Warrior Women of the Sea Connection | Conservation | Community
THE ART OF TRASH
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Ocean
CREATIVE
CONSUMPTION
ECO WARRIOR FASHION
Creativity
Vol. 3/No.1 : OCEAN CREATIVITY
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Confessions Of A Warrior BY JESSICA WINKLER
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Editorial
Welcome to our 5TH issueof Barnacle Babes magazine! ALL of us. Without it, we Creativity! Something I believe is inherent in and unimaginable. There can do nothing. Without it, the world is boring ation for creativity and is so much beauty in the world! So much inspir , we’ve just scraped issue this the Ocean is certainly our favorite. In amazing people, many so are There the tip of ocean inspired creativity. a better world ing creat and , ining imag women, and children, out there . ocean the for on passi for us all, through their and more, all artist enPaintings, stories, jewelry, film, photography, to action. Indeed, even call deavors to inspire, educate, re-imagine and creative feminine conthe and this magazine is inspired by the ocean sciousness that we all embody. read it, to find their own My wish for this issue is to truly inspire all who communicate their love, passions, and their own creativity, as a way to messages and desires for this world. about the articles you’ve As always, I love to hear from you, our readers, would also love to hear we and d ntere read, the people you’ve encou de in our next upcominclu we’ll T, GREA them your stories and if we find bes.com ing issues. Send all emails to Jodi@barnacleba Making waves,
Jodi Mossop www.barnaclebabes.com | 3
AUG 4-17,2018
SEDNA EPIC
EXPEDITION
IF YOU'RE A WOMAN OCEAN EXPLORER, SCIENTIST, ADVENTURER, ARTIST, MOVIE-MAKER, PHOTOGRAPHER, JOURNALIST, POLICY MAKER, EDUCATOR, SCUBA DIVER OR SNORKELER, WE'D LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU!
In August 4-17, 2018, The 2014-2018 Sedna Epic Expedition's sea women will investigate disappearing sea ice in the Arctic, snorkeling and scuba diving in Nunavut and Greenland. And, we'll work alongside our Inuit advisors and team members, delivering ocean education outreach in Inuit communities. This is Sedna's third arctic dive and snorkel expedition since 2014. Scuba diving logistics will be provided by Ocean Quest Adventure Resort of Newfoundland, an expedition partner since 2014.
The Sedna Epic will bring the ocean to eye level for Inuit youth via underwater robot-building workshops and touch aquariums temporarily populated with sea critters. Sedna's sea women will lead Inuit girls and young women on snorkel safaris, introducing them to what lies beneath the waves in their back yards. Our aim is to empower Inuit girls and young women, the future leaders of the Arctic. In 2020, the Sedna Epic plans to snorkel the Northwest Passage for climate change, delivering its ocean educational outreach to Inuit communities en route. Participants in the summer 2018 expedition must be self-funded.
For more information, go to:http://bit.ly/2n3LwkW For expedition updates, please 'like' and follow the Sedna Epic Expedition's FB page.
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Content 08 22 30 45 62
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08
Ethose Myth Design
Michaella Domo
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Hydrography & Cartography Anna Hendi
12
The Journey of an Entrepreneur Harriet Collins
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Friendship of The Sea
Kelly Martinsen
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18
Breathe
Ashleigh Magill
20
Mermaid Visions Jodi Mossop
22
The Art Of Trash Morgan Knowels
26
Introducing Corinne Ruff
28
Fragments of Unfinished Sentences Kelli Sroka
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30
Samantha Chilvers Jessica Winkler
35
Hello Ocean
Brooklyn Eyford
36
Music, Creativity and Coaching Karen Rae Wilson
38
Grom – It
Jessica Winkler
40
The World Will Be Saved by Creatives
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45
Eco Fashion Warrior Jalila Singerff
46
Adventures in Sculpting Cindi Carter
48
The Creativity of Conservation Jillian Morris Brake
50
The Sea Will Set You Free
Sarah Specker Saar
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52
Creative Consumption Kelli Sroka
56
Inner Fire
Jalila Singerff
62
Beckoned by the Sea Sylvia Taylor
64
The Ocean Sylvia Taylor
66
Salty Warriors
Saoirse Wang
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Barnacle Babes
Vancoucer, BC, Canada JODI MOSSOP Publisher | Editor | Content Curator jodi@barnaclebabes.com IVETA LEKESOVA Graphic/Layout Designer design@barnaclebabes.com JALILA SINGERFF Managing Fashion Editor jalila@barnaclebabes.com
CONTRIBUTORS AND PHOTOGRAPHERS SARAH SPECKER, MD MEDICAL DOCTOR, CONSERVATIONIST & WORLD TRAVELLING SURFER MORGAN C KNOWLES, M.S. MARINE BIOLOGIST, EDUCATOR, SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETER @MAWRGUN ON INSTAGRAM AND TWITTER SAOIRSE WANG AWAKENING AND INTEGRATION COACH WORKING WITH CREATIVES, INTUITIVES AND HEALERS WWW.FINDINGHENOSIS.COM KELLI SROKA TRUTH SEEKER, EARTH HEALER ASHLEIGH MAGILL BARNACLE BABE SEA-STAR HARRIET COLLINS JESSICA WINKLER PROFESSIONAL KITESURFER/INSTRUCTOR, WARRIOR TRAINER, AUTHOR, WORLD TRAVELER @CONFESSIONSOFAWARRIOR | WWW. BARNACLEBABES.COM/WARRIORTRAINING WWW.JESSICAWINKLER.NE JILLIAN MORRIS BRAKE KELLY MARTINSEN SUZANNE WAGNER CORRINE RUFF
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Subscribe!
The Barnacle Babes Magazine is an informative and inspirational digital and print magazine platform with interviews, stories, conservation efforts and more. Issued quarterly. If you like what you see, please subscribe at www.barnaclebabes.com Single Copy Price: $ 1199 + tax *USD One Year International Subscription: $ 4599 + tax GIFTS If you would like to subscribe as a gift for a friend, you can do that online at www.barnaclebabes.com
SOCIAL MEDIA & NEWSLETTER Join us at the community of salted women, to get daily inspirations, videos, event updates, and posts about our Warrior Women of the Sea. Interactive weekly discussions will lead to actionable quests.
Thank You
COVER: MODEL: CHELSEA BRENNAN @CHELSEATHEPALE | MAKE UP ARTIST: EVA SVOBODOVA @EVUTU, WWW.EVASVOBODOVAMUA.COM | PHOTO: MICHAL URBANEK @MICHALURBANEKPHOTO WWW.MICHALURBANEK.COM
Contributors FEATURED CONTRIBUTOR
CORINE RUFF Corinne Ruff is not only our featured contributor but our featured Barnacle Babe. Barnacle Babes held a contest with Swell Women Surf Retreats looking for women who best incorporated our 3 C Values of Connection, Conservation and Community. And Corinne Ruff was our winner! For more about her and what she’s about, you’ll find her on page 26.
ASHLEIGH MAGILL Ashleigh is an artist, graphic designer, tattoo artist, writer, and marketing consultant. Her 12-year career, along with a strong passion for natural health and spiritual growth, has allowed her to work with many companies in the health industry, as well as, spearhead and market events with Dr. Wayne Dyer and Deepak Chopra. She was the co-founder of a health and wellness tradeshow. She also helped to co-found Barnacle Babes and was the Graphic/ Layout Designer for the first 2 issues of Barnacle Babes Magazine.
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HARRIET COLLINS An ocean lover with a passion for business, Harriet is still figuring out her path in life. She became a Divemaster when she turned 18, and was running her own company at 19 in between uni courses. For now, she calls London home, but is already planning her next ocean adventure as the sea can only call for so long before she must return.
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KELLY MARTINSEN Kelly Martinsen defines her roles as: mom, wife, laid off pharmaceutical manager, friend, sister, PTA drop out (don't worry she's back in!), SUP surfer, daughter, green smoothie drink maker, closet sugar addict and fierce ocean warrior. She is publisher of Natural Awakenings Magazine Long Island, a monthly health and wellness magazine and has just published her first book, A Year of Inspired Living (HCI Books), which is available on Amazon.
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JEWELRY ARTITIST
MICHELLA DOMO
OF
Ethose Myth Design
Ethos Myth Design Inc. is a collective of designers that harmonise thoughts, words and actions. Locally produced in Vancouver, B.C. while using sustainable manufacturing methods, we aim to leave a positive mark on our environment. By using recycled precious metals, we repurpose the discarded and transform it into something new, thus reducing the amount of waste on our planet. We aspire to inspire others to consume consciously, because with each purchase, we contribute to the kind of world we want to live in. We are deeply inspired by nature and driven by a sense of adventure. The flow of the ocean is moved by the phases of the moon and it is this cosmic connection that motivates us to create. When we design a product, our energy is transferred into our object and consequently to our customers. We intend to induce a wave effect that gently spreads outwards and boldly empowers this planet. Therefore, we are very conscious of what energy we put into our creations. Our designs are not simply meant to be beautiful pieces of jewellery; they are symbols of the beautiful, powerful energy that lives within each and every one of us. We encourage others to make their own splash and make a wave!
@ethosmyth for FB and IG www.ethosmyth.com
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HYDROGRAPHY & CARTOGRAPHY The Art of Marine Data Gathering & Marine Mapping Source: Canadian Whale Institute
Jodi Mossop interviews Anna Hendi from the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans One of the best things about what I do is having the opportunity to meet so many amazing wonderful women! And not just any women, but women who share the same reverence for the ocean as I do, though their passions, vocations, and even relationship with the ocean can differ. This is the part I really love: that Barnacle Babes brings these women and their stories together in common appreciation of the ocean. It was my good fortune to meet and talk with Anna Hendi, just one of those amazing women. Anna and I met in a busy café close to the downtown center of Vancouver during her visit from her home in Ottawa. She is the mother of our very own fashion editor, Jalila Singerff, and a skilled cartographer experienced in hydrography. According to the DFO (Government of Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans), hydrography is navigational products, services and information to ensure the safety of mariners. It is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal
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areas, lakes and rivers. They measure water depth to shed light on the secrets that lurk beneath the waves of Canada’s oceans, lakes and rivers revealing the potential hazards that would otherwise remain unknown.
How cool is that! Anna started working for the DFO after moving back to Canada in 1986/87, and has gathered a broad base of experience and knowledge. Anna was born in Canada but grew up in Argentina, with her Canadian mother and Argentinian father. She has always loved the water. They lived near a river in Buenos Aires, very close to one of the naval bases. Her dual nationality allowed her the opportunity to attend the School of Nautical Cartography in the navy in Argentina (The Argentinian Armada). Shortly after her training she moved back to Canada, where some of her mother’s family still lived. She initially looked for jobs requiring nautical cartography or technical drawing. Not able to find work in nautical cartography, she took jobs with engineering companies and do-
ing technical drawings. She eventually landed a position at the Canadian Hydrographic Service, and worked through several positions and terms. Anna continued to study on her own as well, receiving further training with the Canadian Hydrographic Services in the latest digital cartography and hydrography technology. She says the simple difference between the two fields is that hydrography is the acquisition of data and cartography is pulling that data together to make nautical charts. The International Cartographic Association (https://icaci.org/) defines cartography as the discipline dealing with the conception, production, dissemination and study of maps. Cartography is also about representation – the map. This means that cartography is the whole process of mapping. She predominately worked in data production with the Canadian Hydrographic Services (CHS) then later moved more into supportive roles with in various projects. Her latest project is being part of a team that works on integrating a
Charting Poster_revised-fra.pdf 1 30/11/2017 3:29:19 PM
CANADIAN HYDROGRAPHIC SERVICE
big project called the Ocean Protection Plan for the CHS. There are several departments and lots of people involved. She has also trained the new multidisciplinary hydrographer program coordinators. Before retiring in about six years she wants to pass on her decades of experience.
WHAT IS HYDROGRAPHY?
