beachcombing notes

The beachcomber is loosely defined as one who collects shells and driftwood from the seashore, often just as a holiday entertainment resulting in a decorative reminder of summers past.

Beachcombing is about observation.

Walking a beach can reveal many stories of the ocean and its inhabitants both human and natural that rely on it for their survival. One has to remember that we are only visitors; take only what is permitted and fair, only take live shells if it is really required for a collection, damaged shells are often more interesting and old damaged shells have a story.

One small area of a beach may appear bare, wind and water push sand over shells, feathers even fish remains; these treasures are often best recorded as they are found, a part of the landscape rather than separate, natural relief sculptures in the sand.

North, south, east is a pictorial narrative that explores a beachcomber's view of the Australian coastline. My journey encompasses beaches in the North West, Southwest, Southern Tasmania and the extinct beaches of the Nullarbor Plain.

Beach detritus is dead organic waste that arrives on the seashore with ocean sediment. The scale and condition detritus depends of wave energy, directional flow of tides and the geographical formation of a coastline. High energy beaches like Blackmans Bay in southern Tasmania and the beaches of tropical Port Hedland in the Pilbara wash up huge numbers of shells and stones, the beaches of the Southwest of W.A. have very few shells; all beaches, however, reveal interesting finds if one observes.

My beach combing expeditions are not only a search for shells; although my beach finds are predominately organic, shells, exoskeletons, driftwood, stones and dead sea creatures, interesting finds like worn glass, bottles, rope and old fishing equipment are also part of my collection. Photographs play a large part in my beachcombing; dead crabs, fish and even a jettisoned rat are much less odorous and more interesting when recorded as they are found. Photographing shells in national parks also secures a way of recording them when collecting is not permitted.

The terms flotsam and jetsam were, in early times, used in relation to ships, their cargo and waste, today however the two words together are used to describe odds and ends. Flotsam describes an object that floats; jetsam is similar as it can also float, but only refers to objects that have been deliberately thrown into the ocean. Non organic flotsam and jetsam can both be hazardous to the environment and sea creatures.

One of our best known beachcombers was Robert Callender (1932-2011). Based in the UK, Callender was inspired by ocean debris, rubbish washed into the sea from land and that jettisoned to shore from boats and ships. Although Callender painted the shoreline in its natural state his later works like Coastal Collection, demonstrate his interest in man's life and death on the ocean and also the way washed up debris can be recycled and reinterpreted as art.