Beach Art 2022 and ….

When the words low tide 2:39 p.m. Jan. 12 popped up on our email from Rick Paulus, we immediately gave our standard enthusiastic YES! We invited a few friends and packed up a picnic.

The sand doesn’t stay smooth for long–dogs and humans scuff it up. But it doesn’t matter because of beach art’s large scale.

Work in progress–we were fashioning the 2022 numbers in as many ways as possible.

We started a little bit before low tide–rogue wavelets claimed a few numbers ahead of schedule.

In a rocky nook far from the overview photo, Julie Guibord created a charming 2022 vignette. She and her husband, former White House calligrapher Rick Paulus, deserve a special introduction. If they had not migrated from Cape Cod and become our friends in the Cazadero hills, we would not know anything about this grand, sporty art form.

Our free-wheeling 2022 style has come a long way since we began seven years ago. We have taken turns choosing themes and parameters. Our first venture together was geometric. We took painstaking measurements with string and sticks.

Many participants have joined us through the years. I’m sorry I can’t give credit to each artist with work in this collection. The main thing: beach art is available for almost everyone. Take a rake.

Most of our beach art is generated by one of our bright ideas. However, some especially beautiful works were inspired by nature.

Rick is a master calligrapher who always encourages teamwork support for each person’s vision. This playful art was a birthday “card” for Naomi Granoff’s sister in Israel.

As Jim photographed the scene from high on the bluff, he noticed the need for a beach ball.

When it was Naomi’s turn to come up with a concept, she designed an entire backgammon board. The wind was blowing so we weighted the paper plate checkers with sand. The wind also dried out the sand triangles on the board. We can’t control all conditions, but we do have fun.

One year we made giant daisies.

We decorated March with shamrocks.

Another day we became obsessed with mandalas.

Here’s a detail:

Jim’s bluff pic shows how large these designs are.

That was the day Rick shared his new tin can tool.

We celebrated Year of the Dog.

We wrapped the luna spiral during sunset low tide.

At the conclusion of the first Covid year, we escaped being cooped up by repetitious routines and stale ideas in our small houses. We ran screaming and yelling along the beach to install Good Riddance! Little did we know….

We paid tribute to turtles. Waves began to gently lap up the tail end of the turtle parade. But that’s OK. Our arts, our lives are fleeting.

Before concluding the beach art collection, you must sample Rick’s extraordinary talents. He deftly executes more “hands,” or alphabet styles, than he can count. He says they are like songs with varying nuances each time they are performed. Here is Vertical Italic.

We see myriads of interesting designs made by spaces and juxtapositions. This one plays with p, q and w, which is above the letter z.

Rick writes the songs by dancing in the sand.

His rhythms have verve, flair, pizazz.

Rick’s playful energy and talents hugely enhance the invigorating seashore ambiance.

Now you are in for a treat. Activate the 3 minute YouTube link to see a professional aerial video of Rick’s half-mile rendition of W.E. Henley’s The Full Sea Rolls and Thunders.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rick+paulus+the+full+sea+rolls+and+thunders

The next sentences are hard to write. Rick and Julie became neighboring friends and vibrant participants in the community these last sweet seven years. They are soon returning to the Cape Cod area. Beach art size words for live your heart’s desire are not large enough. And we have no words strong enough to convey how much they will be missed.

Thank you for viewing our beach art! BTW, notice how small Rick is in the bottom right corner.