She shared that these sciences benefit us by fishers knowing water depths and structures below them to avoid snagging nets, and that ships can feel more confident where to safely drop anchor. There are different types of maps-- nautical charts are a specialty map made for safety of navigation.
Hydrography is the branch of applied sciences which deals with the measurement and description of the physical features of oceans, seas, coastal areas, lakes and rivers.
Hydrography is a fairly balanced-gendered science. Many women are employed as hydrographers and cartographers today. However, you need a doctor to confirm that you are in good shape to be admitted into the program.
WHO CONDUCTS HYDROGRAPHIC SURVEYS?
Hydrographic services are working with the Oceans Protections Plan and other global groups. Under the umbrella of the International Hydrographic Organization ( https:// www.iho.int/ ) they will develop standards for an International marine community that shares information and charts. Anna says that cartography has been standardized for many years because of its global scope of ship travel. Analytical mapping software has made it easier and faster to get a lot of information, correlating data from different sources in a geographic information system. Currently, all the water sciences are working together to create useful standards and approaches and Canada works to be a world leader in sharing data with the global community. Part of the work that the Canadian Hydrographic Services is doing for the oceans protection plan is running new modern surveys in critical areas. There are 23 priority ports
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Over the years Anna has seen many technology changes in data collection. She also shared new ways of processing the data: satellite data to estimate depths for chart production; tide predictions used to be only in a printed book, now you could get hourly updates online (You can still get them printed but for more accurate up to date information, online is the most accurate). They are also moving towards having depths go directly onto “dynamic” up-to-the-minute electronic charts.
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Canadian territorial waters cover 7.1 million square kilometres which is the equivalent of 77,646,544 football fields.
To map the seabed the Canadian Hydrographic Service uses various innovative technologies and survey platforms. The primary tool for the acquisition of water depths is the Multibeam Echo-sounding System.
Accurate bathymetry and the prediction of the tides and water levels allow for safe navigation in support of other marine activities, including economic development, safety and security, scientific research and environmental protection.
The Canadian Hydrographic Service, a branch of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada's Science Division conducts hydrographic surveys and creates nautical charts of Canadian waters.
Le saviez-vous?
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Hydrographers
One Cargo ship on the Great Lakes carries the equivalent of 964 transport trucks or 301 rail cars reducing congestion on our highways and rail lines. (source Highway H2O)
measure water depth to shed light on the secrets that lurk beneath the waves of Canada’s oceans, lakes and rivers revealing the potential hazards that would otherwise remain unknown.
The Canadian Hydrographic Service manages a network of water level and tide gauges to support the provision of real-time observations and forecast information.
The hydrographic data collected by the Canadian Hydrographic Service is used to create a full range of products and services.
What is the data used for?
Modern electronic charts Traditional paper charts Sailing Directions Tide tables Tidal Current Atlases
The data collected by the Canadian Hydrographic Service provides the foundation for safe and sustainable activities on Canadian waters and allows for economically prosperous maritime sectors.
Maritime transportation is the primary means of transport for supplies to northern commnunities accounting for nearly 95% of Arctic goods. The more precise the water level information and bathymetry provided by the Canadian Hydrographic Service, the more precise the planning for commercial shippers when delivering goods to the Canadian consumer and exporting goods to foreign markets.
Did you know? On average, Canada
welcomes 21,000 international ships to
our ports and through our waters, carrying passengers, goods and cargo each year.
Covers Ramea Islands, Newfoundland. (DFO website)
For more information on the Canadian Hydrographic Service visit: www.charts.gc.ca
which will use digital and paper cartography, publications, Coast Guard notices to mariners, and all the nautical products that the Canadian Shipping Act tells the mariners that they have to have on board. Major upgrades are ongoing with modern technology, charting, dynamic chart data, and it’s a lot of work. A major focus of the Ocean Protection Plan is integrating and sharing amongst the many departments and user groups, so standardization is critical. Another important part of the Oceans Protection Plan is its benefit to many of the indigenous coastal communities. Much of ocean shipping serves those communities and is a significant part of their daily lives. The initiative would integrate their opinions and knowledge and include more diverse impact studies and comprehensive indigenous engagement.
Anna and Jodi
CHS Hydrographer working on the ice ( DFO website)
Many thanks to Anna Hendi for sharing her insights into the science and art of ocean mapping. Should you want to learn more about this amazing career you can contact the International Hydrography Organization or specifically for what Anna is doing, the Canadian Hydrography Services through the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Edited by Sylvia Taylor
Did you know, there is a World Hydrography Day? WORLD HYDROGRAPHY DAY (WHD) ~ June 21st.
On November 29, 2005 the United Nations adopted Resolution A/60/30, that:
Hydrography Day be celebrated annually on 21 June, with the aim of giving suitable publicity to its work at all level and of increasing the coverage of hydrographic information on a global basis, and urges all States to work with that organization to promote safe navigation, especially in the areas of international navigation, ports and where there are vulnerable or protected marine areas.
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The Journey of an Entrepreneur By Harriet Collins aka ScubaGirl
Being a girl in business is badass. But it definitely doesn’t come easily. Especially when you start your company when you’re only 19. I started ScubaGirl while I was in University and it was such a passion project for me as it continues to be. Aimlessly staring at my laptop trying to work on Uni projects one day, the brainwave came! I wanted to create a community of girls that scuba dive. The idea started off small - I wanted to sell ScubaGirl bumper stickers - but it quickly expanded to something much bigger. The behind the scenes work at the beginning was relatively easy. I designed and produced the website, business cards, product designs and set up the social media accounts. Pretty standard stuff that didn’t have any major hurdles. The struggles began to occur when I started dealing with suppliers. At the beginning, walking into meetings with suppliers was daunting, but I was prepared, knew what I wanted and what I should be able to get and was ready to negotiate, but as soon as I walked in the door, I could see the supplier shut down. They did not want to deal with a “preppy blonde haired, blue-eyed little girl.” Let’s just say that the meeting didn’t go very far. I wish I could turn around and say, “Don’t worry, I found another supplier who didn’t care how old I was and it all went perfectly!”
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I can’t. Instead, I called in back-up - my dad. I took my dad to the next meeting as someone more senior. This way the supplier could relate experience wise and saw that there was financial backing. Finally, I got somewhere with the supplier, just because I brought someone along. (Thanks dad!) The subsequent meetings with the supplier, I was able to kick ass by myself. All this being said, not every supplier was hesitant to work with me. In fact, I have a few suppliers who I had a great relationship with from the beginning and continue to do so to this day. I worked hard to source t-shirts, jewelry, water-bottles and hats, with other ideas swirling as well. ScubaGirl took over everything. I sat in University courses thinking, “Alright, so how can I apply this to ScubaGirl??!” I continually changed and modified the website, and was trying all sorts on social media to gain followers. When I had all of my product consuming every corner of my student apartment, it was time to start selling. The idea was to sell in bulk to dive shops. Another hurdle for sure. I tried to schedule meetings, but was passed over a lot, or simply ignored. I then started doing something I was terrified to do, I was cold-calling. I was never in Girl Scouts or Brownies and never had to sell Girl Scout cookies, but I definitely think they have the cute factor working for them. No one wants
to say no to a 7-year-old.
At 19 you’re either seen as an adult or a child depending on how the person wants to see you in that moment. I was not seen as that 7-year-old trying to sell cookies. It’s not all doom and gloom and I did make sales eventually, but it definitely takes time, persistence and is hard. Lucky for me, ScubaGirl is my passion so carrying on wasn’t as hard as it could have been. ScubaGirl continued to expand after the first summer of selling. I then decided to be ambitious and develop a social network. The first one was solely computer based and didn’t work very well, so I went even further and developed an app. Yep, I’m slightly crazy. The first sale that I had was such a high, but I think seeing the ScubaGirl app on the App Store and Google Play Store surpassed that. The website went through another design and content edit when the app launched and I started involving more ScubaGirls in the content writing on the site. The social media
accounts seemed to start booming and ScubaGirl was becoming everything that I had wanted it to be from that beginning inspired thought in Starbucks. Today, I continue to develop ScubaGirl into everything that I want it to be, constantly revising strategies and plans, as things don’t always go the way you think they will. ScubaGirl is still my passion and will continue to be. I will continually try everything that I can to make it a success, even if it’s just my belief in it that keeps it alive. This is just the very brief overview version of the start of my entrepreneurial journey. I’ve let you in on some of the obstacles I faced, but trust me when I say there were many, many more. And just because there is one success does not mean that the whole thing is successful. Being in business is hard for anyone. It’s a true roller coaster ride and a lot of the time you’re the only one on it. You have to be a true warrior to stick with it through the good, the bad, and the ugly. But, if this Warrior Woman of the Sea can leave you all that stuck reading this with one piece of advice: Never give up, keep moving forward and always believe in yourself, because even though it’s hard, it’s always worth it.
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FRIENDSHIP OF THE SEA By Kelly Martinsen
n
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I was shocked, out of breath, salty and sandy and scared…and I was also exhilarated. I will never forget the first time the ocean toyed with me, came up to me tall and beautiful only to “kook slam” me out of it’s way. I was about four years old when I first encountered the sea, it’s beauty and it’s wrath. The nice thing about that “kook slam” was when the other kids all around me, who I had never met, picked me up and laughed with me. I discovered the age old tradition of making friends at the beach! After that first day, I did everything I could to get back to the beach. My goal was to beat the wave, to figure her out, and to tame her. Every summer she would teach me that she was complicated, and not easily understood and never tamed. She would also always leave me with new found friends.
I UNDERSTOOD AT A VERY YOUNG AGE, THAT THE SEA WAS A WOMAN. SHE WAS SOMETIMES BEAUTIFUL, SOMETIMES SCARY, UNPREDICTABLE IN HER APPROACH AND LIKE I SAW IN 2012, SHE COULD DEVASTATE YOU. October 27th, 2012 at 5:55, Mayor Michael Bloomberg warns that Sandy is “the storm of the century” stating “the time to evacuate is over”. Just an hour or so later, power is lost and by 9pm the storm begins to surge, in NYC and it’s neighbor my home town, Long Beach New York. The water surge is flowing into tunnels, subways and even Ground Zero. The storm surge peaks in Battery Park with 13.88 feet of water at the Battery Tunnel. The Long Beach Boardwalk is nothing compared to the powerful surge and is instantly toppled and destroyed. The boardwalk, along with cars left parked in the road are lifted by the water up and deposited a half mile inland. For three hours we were under water. Mercifully by midnight the ocean begins to retract and flow back where she came from. Leaving behind a devastated town. The sun rises over Long Beach early the next morning illuminating the devastation. Many people have completely lost their homes and their businesses in less than a 24 hour period. The lower portion of my home, including basic living utilities are left in five feet of flood and sewage. Everything that was touched by water needed to be thrown to the curb immediately due to the fear of contamination. We began to throw away big items, a gas burner, couches, TV, toys and much more. After hauling out the big stuff, all that was left was “little stuff”. The doll my sister gave to me when I was ten and she had moved to Texas, our wedding and engagement pictures, our children’s foot prints from the hospital, even the framed photo of our first “Make a Wish Polar Bear Plunge” (yes, I am one of those cra with cars, words were not even spoken as my husband’s friend Phil gave us a hug, put on gloves and walked down to the basement and began hauling stuff out. My sister and her friends all began showing up, with brooms, pails, bottled water. Her husband a NYC firefighter walked into the house after working a twenty-four hour tour and began shoveling sand that was once on the beach and was now a wet contaminated, three foot hill in our basement. Neighbors who had not spoken in months, sometimes years, were respectfully helping carry each other’s contents to the curb. As we cleaned our basement, we began to hear tales of people in much worse shape than us, the loss of complete houses, the uninsured, and the person who was laid off post storm. Long Beach residents would all spend the next few weeks and months cleaning debris and gutting the houses of neighbors and friends. The community of Long Island began to mobilize clothing was brought from outside our barrier island, as well as food, toiletries and hugs. Yes hugs from strangers. I witnessed devastation that day, but what sits with me now, five years later is witnessing friends and more importantly strangers coming together to help one another. I witnessed the hope and love of our community not only Long Beach, but our entire Long Island community. continued...
