Gifts from the Sea-  Dune grass stems, feathers, shells, live oak leaves

Georgia, April 2020

The materials for this mandala were primarily collected on the beach at Saint Simon’s Island, Georgia. The conch shell was found at the high tide line behind our friend William Clark’s beach house where we watched the sunrise most mornings. It seems that, unlike New England where all or most of the leaves from our deciduous trees turn colors and then fall off during autumn, the live oat tree leaves turn a lovely shade of brown but remain on the tree through winter. It is only when the new leaves begin to grow in the spring that the tree sheds the prior years leaves. I collected these leaves in the bushes outside our condo. I like that including the leaves in this mandala made the dune grass stems look slightly like arrow shafts and the entire mandala has a bit of a native American feel to it.