Of waving weed and waiting claws

Spending as much time as we do in oceanic environments, the movement of the tide becomes a bit of an obsession, not only for safety in and around the water, but for planning the best time and place to seek the wildlife that use it. 

The diversity of life found in the intertidal zone of rocky shores and salt marshes holds a particular fascination for us, leading to the  creation of an ongoing  series of works that explore and record the tidal movement, and life within the 'zone',  from the low shore to the strand line.

These studies have taken the form of a series of drawings that start life with the use of a quadrat,  a piece of scientific apparatus, used to record the type and quantity of species found in a specified area, a simple one metre by one metre square frame, sectioned off into twenty-five squares by a string grid.

The life forms framed by the quadrats are then reproduced to scale (1m x1m), and to the finest detail using pencil and paper. The movement of the tide recorded in the algae (seaweed) being lifted on the shoulders of an incoming tide, then rested back upon the rocks on the retreating tide, the movement of water creating a unique  arrangement  twice daily.

All studies in this series focus on a specific area of the north coast of Cornwall  UK.