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I lost some stuff, that is true, stuff that was really, really important and that can never be replaced.
But I gained this insight: We are New Yorkers, we are Long Islanders, we are humanity and together with love, we can rebuild. And this sleepy beach town I live in is perhaps just a little bit closer to one another than we had been prior to “Sandy”. We were all changed. I discovered, waves can do that. I often wonder if like everything else, we as a collective humanity had gotten together as a team prior to the storm, to fight the use of plastic, to clean our beaches, to conserve and preserve our precious resource would these storms be as big, as devastating?
I WILL TELL YOU THIS, THE SEA, THIS WOMAN I LOVE... SHE SIMPLY ASKS, NO BEGS, TO BE TREATED WITH RESPECT ( DON’T ALL WOMEN?) IF SHE ISN’T, SHE REACTS. WE MUST AT ALL COSTS PROTECT HER, WE NEED TO DO IT FOR US NOW AND FOR THE NEXT FOUR-YEAROLD, AND THE NEXT. New York City - Abandoned luxury car with very dirty interior after the hurricane.
FRIENDSHIP OF THE SEA
Credit: solepsizm / Shutterstock.com
Kelly Martinsens house after the Hurricane
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Kelly Martinsen is an Author, Publisher and Public Speaker, her debut inspirational journal guide A Year of Inspired Living is available at Barnes and Noble and Amazon or at www. naturalawakenignslongisland.com Five years later and still many New Yorkers are embrolled in red tape and struggling to move back into a renovated or elevated home, while others are still waiting for approval to lift their home or have it condemned.
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Breathe By Ashleigh Magill
CONNECT WITH THE OCEAN AND YOUR TRUE SELF; THE PERSON YOU WERE INTENDED TO BE. I come to you, Bare feet pressed into the sand. With a deep inhale, I close my eyes. I hear your breath; your life force surrounds and fills me. The connection is made. We are one. I feel you and I know you feel me. With another breath, I sent my intention for our meeting. I bow to you in gratitude, and I smile. A deep knowing fills my heart, That all I am here to ask for is already heard and answered.
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We sit together and breathe, every exhale brings me deeper. Through you, I find my deepest self. My true self. Goddess. Warrior. Woman. I bathe in your salty air. Each exhale cleanses a layer of dirt, another veil that masks my truth. Clarity comes. Your life force recharges and refreshes me. Bringing me back to life, back to spirit. Back to my Self.
I thank the ocean for her energy and love, her ability to reach deep into my physical body and pull out that incredibly spiritual and wise woman within. I bow to her beauty, her strength and her grace. I do not feel worthy of her forgiveness for what we humans do to hurt her, but she sees the light within me and she is healed with each visit of love that I bring her.
I know this because she tells me. Visiting the ocean can calm and connect us all, increasing insight and creativity. It can even heal what is broken within us. The steady stream of ‘blue noise’ we hear by her side can guide us into a grounded and powerful meditative state. A place where we can hear and feel our deepest and wisest truths. Please take time to show your respect when you visit, to clean up the beach or to send her loving gratitude. Take it a step further and look for local programs where you can volunteer to offer even more layers of healing! It’s time for us all to come together and heal our oceans, our earth, and ourselves. Love & Light, Ashleigh Magill | @miss_a_shines
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MERMAID VISIONS A CREATIVE CELEBRATION IN A VENUE OF LOVE, NOURISHMENT AND COMMUNITY. By Jodi Mossop
Left: Jenn Cornish, right: Susan Knight Susan and Dana Mermaid working together in Kona. Phoro Credit: Sarah Lee
Why does one or even… how does one become known as a mermaid photographer? A visit to the Watershed Art Café to visit with Susan Knight of Susan Knight Studies allowed me to see and find out just that. First of all, the Watershed Art Café, what a fantastic place! A fantastic concept with great food and an artsy vibe. Talking with chef, owner, and operator, Jenn Cornish, she shares with us a bit about this amazing venue. A beautiful passion filled, labour of love that has been in operation in Langley, BC for 9.5 years now. They have music events, spoken word events; as well they do private parties. However, we were there for one of their wellknown visual art shows, featuring Susan Knight of Susan Knight Studios, one of many showcases that happen every month to two months, to a very welcoming community.
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Phoro by Susan Knight
One of the things I loved most about this café was hearing about their inspiration for it. Jenn shared with me when they conceptualized the café, they did so with the vision of “setting the table for humanity. A place where everyone is welcomed, loved, nourished and celebrated”! It is a big goal but what a BEAUTIFUL goal! You can certainly feel it from these women here, in the café and from all the staff that run it, and especially in the food. Jenn shares they want people to feel safe and be themselves. This café is a place that feels like home, nourishing body and soul. It’s about connection, to the food, to community, ones neighbour and the world around them. I ask Jen what it is about art and she shares her passion with us about this subject and lit up when talking about her creativity with food, but I believe it goes further and extends into creative community. You can listen and watch to the full video interview by going to our website at www.BarnacleBabes. com/videos. But if you’re in the Langley area, do go and check them out. For further information you can go to: www.watershedartscafe.com This brings us to Susan Knight’s show. WOW! I am so amazed and always in awe of her photography skills. The lighting, the shots, the ethereal feel! It’s as though you’ve been transported to another reality where indeed there are REALLY mermaids and she is a magical being who has an opportunity to capture and photograph the rare sightings.
Spinner dolphins photo in Big Island, HI
She is a woman full of wonder herself with a true belief that there is more to this world than just what we see, and the inspiration for all of it is found through her connection to nature, in particular, the ocean. When we (Barnacle Babes Magazine) decided to make this next issue about Ocean Inspired creativity, Susan Knight was definitely someone I wanted to highlight! She has been a contributor with us for the last 3 issues and her writing and her photography always leaves me wanting more! Here are just a few of her photographs featured at the Watershed Art Café. While Susan was on the Big Island of Hawaii, we sent her some questions and asked her to film herself giving the answers. Click HERE for the full online video. If you are reading the printed version, you can go online to www. BarnacleBabes.com/videos to view this full and entertaining clip. It’s always a pleasure to spend time with Susan and share my appreciation for her art with you all. You can view much of Susan work or to book a creative photo session with her for yourself by going to her website at: www.susanknightstudios.com
Susan posing in front of one of her featured photos of Mermaid Hyli in Mexico.
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Photo: Greenpeace Phillapines A giant Whale made out of plastic was installed at the Sea Side Beach Resort in Naic, Cavite.
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THE ART OF
TRASH By Morgan Knowels
As most of us know, plastic pollution wreaks havoc in the marine environment. It is mistaken as food by seabirds and sea turtles, it entangles marine life such as whales and sharks, and it contaminates our seafood. Plastic pollution wasn’t seen as a serious issue until the early 60’s (The Clean Water Act & Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972); this was when we began to realize its impact on our environment. Due to its dire consequences, scientists, educators, and conservationists have needed to find unique an engaging ways to help educate and spread awareness on the marine debris epidemic. When plastics enter the marine environment, like most things lost at sea, they are exposed to the elements. The process by which the sun, salt, wind, and waves oxidize and degrade the structural integrity of plastics is called photodegredation. This process makes them fade in color and become more brittle. Plastics in such a fragile state, break and shatter into smaller fragmented pieces. When these fragments become broken into pieces less than five millimeters in length (or about the size of a rice grain or sesame seed), they are called microplastics. There are also plastics that are manufactured to be incredibly tiny, such as “nurdles,” which are the raw plastic pellets 3-5mm in diameter that plastic manufacturers use to shape products from. This also includes elusive microbeads, which are extremely small plastic beads used as exfoliants in health and beauty products. Microplastics are the most dangerous in this form due to their entrance into the food web. On a molecular level, plastic toxins move up the food-chain from zooplankton to the fish on your plate through bioaccumulation, or the exponential concentration of contaminants in the bodies of living things. Because there are well over 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in our oceans, and in nearly 30 years there will be more plastics in our ocean than fish, scientists, activists, educators, and conservationists alike have been working on how to effectively communicate this problem to the general public and what we can do about it. In order to effectively communicate the complex plastic pollution and marine debris issue to others, one must find creative and engaging means. To bring forth awareness to the plastic pollution problem, artists and crafty people alike have developed an extremely clever solution; by turning one persons trash, into another persons treasure.
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MARINE DEBRIS
Art
Plastics were designed to be durable, playable and indestructible. Because of this, artists and activists alike have taken notes and had a brilliant idea. They use marine debris as a medium like paint and clay to create a sea-saving movement featuring plastic pollution as its inspiration. This extremely versatile medium can be broken, drilled, glued, shredded, set in resin, fused and melted into endless combinations. Normally, modern contemporary artists need to purchase single use equipment such as canvas and paints which puts hundreds of pounds of waste into landfill each year. Essentially, buying more to create more. With marine debris art, everything is first and foremost, FREE, and reusable!
Left: “The Manta” by Morgan Knowles Middle: This is a mix of nurdles and microplastics from Lauderdale-By-TheSea, Florida, often made of low density polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride and other thermoplastic polymers. Right: “Fish Food” by Brittany and Morgan Knowles. Our piece was donated to Sea to shore Alliance’s Healthy habitats and Oceans Marine Debris bus - traveling classroom for educational use (@ beakaykay & @mawrgun on instagram
This wave of creativity in the ocean conservation community is trying to to utilize the brightly colored plastic fragments into works of art to show the devastating impacts our choices have on our ocean. Aesthetically powerful plastic pollution art is designed to educate viewers on the enormity of plastics in our oceans and evoke emotional responses. But also to to educate, inspire, awe, and to create personal and global change. Multimedia artist Alejandro Durán, says that marine debris art can “…reveal the pervasive impact of consumer culture on the natural world,” and “…the fraught intersections of man and nature.” Some creative debris artwork ranges from smaller than a bottle cap, to an impressively massive life-size replicas of a beached whale! Some artists even have the ability to hide the fact their art is made of ocean trash due to its incredibly beautiful design. Other embrace its raw, unaltered rugged appearance. The incredible thing about plastic pollution art is it speaks volumes to the materialistic nature of people in todays society and creates a positive impact by cleaning up the environment at the same time. As a marine biologist, debris-geek and creative being by nature, my twin sister and I decided to put our creativity to the test by creating our own microplastic mosaic artwork.
THE PROCESS IS AS SIMPLE AS 1. Pick up litter/plastic debris. 2. Clean/rinse debris with vinegar and warm soapy water to prevent your art from stinking up the place. 3.Sort by colors, sizes or how ever you want to organize it. 4. Create! John Dahlsen, a prolific Australian artist puts it into words quite perfectly saying, “…it literally amazes me to think how many times I have bent over to pick up the many thousands of pieces of plastic debris that made up that aspect of my art, each piece jostled around for who knows how long by sand, sun and ocean, their form faded and rounded by the elements.”
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Right: Morgan at a beach cleanup after a dune restoration event with Youth Environmental Alliance in Lauderdale-By-The-Sea. Florida, educating participants on the litter and debris found during the cleanup.
You become connected to the art you created, you know? You put in the countless hours to remove it from your favorite beach, reef, river, lake or park. You took the time to sort your bounty, created an idea and turned it into something that stands for something much greater than yourself. You SHOULD feel proud! It is a funny feeling when you are done and you stand in front your creation. It looks so familiar with fragments of plastic straws, bottle caps, and balloons yet so alien at the same time disguised as a colorful work of art. Beautifully bright and fun art makes you smile at first, but yet it represents such a dark and dismal truth. Though art is an incredible vector to spread awareness, engage communities, and educate youth about this serious issue, there is still more to learn, and much more work to be done to solve this epidemic. Plastic pollution and the marine debris problem are not going away over night, but hopefully this will spark a little creativity in you to find ways that you can reduce your impacts for our oceans, one piece of plastic at a time. Check out the hundreds of other artists, non-profits, ocean conservationists and other groups online who have created breathtaking works of art utilizing ocean plastics or take a stab at being a marine debris artist yourself! Morgan Knowles, M.S. Marine Biologist, Educator, Ocean Conservationist morgan.c.knowles@gmail.com | @mawrgun on social
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INTRODUCING...
