Sea turtles
My current book art project has been inspired from my work as a volunteer with a Sea Turtle Conservation Project on the remote beach of San Josecito on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. Regular beach patrols in the middle of the night, protecting the sea turtle eggs and creating safer nests, raising the hatchlings and returning the young turtles to the sea. The conservation work was so rewarding and brought home the huge saddening impact plastic pollution has on our oceans, beaches and marine life
Turtle Lino cut, shown with plastics found on the beach.
The elements of the book are coming together although I am still experimenting with different book structures.
There is a poem that runs through the book, and I am hand-cutting fishing nets out of artist’s paper (185 gsm) and from handmade coconut paper, which I have made from coconut fibre and coconut milk.
Beach clean in Costa Rica
Coconut fibres - handmade paper
Plastics found on our beaches
“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever”
— Jacques Cousteau
Handmade paper made from coconut fibres and coconut milk
Fishing net hand cut in paper
Watching the hatchlings make their way back to the sea
“Take only memories, leave only footprints”
— Chief Seattle