COAST of LIGHT

Art rooted in light, nature & place

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  • Claim Nothing

    (versión en español abajo)

    Bold, warm, and quietly defiant.

    This piece, originally created during The Advent Challenge ’25 started, as many do, with a photograph: a wall, the kind you find here in southern Spain, marked by sun and time.

    Layered with palm silhouettes and the words CLAIM NOTHING fragmenting across the upper left, it became its own work, a COAST of LIGHT artwork.

    Available now in the shop in various sizes.

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    Audaz, cálida y silenciosamente desafiante.

    Esta pieza, creada originalmente durante el Advent Challenge ’25, comenzó, como muchas, con una fotografía: una pared, del tipo que encuentras aquí en el sur de España, marcada por el sol y el tiempo.

    Superpuesta con siluetas de palmeras y las palabras CLAIM NOTHING fragmentándose en la parte superior izquierda, se convirtió en su propia obra, un trabajo de COAST of LIGHT.

    Disponible ahora en la tienda en varios tamaños.

  • Under The Ficus

    (versión en español abajo)

    A few weeks ago I posted about spending a Sunday afternoon under the great ficus tree near La Caleta beach in Cádiz, watching Anna do bark rubbings on its trunk. You can read that post here.

    Since then the image has continued to develop. The structure was already there: the sprawling branches, the scale, but the colour wasn’t right. New layering, new colouring, for me, has brought this image more to life.

    It’s now available as a print in the shop, in various sizes.
    https://www.etsy.com/listing/4530838189/ancient-tree-art-print-majestic-ficus

    ___

    Hace unas semanas escribí sobre una tarde de domingo bajo el gran ficus cerca de la playa de La Caleta en Cádiz, observando a Anna hacer frotados de corteza en su tronco. Puedes leer ese post aquí.

    Desde entonces la imagen ha seguido evolucionando. La estructura ya estaba: las ramas extendidas, la escala — pero el color no era el adecuado. Nueva superposición, nueva coloración han dado más vida a esta imagen, al menos para mí.

    Ya está disponible como lámina en la tienda, en varios tamaños.
    https://www.etsy.com/listing/4530838189/ancient-tree-art-print-majestic-ficus

  • Colours for July

    Four new colours for this month’s creative practice.

    GIRASOL named after the sunflower fields that fill the Andalucían countryside in July.
    CANDELA Spanish for flame or firelight, capturing the heat and energy of the month.
    HIGUERA the fig tree, in fruit right now, with flesh this exact deep dusty rose.
    PISCINA simply “swimming pool,” that bright artificial turquoise so appealing in the summer months.

    Use them however you like. A wash of background colour, a single brushstroke, a filter, a frame. The prompts this month and every month can be found here.

    #COLCP26

  • Material & Natural World Patterns

    Two of this month’s daily prompts: 17, MATERIAL WORLD (as a pattern), and 20, LINE, found their way into the same artwork this last week.

    The image of the sea was taken here at the coast, then combined with a pattern from the interior of our car. Layered together, the crinkled, patterned surface of the plastic became the texture of the water. Both beautiful and toxic at the same time.

    The resulting image I have named: The standard (automotive-grade) plastic sea.

    This work is a demonstration of how you never quite know where creativity will appear. Work through the prompts and inspiration finds you.

    Join in at #COLCP26 and check out the prompts here.

  • Two Views of Zahara de Los Atunes

    (Versión en español abajo)

    As the heat builds and summer arrives, it felt like the right moment to re-share two older pieces from the COAST of LIGHT collection, Zahara de los Atunes, down the coast from Cádiz.

    Zahara is a small fishing village known for its long, wild beach and its history of tuna fishing using the ancient almadraba technique, still practised along this stretch of coast today. It’s one of mine and Anna’s favourite places in the province, and Anna’s favourite place for a swim over the years. The water is just different there.

    The first artwork looks out to sea: the sand, the ripples, and the colours of the sky blended together. The second looks back from the beach towards the village, in the same style. Both images created by simply layering photos, the natural colour and light of Zahara doing the rest.

    Different views of the same place, capturing the simple beauty of Zahara.

    Both available now in the shop, in sizes to suit any wall.
    https://coastoflight.etsy.com
    ___
    A medida que el calor aprieta y llega el verano, me pareció el momento adecuado para volver a compartir dos piezas de la colección COAST of LIGHT, Zahara de los Atunes, costa abajo desde Cádiz.

    Zahara es un pequeño pueblo pesquero conocido por su playa larga y salvaje, y por su historia de pesca de atún mediante la antigua técnica de la almadraba, todavía practicada en este tramo de costa. Es uno de los lugares favoritos de Anna y mío en la provincia, y el lugar preferido de Anna para bañarse a lo largo de los años. El agua allí es simplemente diferente.

    La primera obra mira hacia el mar: la arena, las ondas de la marea, y los colores del cielo fundidos entre sí. La segunda mira hacia atrás desde la playa hacia el pueblo, en el mismo estilo. Ambas imágenes creadas simplemente superponiendo fotografías, dejando que el color y la luz natural de Zahara hagan el resto.

    Distintas vistas del mismo lugar, capturando la sencilla belleza de Zahara.