Corinne Ruff
Toward the end of 2017, Barnacle Babes had partnered up with the amazing SwellWomen, Surf and Yoga Retreats, looking for women to submit an article about themselves. Articles that encompassed the values of Barnacle Babes 3-C Pillars: Connection, Conservation & Community, as well as, SwellWomen’s motto of “Follow Your Bliss”. We were very amazed and impressed with the submissions we received and we look forward to publishing some of the runner up entries in our next issue. We are happy to announce the winning submission from Corrine G. Ruff! We believe Corrine is true example of what a Warrior Woman of the Sea encompasses. Corrine eloquently and beautifully shared her passion, love and commitment to the ocean in a way that moved and inspired us. Her books, events, and films and her fearlessness to pursue her passion, are just a small glimpse; I am sure, into all that she does. Let us introduce to you Corrine Ruff, the Author: “The Sea” with Artist Julie Goldstein and “Island Child” Films: Landfall, The Eyes of Sandy and The Oyster Farmers Events: The Shellfish Soiree, The Surf City Farmers Market, The Bridge Walk, She Shucks Oyster Event, and LBI Mermaid Week and if you feel so inspired, send her some love! Check out her films and attend one of her events in NJ area.
Corinne G. Ruff
I hope to one day to be as true to the sea: to crash upon the shore without apology, to roll gently in without explanation time after time, to wield my strength without permission or allow anything to diminish the real me as I embrace the boundless beauty found in the gift of fluidity. The sea inspires me to live each day with clarity and authenticity. Its very presence is our planet’s greatest example of connectivity; as we are all connected by water. I find my bliss in two lessons from the sea – fearlessly surrender to life’s flow and embrace the art of letting go. One of my favorite conservation quotes –
"In the end we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand; and we will understand only what we are taught."(Baba Dioum, 1968.)
I’ve been fortunate to have lived my dream, since the age of 12, of becoming an airline pilot. I’ve traveled around the planet for the last 25 years and have flown over turquoise icebergs of Greenland, watched the sunrise up out of the majestic Atlantic over Africa, floated in the Dead Sea, rode camels in the desert in Cairo, explored nearly ev-
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ery state in the U.S. and having seen the world, something a small percentage of the population has seen, I can say I truly appreciate the connectivity of cultures, people, land and customs. There is a universal language spoken with a hug, smile and handshake. The gift of travel has taught me so much about the world and myself. I am raising my children to see the world by looking at this big picture. My conservation efforts have materialized through documentary films, books and events I’ve created. It is only with love, overcoming any fear of failure, that anything was accomplished. The Oyster Farmers is a film concept that was born out of a desire to protect and conserve the Barnegat Bay. The resurgence of the oyster to the Bay, in the hands of the Oyster Farmers, was the backbone of the story. Interlacing that spine are the film’s messages of promoting seafood sustainability, bay stewardship and conservation of our estuaries. With the passion of my shell sister producer, Angela Andersen, Oak Leaf Media and The Jetty Rock Foundation a legacy film was brought to life. The oyster shell recycling program and reef initiative of the “Tuckerton Reef” is the call-to-action conservation portion of the documentary. I live on an island in NJ. It’s a tight-nit group of families, artists, surfers, watermen and women, writers, entrepreneurs, maker’s, and several non-profits such as the Alliance for a Living Ocean, who realize great things can be accomplished by supporting each other. Our Island was
hit by Superstorm Sandy 5 years ago. When everything fell apart, community members stepped up to put the pieces back together. Having been broken, we found our greatest strength to recovery in community unity. I created a documentary and called it a “Film for Relief.” Landfall, The Eyes of Sandy was brought to life through Jetty, a NJ surf and skate lifestyle brand. The film documents the Unite and Rebuild efforts that brought our community together. Having never made a film in my life before, fears and doubt were kicked to the curb as I forged ahead. The film went on to win awards at Festivals, become a film featured on Delta Airline’s Force for Global Good, and each film screening raised money for the rebuild efforts. The Jetty Rock Foundation was established during the creation of the film and continues to champion efforts promoting a vibrant community and environment. The Bridge Walk, which I dreamed up in 2009 and run with my dear friend Melanie Magaziner is now part of the JRF, raising funds for 5 area schools. I believe we are all on a journey to discover our authentic gifts, given to us to serve the greater good through connections, conservation and community. Creating anything for me, starts with quiet mind. Once the concept is envisioned, the battle begins. Fears, doubts, excuses and roadblocks are just part of the process. Forging ahead is where bliss is found. It’s over the wall of fear. The sacred alignment of your heart, mind and soul flips the “Bliss Switch” on and shines your light out into the world.
Photo Credit: Mark Ruff
Left: Corinne Ruff, her husband Mark and their two children Ava (15) and Jackson (13) live on Long Beach Island, NJ. Right: out in the Bay filming with Bridgitte Bliss - Oyster Farmer, Maxwell Shellfish (Photo Credit: Filmmaker Brendan Walsh)
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FRAGMENTS OF
UNFINISHED SENTENCES by Kelli Sroka
A DARK WOMB, MY JOURNEY BEGINS. I open my eyes to find I’m lost in a world of foreign decay, a mermaid, stripped of the very scales which define Her, on legs and on land for the very first time. I look around, searching to meet gaze with another thirsty soul, another being pulsating and overflowing with an essence described more thoroughly through movement rather than words. I walk through the shadows, learning the inherent language, collecting experiences, breaking hearts, leaving scars, never taking the orders of the men who stand towering over me. Something inside of me is weary and skeptical of the story we are told. I reject the operating system I have been programmed with, fearlessly peeling off masks, burning them one by one, left with the raw canvas of my soul, revealing a palate of depth and color beyond the capabilities of our imagination. If not this world, then where? I am here now, and so I too am a painter of this reality. I STAND in my darkness, my anger, my lack of sympathy for the human kind. Does a mermaid drown in her own kingdom? Saddened by her changing world, she must reassemble the broken pieces of debris, the waste and chaos of ignorance, her innate capacity to create, to inspire, to rearrange matter as a true alchemist, building plastic castles out of tires, bottles, broken pieces of glass, sunken ships, dead bodies and broken bones. I am the darkness, I am the shadow side that lives within you, and you cannot escape me. The more you deny me, the more I rage, the more I demand your attention. I am in search of freedom, a place to make my art. Inwards, back to the womb, I submerge myself in darkness, searching for the colors that guide me back to my soul. Pure imagination. My revenge, full of fury. Opened sourced.
View from Ferry ride of the North Shore Coastal Mountains of BC taken by Kelly
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I am not an artist the in contemporary way you might imagine. A starving artist, nonetheless, a designer of landscape. My canvas my own body, and I paint unapologetically. I am the designer of terraria. I am the creator of worlds, one folded on top of another, I practice bio mimicry, and I preach bio-diversity. The year is 2119 and the oceans have become stagnant. Earth is wild and alive and violent. Just as I. We move to the sky as we let her breathe, eager to prove ourselves, asking for forgiveness and to once again return to her surface. My mission is to create community; lush lands chiseled into the insides of asteroids, hollowed out worlds, blank canvases with the promise of a brand new day.
With the great commitment of 2064 in mind, the promise to demise any future resource extraction, the mentality shifts so that the solutions comes out of the problem. We use our plastic, piled miles high in holding spaces, spewing toxic micro particles, to create castles in the clouds. The alchemy, the art is finding beauty in the breakdown, the cryptic challenge, I am the sculptor of plastic worlds. The love affair with the superhero version of myself. The relentless badass rainbow warrior of love and light, who drowns in the depths of her own sorrows, the beauty in the full spectrum of emotion. It’s okay, children. There are those of us who will follow after you, picking up the
broken pieces you leave behind, shifting shapes and finding the burial sites of your once beloved treasures, now defining features of our shiny castles of broken times, billowing through the astral realms. My lesson is in the practice of non-attachment I will be my own ruler; I refuse to accept reality that others impose on me. I reduce the waste I generate, instead seeking solutions as I build new biomes, fantasizing about the waste we leave behind, unlimited art supplies, compressed into new shapes and ideas, fabricated through imagination and manifested into physical matter, a regenerative alchemist.
Photos from Kelli Sroka of: Left - Gibsons, Sunshine Coast, BC, Canada | Middle and Right: Roberts Creek Pier
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An Interview with Pop/Surf Artist
SAMANTHA
CHILVERS By Jessica Winkler
I first met Samantha during a kiteboarding competition in Cayman Islands a few years ago, and as a fellow Canadian, we got along immediately. She was this fierce ball of competitive energy which is common in female extreme sports athletes but what I was surprised to discover was Samatha is an accomplished artist. She has a contemporary style of mixed media collages that express her obvious love of creating art and her tropical surroundings. She told me her brother calls her art “real life photos� ...as they often have this pop art graphic feel about them. Since Samantha is living in Cabarete, Dominica Republic, many of her pieces are of waves, palm trees and surfing which she says sell the best, as she has a high demand for them. Recently, Samantha opened up her own studio which is a huge accomplishment for such a young artist. In this interview I pick her brain and see how she did it.
J: When did you open your studio? S: My current gallery space in Millennium opened in June 2016. Although, a few years before moving to Dominican I was super lucky to have a studio in this local gallery called, The Arts Project. There was 11 resident artists and I was the youngest and least established by years, but being there really inspired me and taught me how to put myself on a professional career path. It was the hardest thing to give up when I moved away to DR (Dominican Republic). J: Where did you learn to paint? S: My dad was a painter. He made his career as a graphic designer/ professor but he was always a painter at heart. He was into high realistic portraits, often in an old masters style. He loved painting famous rock stars. He taught me a lot about how to paint with oils and how I mix colors. Which is one of my strongest skills.
**Neat little fact, I almost never use actually black paint in any of my paintings. It is always a mix of dark blues, browns and reds. For many years I only painted with the colour pallets he taught me, but recently I have been experimenting and exploring a lot more.
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J: When did you discover you had real talent? S: This is hard to say, because I actually don’t believe in “real talent”. If you have ever read the book, Outliers, or many other life inspiring self-help books, they often speak of what I will call “the 10,000 hour rule”, where it deems success is merely a product of practice and our environment and that it is estimated it takes someone approximately 10,000 hours of practice to master something. I have been painting full-time for almost 10 years now and probably sold close to 500 paintings in that time…I’ve actually lost track, in addition to the time I spent in school as well as the time I spent practicing just for fun as a youth. Somewhere about 2 years ago, I hit the “10,000” hour mark. I noticed a huge shift in my career right around that time. In addition, I grew up in the perfect environment at a time when social media was about to explode, which is one of my biggest assets in being able to be successful at such a young age... anyways, I really got into art when I was about 16-17, I had a friend in school who all the guys thought was cute cuz she could draw graffiti. So, I started doing it too... Lol... J: How many pieces of art do you do per month more or less? S: Again, hard to answer, this depends which month it is, how much I travel, what's going on…how good the wind is! But anywhere from 3-10. And I would say, on average, I sell a piece a week.
J: What is your biggest inspiration for your art? S: The beauty and magic of life itself. The fact I need money to eat and if I don’t paint I don’t know what I’d do. J: How do you choose your colors? S: I mostly work from photographs. I also follow basic colour theory, like rules of complimentary colours. Sometimes I am trying to accommodate a specific space in which our clients’ request. J:How do you feel you are growing as an artist? It’s only going up from here. I know at this point, as long as I just keep doing what I am doing, it will always grow. J: Talk about your Sharpie sponsor. S: Sharpie right now is more of a soft sponsor for me, as there just providing me with markers in exchanged for Instagram posts. But I am happy to have my foot in the door and am hoping to grow it into a more "official" partnership soon! Really, my largest sponsor is still Liquid Force. Even though they are kite boarding, kite boarding is actually a HUGE part of my market strategy/branding and why I have been fairly commercially successful at such a young age. I would easily say 1 out of 4 clients/followers have came across me first because of kite boarding, but they also love and support my art.
