed cottons in beautiful stormy blue and grays, the ocean became this wild and ferocious beast. I referred to my photographs for the actual shape and highlights of waves, and while I was browsing within the images from winter 2022, the pictures I took of the plastic trash poked me in the eye. What if the ocean is angry?
Storm Season: The Angry Ocean
Lisa Jenni
20″ x 40″
Materials: Hand dyed cotton, mixed fibers and silk sheer, cotton, rayon and polyester thread, ephemera collected from Washington beaches
Tecniques: machine pieced skinny lines, fused applique, machine quilted and hand stitched
Terrific piece of art. Love the line work. Your perspective is spot on. Great visual story of how we are all interconnected. I can see a series of quilts with debris collected from various coastal regions. Great reason to travel.
Kudos to you.
Thank you, Carla. Our oceans are in great peril, and we’re the culprit, there’s no “nice-ing” about it. Good guess I’ll make more “trash” art, as I’m always the hunter, gatherer, collector in appreciation of the found object.
This piece really evokes the Pacific Northwest for me. Well done!
This is beautiful and so like the coast!
Lisa, you have created a stunning vista and the sea, a powerful focus. Your story shared the damage, fear of a world that is in serious trouble and reminds us of the importance of working to care for the Pacific Northwest coasts.
Beautifully interpreted! The feeling of the season and the sad environment are obvious!
Thank you, Al.
I’m glad I’d spent some time to figure out landscapes for some time, and this was the right subject to apply my knowledge and skills.