Bleak horizon -

"A Storm at Sea Makes Landfall"
digitally manipulated photograph by Mick Mather

"... here's to the pilot that weathered the storm ..."
- George Canning

Tropicana -

"Beach House"
digital collage by Mick Mather

"... why do we love the sea; it's because it has some potent power to make us think things we like to think ..."
- Robert Henri

On the beach -

"Tangerine Bikini"
digital collage by Mick Mather

“... My life is like a stroll on the beach...
as near to the edge as I can go ...”
- Henry David Thoreau

Sun and sand -

"White Bikini"
digital collage by Mick Mather

Today has been one of those perfect days for a lie on the beach! By next week school will be out, all the beaches will be open and in full swing. Me? I can't take the direct sun so I guess I'll be inside dreaming a little dream like this.

Bring a coat -

"Blue Moon at the Cape"
digital collage by Mick Mather

If you've ever had the pleasure of walking a stretch of lonely beach at moon rise, you'll understand the sentiments and feeling in today's post. At certain times of the year it can be crisp and cold but oh so perfectly clear. A bonfire beckons at your back but the view is spellbinding.

Straight into summer -

"Hot Day at the Black Sea"
digital collage by Mick Mather

It's one of those years where we're getting 80º & 90º temperatures in April! Hot enough to go to the beach ... if only the beaches were open!

Illustration Friday: Impossibility -

"Impossibility"
digital collage by Mick Mather

... "returning home across this broad expanse of beach seemed
an impossibility considering that the tide was rushing in" ...

Good, good, good, good vibrations -

"Dreaming of Summer Sun"
digitally manipulated film still by Mick Mather

I was noodling around with a new filter and more than a few of the old ones during my vacation that is now, sadly, crashing to a close. Another fact of life here in my part of the world is the amount of sunshine we've been having - yes, temperatures are still cold, but it's a joy to see that big, yellow thing in the sky. So, as the buzz of another spring begins to build I'm already deep into visions of sun, sand and pretty girls at the beach and a classic tune by the Beach Boys.