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When I moved to DR 6 years ago, I had never been on a plane, see the ocean or even heard of kite surfing. So there are many people who are really into my art, just because they are inspired by my story and love being part of it. J: Where do you see yourself in 5 years? S: In some ways doing what I am doing now, only bigger and better. I will probably start spending more time in a few major cities and traveling back and forth between Cabarete, DM, to maintain the gallery and kite boarding. I would really like to find the right agent/gallery to work with over the next year or two.
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Advice from Samantha for anyone wanting to be an artist but don’t know where to start. You just have to jump in and create! It might not be what I am creating, but I promise if you sit down and draw something from beginning to end...it will be way better then you actual expected! ** If you are interesting in purchasing any of the art featured in this article they will be for sale on Barnacle Babes online store at www.BarnacleBabes.com/store
WARRIOR WOMEN OF THE SEA Speaker Series
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By Brooklyn Eyford, aged 7
Whoosh went the wave on the rock Splash went the great big sea I found a crab in the sand I took a deep, deep breath And then I took a deep, deep dunk Over in the dark, dark sea Whoaaaa! The water put me under The sea was salty I could hear the ocean splashing at me The whales were singing in the sea I can’t see the whales but I can hear them I saw a sea star and a pearl I went to get that beautiful pearl The deep blue was staring at me I can feel the warmness in my bones And the sand in my feet I saw a clownfish in the water, it was stripy I saw a scuba diver Glub, glub, glub I can’t wait to go back to the ocean again www.barnaclebabes.com | 35
Karen Rae Wilson singing at the Warrior Women of the Sea Conference in Richmond, BC, 2017. Photo Credit: Kirsten Ratzlaff, Point Grey Photography
Music, Creativity
AND COACHING
~ an interview with Karen Rae Wilson by Jodi Mossop
Have you always had a love for the planet? Have you always been an environmentalist…so to speak? Yes, I have always felt a deep connection to the Earth. I grew up on the Canadian Prairies where you could feel the vast expansiveness of the landscape and see all the stars at night. It gave you a certain spaciousness inside of you. Like you were connected to something bigger in this universe. One of my fondest memories is standing in a ripe field of golden grain with my father as the sun was setting on the horizon. Everything was golden, the ripe grain, the setting sun and the golden light. I have always had a love affair with trees, I like to thank them for being so beautiful. How can you inspire people to save and protect things they don’t love? So, writing music about the Earth has been a natural expression of that love affair for me. When did you start singing? Oh my, I think I came out of the womb singing! I used to drive my brothers crazy because I was always singing around the house. I eventually went on to get a degree in Music, in vocal performance, and studied singing and acting for over 14 years in Toronto and Montreal. What were some of the very first songs you ever wrote? Hmm, I think when I wrote my first One Woman Show in Vancouver when
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I was about 29. Each of the characters had a song to sing. I have always found it easy to tell a story through music. That’s what the ancient Bards of Ireland did, they traveled the countryside and told stories with their songs. I think essentially, I have a Celtic heart. Celtic women have always loved the sea. What is one of your most favorite songs you’ve written or preformed? I wrote a song for the people of the Rainforest from the Yawanawa tribe for the Millennium summit in New York City called, “Color Me.” I never get tired of singing it. I wrote it to represent their voice at the conference and I often feel in a more transcendent place when I sing it. Like I am connected to the ancient ancestors.
I DON’T ALWAYS FEEL LIKE “I” WRITE THE MUSIC – IT COMES FROM THE DIVINE. I AM MORE LIKE THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE SONGS! Who has been your favorite audience to sing for? I think the concert I produced in Vancouver on the sacredness of water was a very special evening. Everything about that concert was filled with love. The music and the ceremony were so beautiful, so many gifted musicians
Photos: Left: by Sergio Lub, Middle: Kirsten Ratzlaff , Right: One of Karens's Retreats took part. No one wanted to go home. I don’t think it gets much better than that. Where has been your favorite place to travel to and why? Africa, Kenya. I love the incredible wild beauty of the land there and the rhythm and music of the people. The Earth is so alive there. It’s like there is this grand song of the Earth playing everywhere. What is it about the ocean that calls to you? I think we all love the ocean. She is so beautiful and timeless. Sometimes the water is a soothing lullaby and then sometimes she becomes a great storm. She is like our big Momma love. All of our emotions play out in the sea.
The ocean is like a grand symphony to me. Do you believe that creativity is important? And why? I think that some of the greatest inspiration for mankind comes through the Arts. We all need to create, and everyone has some special creative gift. Cooking, painting, building…a place where we can express. They all serve to bring us more deeply into our selves. How has connecting with your creativity helped you in your personal pursuits? I can’t imagine a life without singing or music or poetry. It is an entire lens that I experience the world through. People are like music to me. I listen for their music. You’re a personal coach and mentor, what types of programs do you offer? I do transformational work and lead Spirit Quests and retreats in beautiful places that help people get in touch with their “Life Calling” and “Higher Sense of Purpose”. I have always been interested in human potential; how we can grow and evolve. My individual and group Leadership and Purpose Programs help people clarify their gifts and actually manifest their dreams fully in the world. I work with a lot of women globally to step into their greatness in a more feminine way. I will be offering my Evolutionary Woman’s Self Mastery Program this spring for women who want to take their passion and visions to a whole other level of success and impact. It is such a joy to help women come more fully into their own power and start to have success doing what they love the most. Why did you get into coaching/mentoring? It is very gratifying to see people’s live change and open up and expand into a greater vision of what is possible for themselves. I have had the honor of helping many people turn their greatest passion into their life work and make a greater contribution to the world.
Along with the ocean, I know you have a very spiritual relationship with Mount Shasta in California. What is it about that particular mountain that calls to you and are there other places you take spiritual quests and take others on spiritual quests? I love Mt Shasta. I have been all over the world but it is one of the most spiritual and sacred places I have been. I think I have led over 20 Spirit Quests or retreats there over the years, usually every summer. It is an enchanted place. I have done both personal and group retreats in Sedona, New Mexico, Vancouver Island, California and on the Sacred Feminine at the Great Stones of England with private entrance at Stonehenge. What do you believe it will take to change the state of the world right now? To improve the environmental impacts we’ve had on this world and the spiritual damage we may have caused one another? We are being called to open up a whole different level of innovation and creativity, one with a higher intention to serve all of humanity. To uplift those who are suffering and begin to have reverence and greater protection for the earth and water and all life as a sacred gift. We have to understand that we are all connected and that if one part of the planet is out of balance or suffering, it affects all of us. We are all breathing common air for instance. As we begin to tune inward, meditate, and connect with the fact that we are spiritual beings we can evolve our inner technology at the same time. This is necessary to bring through the solutions for this time; to understand that our inner and outer worlds are connected. We need to make amends to the people and places that have been broken by greed and neglect; to raise them up and honor the indigenous people and to also learn to deeply love our selves. Love is the key really and I am a great advocate of meditation. What is your “Why” for what you do? I have always felt a Calling to uplift and inspire others to their gifts and greater selves for as far back as I can remember. I love this Earth. I love the diversity and cultures of people. This is such a grand time to awaken to our own divinity and potential and through that, we can accomplish anything. We might not see it in our lifetime, but we can make a difference if we are inspired. We owe it to the younger generation to do everything we can to take care of our planet and create peace and harmony. We have barely tapped the surface of man’s capacity to evolve. We need to unlock the genius code within human consciousness. How does someone find you and get more information about what you do? They can reach me via email at krwmusic@hotmail.
com or my website at www.karenraewilson.com and of course FB under Karen Rae Wilson. Or check out one of my upcoming retreats in the Vancouver area or Sedona or Mt. Shasta or Hawaii.
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JESSICA WINKLER INTERVIEWS LILY PANDELOS
GROM – IT By Jessica Winkler
As long as I can remember finding the coolest stickers to put on my snowboard and wakeboard as a kid was normal but today, kids are a lot more creative. When I stumbled upon Grom-it on twitter, I was amazed by the intricate designs drawn on surfboards and wanted to find out more about the company. Alison Pandelos has created such a great platform for kids to be inspired and learn from one another. I was interested to learn that she and her daughter were inspired to start Grom-it after her son and his friends spent hours drawing on every board they owned. Her focus is on supporting the creative process by providing step by step instructions on their website www.grom-it.com under the "How to Grom” section.(https://www.grom-it.com/how-to-grom) They created technique videos on how to get started so that anyone could follow, as well, learn how to deal with mistakes. “Since we want to inspire people to create and grom their boards (or anything else), we decided to do our technique videos as something anyone can do. A lot of our contestants are very talented artists, which are truly inspiring, but it can be discouraging to someone that doesn't have that skill set. The tips are meant to encourage and bring the idea of gromming your board down to earth and not be so far out of reach.” They show you how to splatter or drip paint, as well as use a plastic bag, rubbing alcohol or dish soap to create unique designs. Alison’s daughter, Lily, participates in creating the video’s showing you how to use such techniques. Lily has been working with Grom-It since the beginning, so I wanted to talk to her about her creative process.
GROM VERB: to transform something plain and ordinary into a sick expression of youthful awesomeness.
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Where does your inspiration come from for your designs?
Well, I love zen art and mandala designs. I find tons of stuff on Pinterest, even if it not on a board. I also consult with my mom. I'll tell her what I'm thinking and she helps me work through the process.
How do you feel riding your personalized board vs just a normal board?
I think with that, everyone feels the same, proud. It's just cool having your own creation presented in that way and everyone's is so unique, I love it!
How long do you wait before you personalize it?
Right when you get it or once you are inspired to paint? For me, it takes some time to plan and test ideas. My brother, Nikita, just groms his boards right away.
Do you just design your boards or do you paint everything?
I love to draw and create, so I guess you could say nothing is off limits, within reason.
What materials are used in drawing on the boards?
Acrylic spray paint, paint pens and artist's paints. We always protect it with an acrylic, gloss clear coat.
What are the most creative designs you have seen?
Wow, that's really hard to say. There is so much on Grom-It that is outstanding (it's all in the Inspiration Gallery) and that's an understatement. There is one artist from Australia that does board art using the stippling technique that is just unreal. Stippling, if you are not familiar, is using dots to create an image or shadows or other details. His name is Jarryn Dower, you should check him out. (https://www.jarryndowerart.com/)
How have you inspired your friends by your designs?
I think I've inspired my friends to bring their boards to me so I can grom them, haha! But, Grom-It has inspired so many people around the world and the feedback has been awesome! People write us all the time thanking us for creating this platform or for inspiring them to create.
Their video’s and community became so popular they decided to hold monthly contests where the winner receives a package of gear and ware entered into the next Board Art Final. There are three finals a year (four consecutive winners in each). The Final lasts for 10 days and voting is the same as the monthly contest. The winner receives a custom shaped shortboard! They have given away 9 so far. Alison said that sometimes it's the first new board the person has ever owned so it’s extremely rewarding. To enter this month’s contest or vote on other entries go to https://www.grom-it.com/
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THE WORLD WILL BE SAVED BY
! S E V I T CREA by Saoirse Wang
The following is a message that I have been receiving from source for years, and the reason why I am a creative and want to save the mother flipping world! What has caused damage around our creative muscle? Why do we have such a hard time engaging, owning and loving it? We have so many stories to tell around not being creative and I have heard them all. I can’t draw, I can’t colour in the lines, I am not an artist, I am not that good, I don’t have a creative bone in me, artists starve, I can’t sing, I am tone deaf, art is for other people, it is a waste of time, I just don’t get it, I, this or that; a crazy collection of statements that all stem from “I am scared and someone told me I was not very good at it”. The truth is we are all good at it but the “they” in the collective fear creatives.
