Foggy beach walks, sea shells & and a rainy Sunday afternoon

For me, who's living in a landlocked country with no coast anywhere close, a trip to the beach is as exciting as birthday and Christmas together. Walking on the sand, listening to the sound of the waves, the fresh sea air in your face. It's so exciting, that it doesn't even matter that it's about 0 degrees C, the wind biting cold, and so foggy, that you can't see anything of the dramatic cliffs that stretch along the coast. In fact, the special mood created by the fog and dusk made it all even more beautiful.

And then of course there's the sea shells. Such beautiful treasures, that are just too irresistible not to be picked up, even if you can hardly bend down because off all the layers you're wearing to keep warm. Oh, there's another one, and another one, and another one, and yes I know, we already have loads of those, but just this last one. And that one... We returned with a whole pocketful of them.

The following Sunday afternoon was rainy, and after another walk on the beach in the morning, a warming soup at the pub, and a handful of more shells, it was best spend at home sketching those precious shells (or watching Rugby, wathever you prefer).

I'm especially pleased about that little pink shell we discovered, and which looks quite different than all the other ones we found.

Most of the more delicate ones were a little damaged, but I thought that just added to their charm.

I had taken my new cheap paints with me, which so far, I had only used in thick, opaque layers. But I was very pleased to see that they also worked very well with more water, creating those typical watercolour effects.

Happy Paint Party Friday!