Beach Babes

One of the things I love about Florida is that people of all ages visit the beaches almost every day.  It is a great place to get some exercise, swim, visit if you are interested, soak up some vitamin D and collect beach-specific treasures, like shells.  On one of our early vacations to Florida, when the boys were quite young, they made it clear that they preferred beach time to all other activities we explored, including Disney World!  We learned very quickly that there were certain beach behaviors that were seen with much greater frequency around Sanibel than elsewhere - specifically, "The Sanibel Stoop!"

The block print below includes one of several images I have created over the years to document "the Stoop..."

Beach Babes relief print - Proof print #1.  Daniel Smith black relief ink on Strathmore 300 series printmaker's paper.  

One of the things that dates this image to the first time I traveled to Florida is the bathing cap.  Right after I turned 3, my mother and I made a road trip to Florida to visit a couple of friends from her college days.   I remember walking the shoreline with them in Sarasota and learning how to recognize AND avoid stepping on stingrays.  As soon as they arrived at the shoreline, on went the dome, white bathing caps with dangling chin strap with large metal snap at the very end.

Beach Babes #1 relief block - Speedball softcut inked with Daniel Smith black relief ink.

As you can see in the carved block, I just couldn't (or didn't) include that in my image.   I was going to share that the overall image includes PAST and PRESENT, but I think it would be more accurate to say, to includes traditional images from the mid-Florida Gulf Coast and the barrier islands of the Gulf Coast...as you can see in the background, there is a classic posture of the "Sanibel Stoop."

I think this phrase was specific to Sanibel because of their reputation for fabulous sea shells.  Although the recent beach reclamation initiatives AND the Gulf oil spills have put a damper on the abundance of shells ( in my opinion,) there are still plenty to be found for the dedicated, and persistent sheller!