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Let us start with why a creative being is so freaking scary. It is important to understand what we are scared of, so we can embrace it. Creatives think and live outside the box; we see the world as it truly is and the possibility of what it can be. We expand and contract consciousness just by being and creating a life of possibilities. Everything about our life right now is about control. Being in control, being out of control, wanting more control, not wanting to be controlled, controlling others. If you are a powerful creative you can’t and won’t be controlled by anything or anyone.
You simply must create. We are born into the system. We love and worship the system. The system is our friend. It keeps us safe; comfortable, small, unseen and it makes sure everything is status quo and normal. We defend the system by denying our creative. We use the system to crush the creative and make the world a safer place in the name of being normal. Normal is good. Normal pays taxes; goes to the Doctor, attends P.T.A meetings, eats dinner at the right time, exercises the correct way and judge’s others who do not. Normal stays nice and white and beige and plain. Normal knows where everything goes. God bless normal and its non-wavy life of unextraordinary things and experiences. Nothing scares a normal like a creative. Why? We challenge your very existence. We ask you why you are not doing what makes you happy. Why are you beige and white? Creatives are the disruptors and feelers. They create possibilities and options to issues the normals have created. Creatives are the very fabric of existence come to life. Creatives are life in all its messy problem-solving glory. Clearly you can see where my heart lies. It lies with those brave souls who challenge, change and solve problems. A creative cannot do anything but create and hold a mirror to the normal to show them their flaws and glory, to shock them into life. So here is the very scary thing for a normal, or as I lovingly call them muggles (props to J. K. Rowling for that term, another genius creative). We are all creative. We all create our reality, mess, joy, pain and bliss. We limited creativity to the art class and judged and marked it. There is no easier way to murder a creative then telling them how they should look or be. Only a muggle thought process would try to control a creative and crush it in the process. Many of us have been judged by a need to fit in. Those brave few who made it are adored by muggles. An example being celebrities. Muggles dream of being them and wanting their life, and feast on their bones and body, eventually their soul in a desperate need to reach the creativity they systematically murdered in our self and others. But it is not dead. It still swims in the back of your mind. It comes up when you try to figure out a new angle to survive and pay the bills. It comes up when you make dinner and you seem to have nothing in the fridge. It comes up when the shit hits the fan and you
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have got to make something work. You just don’t recognize it as creative because it has had to disguise itself in you to survive your constant beating at it. And you can never ever get rid of it because it is an integral part of who and what you are as a human. You are a creative and you are here to save the world. Save your world. Save it before it collapses into a life of white and beige. Save it by embracing the colour of life. Live loud and messy. Sing loud and dance crazy. Paint and draw out your emotions. No longer feed on other people’s creativity. Use it to inspire you. The true gift of a creative is to inspire the world to be better to inspire greatness that is in every one of us. Take that inspiration and inspire others to do the same. Welcome home your creative soul.
Creativity is the key to tapping into your most powerful gift and emotions. It is the gift that helps you create the life and world you want to live in. It is the place where you can lose the illusion of what others have told you. It is the place you can feel who and what you are and experience other beings in their glory as well. It is the place of connection on a deeper level because you are finally able to be vulnerable to feel and express the wonder and pain and glory of life. Creativity is the place where we can practice what it is to be free and feel into what it would be like to live free. Free of judgement, pain, rivalry and just fucking play with all we have been given. This is a remarkable world. So glorious and expansive. Creativity allows you to truly see it. I get it. We want a safe life. A beige and white life of normal so we can fit in and survive. That is not life. That is not living when
you are not willing to be creative in your life. When you are not expressing your life and you stop another’s expression for fear of its impact on your safety, you are muggling. Why not learn to thrive and grow and expand; express your creativity. The world is meant to be experienced and expanded. Only the creatives can lead the way into the new paradigm. They will save us.
The creatives are creating freedom. Creating freedom to feel, express and to live in the beauty of life. Muggles are doing a fine job of keeping it status quo. We are
not status quo, we are magnificent amazing, glorious, growing,
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expanding, creative creatures who want to be surrounded by beauty and love. We can be surrounded by all that amazingness, because that amazingness is us. I challenge you to be brave and embrace that creative muscle anyway you can. Strengthen it with your love and support and help others do the same. It is time to add colour to all our lives. We can do it.
Start by letting yourself daydream again. Dream of possibilities of what you want to do and experience. Day dream of castles and unicorns and flying fish. Daydream of a unified and joyful planet. Let it bring you to life and open your heart to possibilities. Dance, sing, draw and sculpt anything, even mashed potatoes; just for the sake of creating. Create with no expectation other than to see what will happen and watch it unfold. If it sucks in your opinion, great! Keep going; keep getting better. Then try something else you suck at. Just create something that lets you feel and express your existence on this planet. It is an amazing feeling, a freeing feeling. Creatives will save the world because we will create the joy and solutions to every problem that has ever been created. We just need to engage and create in new ways and start to play with the idea of being free because ultimately that is what we are. We are free to create. Creatives will save the world!
If you want help strengthening and engaging your creative muscle please contact me through Barnacle Babes. I will be holding 5-week exploration course.
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ECO
FASHION WARRIOR By Jalila Singerff
Want to become eco-conscious and sustainable focused while still having an envy-worthy closet? We hear ya. Follow our ten rules when becoming an Eco Fashion Warrior. 1. DO YOU NEED IT?
How often will you wear it?
2. RESEARCH Are the workers being treated fairly? Learn more about the brand and where they manufacture. 3. BUY SECOND HAND
Found those gotta-have jeans? Try searching for the same item second hand. Ask a friend if they want to clothes swap!
4. ECO-FRIENDLY FABRICS
Choose organic, natural and biodegradable materials over toxic synthetic plastic materials.
5. SHOP LOCAL
Strengthen the local economy and buy towards goods with a lower carbon footprint.
6. CHOOSE QUALITY
Buy built to last not disposability.
7. BRING A REUSABLE BAG
Invest in an eco-friendly tote and re-use for all your shopping needs.
8. SAY NO TO PACKAGING
Avoid bulky bags and extra tissue paper.
9. WASH LESS
Wash only when needed.
10. MAKE IT LAST
Treat your items with care, they will keep their shine longer.
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Adventures
IN SCULPTING by Cindi Carter
In 2013, my husband and I moved to sunny central Florida, to a retirement community called, The Villages. What started in the 1980’s, as mainly a trailer park, has turned into a small city of 100,000 people, spread over about 6 square miles. The main draw has always been the golf courses: now 11 championship, and over 30 executive courses. Home prices range from less than 100K to over 1 million.
There are also numerous recreation centers, where one can find a club for just about anything you can think of. There are several clay clubs in the Villages. A friend of mine told me about the sculpting club a few years back. The sculpting club was an offshoot from a clayer’s club: the idea was to make sculptures rather than the normal plates, cups and bowls common in the clay club. She had just joined and wanted me to try it, so one day I went in and she gave me a hunk of her clay to play with. I started fooling around with the clay, getting a feel for it, remembering that the last time I had clay in my hands was in elementary school! Now, I’ve always been artsy-craftsy, my Mother instilled that in me, and my Uncle is also an artist and sculptor, so MAYBE I’ve inherited some gene, I don’t know. My first clay project was a silly round v otive burner. Actually, it is very hard to make something stay round, not using a potter’s wheel. After that, since the motto in the Villages is to live here until you croak, I made an adorable frog, which also has holes in its body for a tealight to shine out. Making a clay project involves firing in the kiln, once after it is dry, and then again after you have glazed (painted) it. Depending on the size of the project, this takes anywhere from 2 weeks (drying time) to much longer if it’s a large or involved sculpture. That is what is so nice
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about the Villages, that several recreation centers have the kilns available. Generally, people go in to work on their projects 2-3 times a week for a few hours each time.
al. Looking on Pinterest for sculptures, I found that the artist is Gaylord Ho. I was so impressed with the graceful flow of his work that I had to try it myself. I tried to make them very similar to his, but my Sea Nymph is more modest with one arm Over the next few years, I have continued to in- crossing her chest. Somehow it is easy for me to crease the difficulty of my projects. An early visualize where the muscles go. ambitious project is my mermaid fountain. She is holding a shell which I drilled a hole through The other one, Contemplation, was the most for the tubing that goes inside her body to the challenging of all my projects to date. She alfountain pump. No one in the sculpting group most had me in tears more than once. I had crehad tried such a project before. I look on Pinter- ated her body first, which was almost completely est for inspiration, and also in my travels, I find dry before I started making the blanket she sits sculptures that inspire me to try them. “Merman on. Because her arms are spread wide, the blan“ is actually a sculpture in Cozumel that I pho- ket needed to be partly dry and held up with tographed. Living in Florida there is a wealth of sticks as it dried further. Trying to get the blanseaside communities, with lots of cute shops… ket ends to match where her hands were was the which is where I saw a turtle swimming in the major problem. I would think everything was OK, waves sculpture, in a store window. That turtle and come back a couple days later and the blanwas all one color glaze. I found photos of sea ket had started shrinking as it dried, and nothing turtles and painted mine with watercolor type would be in place. Or, while I would seat her on glazes, the first time I’ve used them, in an effort the blanket and gently try to move it to the corto be as realistic as possible. rect place, the whole blanket arm, or even HER arm, would break off! Now I have to repair the I have found that the more realistic the project is, arms, wait for them to dry enough, and try again. the more I enjoy it. I have a few projects that are This took WEEKS. I was almost ready to throw hands. One is two hands holding together, which her into the trash, I was so frustrated. My fellow were made separately and then made to fit to- clayers encouraged me not to give up. I took her gether. I have two women sculptures that I found home to work on in my house, where I could be inspiration from in an art gallery in Port Canaver- there for more frequent adjustments, and finally
it seemed like everything was good. I had fired the girl already, and worked on the blanket separately….well, after firing the blanket it had moved again! So, she sits with one arm hovering over that side of the blanket, but everyone thought it turned out better that way, as if she is reaching for that end. I learned a valuable lesson…. make all parts of the sculpture at the same time! Persistence and patience is the key, and not to be hard on yourself if things are not working out as they should. I do want to try another one like this, to see if the lesson sunk in! I am so thankful that through this opportunity available in the Villages, I have discovered that I have a talent I didn’t know about, in my mid50’s! I believe the key to keeping young is to continue to challenge yourself, both mentally and physically as we age. My house is getting full of sculptures, a mini gallery of sorts, because I put so much into them that it is hard to think of selling them. There are other clubs I may join in the future, such as watercolor painting. Who knows, maybe I have another talent waiting to be discovered!
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Creativity
The Creativit The Creativity of Conservation by Jillian Morris Brake, Sharkgirl @ biminisharkgirl
As children, our minds race with imaginary places, things and dreams of our future. As we get older and learn more about life, our imagination often dissipates and the space it once held is filled with responsibility and reality. Coloring just because is replaced with homework, emails and paying bills. Hobbies and activities help us find a creative outlet, but they are usually reserved for a specific allotted time or category, not spreading into other elements of our life. We hear of people wanting to pursue creative careers and being told to find “real jobs.�
During our in person or virtual shark lessons, we always ask students how they can help sharks. We get a lot of great answers like beach cleanups and posters, but we also get inspiring and super creative ideas. They suggest devices to protect sharks, ways to remove plastic and ways to teach others of sharks that are things I would have never ever come up with as an adult. They also make incredible artwork, videos and posters. We have come up with a lot of new activities and crafts because of the incredible ideas students from around the world have shared with us.
I work in the world of shark conservation and education and through years of experience and research I have formed my opinions, my goals and my actions. I like data and facts and work to teach others why sharks are not monsters, why they are in trouble and how we can help. My other work includes filming and photography, which can be extremely creative, depending on the specific job. If I am shooting for someone else there are usually stringent guidelines, limiting the space for creativity. If I am just out enjoying the water and snapping pics, I love exploring new angles and ideas.
