I have a beautiful soft
green Roseville bowl of
my grandmother’s that
is filled with shells.
Some are found,
years of beachcombing
as a kid, but some are from
a trip my mom and
I took to the
Monterey Bay Aquarium.
After that trip,
I went back any time I was
in Carmel or Monterey
or Salinas, so close!!

It is also a nudge to work
to save our oceans.

In my lifetime, I’ve seen
the shells decline on
the semi-private beaches
I walked in my youth.
It is one of the reasons I
believe in private beaches,
because frankly, if you’ve
seen what the public that
visits but does not live
in an area can do to
decimate the environment,
you would understand too.

Some of the destruction is done by accident, but some is because people simply don’t care what they are doing.

A semi-private or private beach (the former meaning there is public access but you have to FIND it) tends to be cleaner because the people who frequent it keep it clean and even pick up the trash of others.  This helps to keep the destruction of the adjacent tide-pools to a minimum.

It used to be easy to find olives and small cowrys and abalone and turbans…
But as the environment has polluted, the variety of life is declining and shells are scarce.

To hear about classes, follow me on Instagram, Facebook
or check out my new, improved dkatiepowellart.com