    Ambas disponibles ahora en la tienda, en tamaños para cualquier pared.
    https://coastoflight.etsy.com

  • Exploring Personality

    At a recent Create & Connect session, we completed the Wartegg Drawing Completion Test, devised by psychologist Ehrig Wartegg in 1934.

    The idea is simple. A series of lines and shapes. You complete them. You reveal yourself.

    You can read more about it here.

    What emerged from it, after sitting with the drawings for a while, was a need to write it all down. The result is this poem. It is called The Aesthete (due to a different personality test) and explores my needs and identity.

    Needs Analysis of The Aesthete

    I need space, to process internally. I need emotional space: emotionally rich, but not emotionally loud. I need to express my emotional movement. I seek beauty. I seek new and different. I seek the wonders of the world around me.

    I need clear and defined. I need reliability, clarity and low drama. I need emotional distance. I seek positivity.

    I need focus, discipline, and a sense of forward movement. I need a system of structured freedom. I need fairness, rules, or strategy. I need a few rules I can break. Are you bored reading this yet? I seek art forms that reinforce my optimistic outlook.

    I need well-matched. I need grounded expression and balance. I seek sound. I need to be quietly fulfilled. I seek colour.

    I need peace, perspective and possibility. I need quiet happiness, nature and imperfection. I seek to wash away the dust of every day life.

    I need real and alive. I seek real and alive. I feel real and alive.

    The image attached to this post came later: a wall by the bus stop, a face emerging from the cracks, and written in someone else’s hand: En esta esquina, grita conmigo, que haya paz en el mundo. On this corner, shout with me, let there be peace in the world.

    It felt like The Aesthete had found a wall to live on.

    By Clarence Greenway for Heronbam Books.
    Image created by Coast of Light.

  • Breathing Space

    (Versión en español abajo)

    As the temperature rises, some recent photographs have found their way into this new piece, a first swim at the beach, and a dried flower I passed on the way there. Layered together onto a Jasmine White background, the result feels very much like the area right now, especially in the early morning, when the light is soft and the beach is still yours alone.

    Available now in the shop as a print in various sizes.
    https://www.etsy.com/listing/4516923843/minimalist-beach-print-turquoise-coastal

    A medida que suben las temperaturas, algunas fotografías recientes han encontrado su camino en esta nueva pieza, un primer baño en la playa, y una flor seca que encontré de camino. Superpuestas sobre un fondo Blanco Jazmín, el resultado evoca muy bien el ambiente de la zona en este momento, especialmente por las mañanas, cuando la luz es suave y la playa todavía es tuya.

    Disponible ahora en la tienda como lámina en varios tamaños.
    https://www.etsy.com/listing/4516923843/minimalist-beach-print-turquoise-coastal

  • Colours for June

    Four new colours for this month’s creative practice.

    JASMINE WHITE: the background, the space between things. COASTAL STRAW: dry grass in the heat, the colour of July arriving early. MAR ESMERALDA: the sea on a clear morning, deep and still. ALMADRABA, warm terracotta skin, the ancient tuna fishing grounds of the coast.

    Use them however you like. A wash of background colour, a single brushstroke, a filter, a frame. The prompts this month and every month can be found here.

    #COLCP26

  • Ficus de Indias

    (Versión en español abajo)

    Last Sunday I spent some time under the great ficus tree near La Caleta beach in Cádiz, watching Anna (@absowm_art) do bark rubbings on its trunk. There’s something lovely about stopping, and just observing. I was taking various pictures, and back home I layered them into this finished piece, the tree’s energy finding its way through the whole image.

    Artwork will be available in the shop soon.
    ____

    El domingo pasado pasé un rato bajo el gran ficus cerca de la playa de La Caleta en Cádiz, observando a Anna (@absowm_art) hacer frotados de corteza en su tronco. Hay algo muy especial en detenerse y simplemente observar. Fui haciendo fotos, y en casa las fui superponiendo hasta llegar a esta pieza final — la energía del árbol abriéndose paso por toda la imagen.

    La obra estará disponible próximamente en la tienda.

  • Standing in a Shadow of Nature

    (versión en español abajo)

    This artwork, like my others, is built from photographs simply layered into one another.

    The original tree can be found on my walk to work, part of a belt of green and pine trees, halfway along, where you notice a shift in the world. To walk through its shadow is to experience nature and calm.

    I added a touch of vermillion orange, which happened to be the colour of the day on a website I use, and which helped further make it what it is.

    Available as a digital download on my Etsy shop.
    https://www.etsy.com/listing/4490110936/autumn-tree-canopy-print-forest-wall-art

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    De pie en la sombra de la naturaleza (Un momento de quietud entre el ruido)

    Esta obra, como las demás, está construida a partir de fotografías simplemente superpuestas entre sí.

    El árbol original se encuentra en mi camino al trabajo, parte de una franja de pinos y árboles verdes, a mitad de camino, donde uno percibe un cambio en el mundo. Caminar bajo su sombra es una experiencia de naturaleza y calma.

    Añadí un toque de naranja bermellón, que resultó ser el color del día en una página web que uso, y que ayudó a hacer de esta obra lo que es.

    Disponible como descarga digital en mi tienda de Etsy.
    https://www.etsy.com/listing/4490110936/autumn-tree-canopy-print-forest-wall-art