I also look at the work our Sharks4Kids ambassadors do and am so moved by the incredible artwork and ideas they create. Artwork and crafts help the students express their ideas without the restraints of adult life, but can also teach adults an important lesson; conservation can be creative. Yes, we need data, laws, enforcement and action, but we also need passion and creativity to ignite and inspire people to make a difference.
I founded Sharks4Kids because I believe kids can make a difference and our goal is to create the next generation of shark advocates through education, outreach and adventure. I am constantly using my experience and knowledge to develop new curriculum, new activities and new outreach approaches. They are often very structured, but I feel like they meet our goals. Then, I work with another ambassador or even a student and I am blown away by the ideas they come up with.
Working with students has opened my eyes to new ways of spreading our conservation message. It has reminded me to think outside the box and to be open to my own creative ideas. Yes, a painting, a sculpture or a video can catalyze change and help create more ocean and shark advocates. It can change the way people see sharks, from monsters to remarkable and important creatures. It also helps people realize how each and every one of us can make a difference. We all have a voice and we can use it to speak up, no matter what form that voice takes.
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The sea will set you free Since ancient times, humans have assigned healing and transformational properties to water. Whether it be oceans, rivers, lakes or even baths, immersing yourself in water would induce physical relaxation, mental stimulation and emotional release. Some even believe it can give spiritual cleansing or salvation. Plain and simple, water makes you feel good. Some recent public health studies revealed that art can positively affect your health and the ability to improve it. Any form of creativity that lets you express yourself in a tangible way from dancing to writing to pottery, or even knitting - can induce relaxation, stress, anxiety depression, and increase positive emotions. So, if water and creativity are believed to induce healing and improve health, then combining the two would be the perfect cure, whatever the ailment. The ultimate combination? Surfing. Surfers sometimes dreamily refer to a wave as a blank canvas on which they visualize drawing lines, creating a personal painting. Sometimes aggressive thick lines, sometimes merely flowing along on the ocean's motion but always dancing on water. A sublime form of art in action. In the famous French beach town of Biarritz, doctors have recently begun to 'prescribe' surfing as medicine for patients suffering from a whole myriad of chronic illnesses like diabetes, back pain, depression and/or obesity. Instead of relying on pills, patients are stimulated to take to the water. Why? According to participating doctors, the waves' activity would induce the release of negative ions, and induce the uptake of oxygen, resulting in better tissue oxygenation, improved sleep, a stronger tone and a better mood (possibly a somewhat in ornate description for the scientist amongst us, but I'm trying to keep it simple).
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Logically, one would wonder: isn't this the effect of ANY kind of sport? Well, yes, but maybe there is an essential difference. To have a better understanding of this, we need to go back to school. A water molecule, made up of one Oxygen atom and 2 Hydrogen atoms positioned in a triangular form is one of chemistries biggest riddles. Because of its geometry, it possesses special properties: the hydrogen parts of the molecule are positively polarized as opposed to the negatively charged oxygen, causing the molecules to be attracted to each other. This electrical attraction is so strong it leads to the formation of so-called hydrogen bonds: imaginary connections between individual water molecules, continually breaking and reforming at very high speed. These bonds give water its many singular properties like surface tension, capillary action, a high heat of evaporation, a very high specific heat capacity and probably the most fascinating one of all, the formation of ice. The last two properties deserve some elaboration. Most normal substances will experience an increase in density as they transition from a liquid to a solid phase (' freezing'), making the substance heavier so it would sink when surrounded by its own liquid matter. In water however, the hydrogen bonds prevent the molecules in the solid phase from packing together too tightly, allowing for a decrease in density. The result? Ice floats on water. This peculiar property is vital to life: it prevents water bodies from freezing completely from the bottom up and forms an insulation layer, allowing marine life to survive in subzero conditions, whilst allowing us to 'walk on water'. Because hydrogen bonds prevent water molecules from moving too fast too soon when exposed to heat, water has the ability to absorb large quantities of energy before its temperature rises. Recent estimations by NASA scientists are that oceans can absorb one thousand times more heat than the atmosphere without experiencing large temperature increases, making it a perfect climate stabilizer. Maybe it's these properties that make water work wonders on us too by stabilizing the soul, and absorbing and desorbing our physical and mental energy, like setting a thermostat. Anyone who has ever found themselves sitting on a beach staring at the waves has felt the irresistible attraction of water. Considering the earth's body as well as ours are 70 % water, this pull seems inevitable. Maybe there are constantly, yet subconsciously, millions of hydrogen bonds formed between us? In origin, all life comes from the sea, therefore we are all of the sea. So maybe we will only find complete balance when we give in to this gravitational force by returning to the sea. So whatever the ailment, dancing on water is always a cure. Motion is lotion for the body and the soul. Whatever the problem may be you can always turn to the sea. Love, Sarah
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CREATIVE CONSUMPTION: A wild woman’s journey to 111 items.
By Kelli Sroka
Here we are, struggling with finding ways to live in a dying world. Life is a game; play it. We have been faced with a particular series of challenges, and so we rise up, ready to meet our future with our bright ideas, our collective minds, and our expanding technologies. Yet we must not bypass the human element of our disaster, the very habits that guided us to our current state of confusion, doomed to turn into desperation. When I examine humanity as a species, I find myself wildly fascinated. We have been given such powerful abilities, and it is how we choose to incorporate our gifts that interest me the most. We are all the creators of our own worlds and our own experiences. Yet most of us in the Western hemisphere find ourselves in rooms filled with generic plastic items, our eyes glued to a screen, programs with algorithms meant to distract us and keep our attention, and even to manipulate our behavior. We have been taught over the past several decades to endlessly and mindlessly consume, to collect, to hoard. 111 items. That is my ultimate quest. I once read a blog written by a man who swore that a human needed a minimum of 111 items in order to survive and actually live life. He went on to share his journey, what items he selected for his journey, and how he came to make those particular choices.
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I am a seeker of true freedom, and in a world designed to alter our thought processes and habits, I will not sit back and be controlled, waste away, with my collection of prized possessions. I made a conscious choice to pursue a more minimalist approach to living, and so began the purge of my things. I began by taking a rather thorough inventory of the things I had in my large two-bedroom townhouse. I had just ended a five year long relationship, and had been weighed down by commitments and material items for far too long, and it felt like the ideal time to free myself. I donated almost everything. Beautiful furniture, dishes, paintings, clothes, books, and I even sold my brand new Jeep. I bought a 1980 Dodge Getaway van, moved into it, and my remaining items came with me. By this time, I had downsized significantly. And as I moved into my new home on wheels, I tried to keep a count of the items I carried with me, but I lost track after 840 something. In fact, if you counted every single pen, sock, lighter, crystal, and incense I had chosen to keep for my journey, I must have had thousands and thousands of things.
I live very simply these days, most of my most cherished belongings must be the various plants and seeds and tools I keep with me, however, I am nowhere close to 111 items, and the quest continues. I make lists, over and over, of my ideal combination of 111 items, but still I find attachment to things and am not ready to part ways. I examine what it is I keep, what the uses for these items are, and what materials they are made from. Does an item have a purpose? How often do I use it? Do I need it? What could we have made or created ourselves? While the DIY trend continues to surge as we flock to platforms such as pintrest, the bulk of North Americans continue to act as mindless consumers, hungry for the next bargain, for the most recent version, for the pair of jeans currently in style. My respect remains for the minimalists.
What does it mean to be a creative consumer? While we recognize that we still have needs, and a strong will to fulfill certain desires, how can we create a regenerative system of existence? How can our generation shift the cultural approach we subconsciously identify with using our creative abilities to rethink what it is we value? Most of us are familiar with the 3 R’s we were taught as children: Reduce, Reuse, And Recycle. With over 7 billion of us occupying the planet, and counting, we must get a little bit more creative. A revised list of words that start with R:
1. REFUSE:
Fuck that plastic straw. You don’t need it. Carry your own bamboo, glass, or aluminum version. Refuse to shop and eat at restaurants and stores using plastic everything because it is the cheapest option. I challenge you to observe what it is you desire to have, possess, exchange currency and labor for.
2. REDUCE:
there are certain things we still can’t seem to escape; yet we can drastically reduce the frequency of use. Share. Carpool.
3. RE USE:
find new uses for old items. Okay, so you used a zip lock baggie. Wash
that thing over and over and use it again and again.
4. RESPECT: treat what you have with consideration; take good care of your things so they have a longer life expectancy. Do things with love.
5. REPAIR: fix items, learn to take things apart, put them back together in new and creative ways, rather than throwing them out. Become a handy human.
6. RETHINK:
recover, upcycle, find a way to use reuse a product and its materials. Share, create new items, be part of the gift economy.
7. RECYCLE: carbon footprint.
it’s important to note that even recycling leaves behind a significant
Inside all of us lies the great creator. In some, the creator lays dormant, while in others the creator is an endless eruption of colorful and effervescent flow. We can make all sorts of art, homes, and practical items out of old, recycled, salvaged materials. We are entering a time where there will see undoubtedly significant shifts in the way we live, and we will need
to drastically simplify (amplify) our lives. Tiny homes built in strong communities, rather than extravagant 3,000 square foot single-family homes. What does a human truly need in order to live a happy, healthy, beautiful life? What tools and technologies work in our favor? What is it we will need to leave behind? And how do we do that in the best way possible?
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FLOWER OF LIFE LEGGING(
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WOODLAND LEGGING
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Inner Fire Apparel Brand Jalila Singerff
At Barnacle Babes, we aspire to highlight game changing brands who understand what it means to protect and implement safe practices to our environment, specifically towards the ocean! We caught up with Leah Emmott, Founder and CEO of Inner Fire Apparel on the importance of implementing a sustainable element into the company’s profile and the future of this rapidly growing Vancouver brand. What has inspired you to pursue a sustainable driven brand? Sometimes the universe sends you a big message that sets your life on a new path.
For me, that message came in the form of a grapefruit-sized ovarian cyst. Up until the surgery, my life was a go-go-go circus with no clear direction. When I was forced to stop and recover, I was gifted with the most amazing thing: space. Have you ever tried to light a fire in a vacuum? It doesn’t work. The spark needs oxygen to become a flame. That’s exactly what the space gave me: an opportunity to spark my creativity and create something I was truly passionate about. I wanted to create a brand that reflected my values of caring for our planet, as well as our local and global communities.
I saw the apparel industry getting overrun by the throwaway culture of
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fast fashion and unfair labour practices. I knew there had to be another way. Armed with a squeegee and a sewing machine, I started printing and sewing my own pieces, selling them at local markets and online. From these humble beginnings, I began to realize that I wasn’t the only one who craved yoga lifestyle clothing that was locally, ethically and sustainably made. What started out as a hobby quickly grew into a global brand. What hasn’t changed is our commitment to creating products that make a positive impact on our planet. And let’s be honest: it ain’t the easy road, but it’s the only way, in our opinion. Tell us about Inner Fire and how the brand was conceived?
Back in 2011, I was working as a yoga teacher when I suddenly had to be rushed to the hospital for the removal of a giant ovarian cyst (unbeknownst to me), which left me in recovery for 6 weeks. I had a lot of friends who
were yoga teachers so I decided to make some gifts for them while I was off during the holiday season. The first items I made were yoga props and meditation cushions. After giving some out as gifts, I had some people from my yoga studio ask if I could sell them some there. I just followed the demand and started to make and sell yoga props, bit by bit. After selling a fair amount I decided it was time to call the company something. I decided to call it Inner Fire because the area of my belly where I had the cyst was the same area where the 3rd chakra resides. It is an area with fiery qualities that is responsible for passion, creativity and drive. I really felt like this fire got lit during those 6 weeks off. When I was back teaching, I started to brainstorm some cool yoga shirt design ideas that had been mulling around in my brain for a while. I took a local screen printing workshop and then started to print my own shirts at home. I would wear them out and to class and had even more people ask me if I could make some for them.
I'M JUST HERE FOR THE SAVASANA TANK
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It grew very organically from there with local markets and online sales. The clothing side of the business grew so quickly that I decided to no longer offer the yoga props. I had to hire printing help to keep up with demand and fulfillment. A couple years in, I had the idea to expand my product offering with a line of eco-friendly leggings, which took me a few months to develop. This was a huge turning point in the business because I finally was able to bring my passion for design and sustainability together. I started designing prints for the leggings, which were inspired by my love of nature and different cultures. The leggings were becoming really popular so I just kept on releasing new prints (in addition to new shirt designs) each season. Where is the manufactured?
clothing
We make everything locally in Greater Vancouver. Our cut and sew is outsourced to local factories and we still do our own screen printing in-house in our New West studio.
Where did the sayings on the tank tops derive from? The intention behind our line of shirts is to inspire a sense of playfulness and positivity in everyday life. Although they are generally yoga-themed, a lot of the messages are universal. Typically, inspiration comes to me during my yoga practice. Sometimes a teacher will say something that resonates with me or I’ll start coming up with funny word plays based on something that is said in class. I travel to a lot of yoga events and festivals throughout the year, where I’ve had the privilege of meeting a lot of interesting people, including yoga teachers. I get a lot of inspiration through conversations with them and interacting with other yogis on a daily basis. How does the practice and movement of yoga inspire the cut, style, colours and prints of the line?
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To me, yoga, at its core, is simply the practice of being fully present and connected. Practicing presence and mindfulness has changed how I interact with the world and how I create my art. It’s allowed me to slow down and notice the things that I might have glanced over in the past. I get my visual inspiration from everywhere. Sometimes I’ll see a particularly interesting texture on the sidewalk. I’ll notice the curves of a flower or leaf and sketch it out. I’ll see a Moroccan lamp hanging in a shop and admire the elegant designs created from dotted holes. I’ll be on a hike and see the most calming slope of misty trees. I love checking out the local street art if I’m in a new city. These are all things that have gone on to inspire some of the prints I’ve created in my collections. As for the colours, I try to design each collection with a cohesive look and feel. I want the pieces to work with each other to create a central theme. Often I have no idea what I’m going to do for the next season, and then all of a sudden, it all clicks. It’s the same with my yoga practice. When I stop trying to strive for something or get into a pose and just allow myself to feel, then I gain a sense of presence and ease. Trying to force creativity has never worked for me. I just have to trust the journey and know that, just like a yoga practice, the gifts arrive when you’ve given up the pursuit. Inner Fire reflects healthy living, how do you choose the models to represent the clothing while keeping a positive image for young women?
I’ve never used a professional model in any of my photo shoots. The people you see in our photos and lookbooks are my friends (or friends of friends) and brand ambassadors. I’d love to say that I put a lot of intention and deliberate effort in hand picking my models, but it’s not how it goes. When you’re a business owner, the one resource you never have enough of is time, and photo shoots creep up so
quickly that there is barely any time to plan them. Before a shoot, I usually just reach out to my community and ask them who is around on that weekend. It’s as simple as that. They are real, body-positive women who are badass, so of course I would want to feature them.
How has the brand been impacted by the millennial market and online influence? I feel compelled to post about avocados and tacos all the time. But in all seriousness, yes, we do take into account the way people (and millennials) consume media these days. We have learned the following: attention spans are about one nano-second, people like pictures and the more people upside down in your pictures, the better (bonus points for flexibility). These are facts of life that we cannot ignore.
“Influencers” approach us with their media kits with expensive ‘per post’ quotes. Usually we respectfully decline. We don’t want to deal with people who aren’t genuinely interested in our brand and our values. The online influencer space is getting increasingly more fake and it is becoming harder and harder to sort through the noise and find the right people to represent the brand. We’ve been building our brand ambassador program for the past 3 years and through a lot of dedicated hard work, it has grown into a genuinely connected community of people who do cool shit. When I first started, I thought it would be cool to get some awesome people in our clothing. Never did I ever imagine I would build a community of people who collectively are making a huge difference in the world (they all each have amazing stories that we highlight). As a brand, my goal is to give awesome people a platform to show the world how much of a difference they’re making, not to have a bunch of people selling me their audience. Yes, millennials may be attention deprived and social media addicted, but
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OUR TEAM IS DROOLING OVER THE MUST-HAVE LEGGING PRINTS AND TRENDY TANKS!
SHOP OUR FASHION EDITORS
TOP 5 PICKS: WOODLAND LEGGING ($92 CAD) https://www.myinnerfire.com/collections/leggings/ products/woodland-legging  FLOWER OF LIFE LEGGING ($92 CAD) https://www.myinnerfire.com/collections/leggings/ products/flower-of-life-legging LOTUS LEGGING ($92 CAD) https://www.myinnerfire.com/collections/leggings/ products/lotus-legging MAY THE FOREST BE WITH YOU TANK ($35 CAD) https://www.myinnerfire.com/collections/womenstank-tops/products/may-the-forest-be-with-you-yogatank-top?variant=50556408020
I'M JUST HERE FOR THE SAVASANA TANK ($35 CAD) https://www.myinnerfire.com/collections/womenstank-tops/products/im-just-here-for-the-savasana-yogatank-top
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they still crave authenticity and you have to ditch the b.s. to win their respect.
With today’s society rapidly taking notice at the negative connotations surrounding fast fashion, how do you anticipate your growth opportunities and what does sustainability mean to your business? For us, ethics matter. We’re not in business to sell a million widgets. We’re in business to leave a positive impact. Yes, we’re selling consumer goods, but we try really hard to make sure they are sourced and produced in the most eco-friendly and ethical way. If we can help reduce the amount of plastic waste in our environment, then our being in business will leave the planet better off (we hope, at least). I like to look at companies like Patagonia, who are leading the way in sustainable fashion. If big players like them can mould the industry into using more sustainable and ethical practices, then we can do our part too as the little guys. As we grow, we’re going to continue to find ways that we can create an overall bigger positive impact, whether it’s directly through our product, or through our community partnerships with non-profits. What do you think “ethical fashion” will mean for the next generation?
I hope that it will mean “buy less”. The whole point of ethical fashion is to encourage people to stop consuming clothing that will be worn a handful of times that will end up in a landfill somewhere. I hope that people will value purchasing a quality, ethically/sustainably made product over purchasing the cheap trend du jour. It’s conflicting being in this industry because the industry itself en-
courages forced obsolescence in order stay alive. Changing trends encourages people to keep buying. Of course, I would be lying if I didn’t want people to keep buying stretchy pants, but there has to be a balance between buying just to stay fashionable or buying because it fills a need. I hope that people will start to see the impact the fashion industry has on the world and eventually learn to value quality over quantity. How would you describe Vancouver’s style?
Vancouver is an athleisure haven. People love their stretchy pants! The typical Vancouver look for winter is layered sweater over a casual tee with a pair of tights and rain boots. A long coat is a must! And don’t forget the toque (preferably hand knit by a local artisan!) Vancouverites aren’t the biggest fans of colour, but I’m hoping to change that!
If you could raid someone’s closet, who's would it be? Kate Middleton!
What can we expect to see from Inner Fire? I hope to continue to build a strong team of conscious people who are aligned with our goals. We currently have a great roster of Luminaries (ambassadors) and it’s been great to see our community grow. I want to expand my product line with some exciting new eco-textile technologies. I’d like to expand the wholesale side of the business into international markets, like Australia, Europe and Asia. I’d like to get the company more involved with local partnerships and events in the Vancouver area. Inner Fire Apparel can be purchased on their website:
WWW.MYINNERFIRE.COM
Follow along: Instagram: @myinnerfire | Twitter: @innerfirelife | Facebook: @myinnerfire
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NEW BOOK CELEBRATES SEA-LOVING WOMEN OF THE CASCADIA COAST The long-overlooked contributions of women to the maritime economies of BC and the Pacific Northwest are vividly revealed in a new book by Vancouver author Sylvia Taylor. Beckoned by the Sea: Women at Work on the Cascadia Coast presents a lively portrait of the Cascadia bioregion from the perspective of women who work in diverse occupations linked to the sea. For many of the women profiled, the call to the sea involves working in non-traditional marine trades. For others, the ocean provides a vital focus for channeling their talents as teachers, artists, scientists, caregivers, and community leaders. In describing her book, Taylor said, “I have interviewed twenty-four women living and working in BC, Washington, Oregon, and Northern California—from fish boat captains and marine biologists to lighthouse tenders and history keepers. Their stories and insights will bring this marine world to life for readers
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and showcase women’s contributions”. The book is also a call to action regarding the endangered state of the world’s oceans and an affirmation of the special attributes women bring to the work of sustainable maritime development. Specific communities profiled in the book include Vancouver, Sidney, Nanaimo, Tofino/Ucluelet, Campbell River, Comox, Gibsons, Kyuqot, Bamfield, and Powell River in British Columbia, and Seattle, Port Townsend, Portland, Newport, Port Orford, and Cook Inlet in the United States. Sylvia Taylor is an accomplished writer, editor, and educator. Beckoned by the Sea is her second book, following her 2012 memoir, Fisher Queen: A Deckhand’s Tales of the BC Coast.
WWW.SYLVIATAYLOR.CA | @STORYGODDESS ~ ON TWITTER
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THE OCEAN THE
THE OCEAN
One of God's Miracles by Suzanne Wagner
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OCEAN I heard a thundering roar from a distance as I got out of the car. I smelled and tasted the salt water in the air. As I approached the tall green grass of the sand dunes, I listened to the screech of large white seagulls flying overhead. Finally, for the first time, I saw the majesty that was the Atlantic Ocean. It was a cool April day and there were only a few people at the beach. I walked down to the shore with my mom. She sat and read a book. I stood near the briny water and watched the waves going in and out, touching the sandy shoreline. The waves were vivid shades of blue and green with white foam running over each one and it reminded me of bubble bath. Wave swells were long and high, similar to mountaintops. Seashells and rocks, all shapes, sizes, textures and colors, washed in and out with each wave. My favorite shell was white, like snow, and a rock I found was black, like onyx, each unique. The sun glistened over the ocean. The reflection of the sky upon the water took my breath away. I walked along the soft velvety sand. The cool water brushed against my feet. The pale-yellow sun felt warm on my face and the air was brisk. I found a quiet place to sit and observed the waves. As I sat and watched, I realized that my thoughts and feelings drifted in and out with every breaking wave. Meditating over each swell that broke in front of me, I felt the ocean take my emotions and put them into perspective. I felt sad and one of the waves took my sadness to a big wide open space that I could no longer reach. I felt better after sitting for a while. Thoughts of happier times rushed into my head with each wave that hit the coastline. The waves got stronger as the day went on and my fears and anxieties were washed away. I felt renewed. Here, at the ocean, was my escape from the world. The sun started setting. The air got cooler. The squawking sounds of the seagulls were softer. I heard my mom say it was time to go home. I enjoyed my special time and was amazed at the miracle that God had created for me. The ocean took care of me that cool April day and I've returned year after year to this place where I first found and continue to find peace. I can still taste the salt water when I think of that day.
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Emma Bourke
Salty
Warriors
Sylvia Taylor
Tiffany Spendiff Morgan Knowles 66 | www.barnaclebabes.com
ANNIE LENNOX
BRIELLE COLLEDGE
Barnegat Oyster Collective
Parsons Seafood, Tuckerton, NJ Kelly working on the Glidden Point oyster Farm in Edgecomb Maine
Erica Tetzel
First time slalom skiing in Green Lake, BC
KELLY PUNCH Julia Santana Parrilla
Tower Beach , photo by Sewari Campillo
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CALM AS WATER STRONG AS CURRENT WILD AS RIVER PLAYFUL AS WAVES DEEP AS OCEAN AND GRATEFUL FOR EVERY DROP EL SALVADOR
AF
~ IVETA LEKESOVA @ BARNACLE BABES ~
www.BarnacleBabes.com