The first light at the turtle beach

Acrylic on canvas 24 by 30 inches

One of the most rewarding wildlife experience in Oman is the turtle watch. During the night giant green turtles move slowly from the warm sea towards the shore searching for a place to lay eggs and leave before the sun rises.The journey of the baby turtles towards the sea is even more memorable.

Recently I had the opportunity to stay overnight at the turtle beach resort to watch the turtles in action. But I had to stay back in the cottage since I was too sick and my family said I missed out on one of the most beautiful experiences one can enjoy. I had to make up for what I had missed and got up early to witness an equally beautiful moment of watching the sun literally rise up  and the beach coming alive with light.

Hope you enjoy what I enjoyed through this effort to bring the moment on my canvas!

Beach Moments

Beaches are therapeutic. The combined effect of the smell of the salt water, the gentle breeze and the sound of the waves cast a spell. I now live only minutes away from the beach and so I can get the beach therapy any time I want! When I stood in the Al Khuwair beach here in Oman and enjoyed the Arabian Sea, I realized that I had enjoyed the same sea from Mumbai! The thought of enjoying the sea from two different geographical locations was sort of exciting and was enough to pick up my long forgotten water colors :-)

These are all done on a 7 by 10 inch water color paper. I have tried some simple washes, some times tending to abstract, mostly keeping the details to minimum, layering with colors a bit and trying to preserve the white of the paper.

When I close my eyes and think about the different beaches I have enjoyed, the very thought is a sort of renewal of my mood. The beaches here in Oman are serene with no or little people around. Not many waves, relatively a calm sea. A perfect place to meditate! The Chowpathy beach in Mumbai is a total contrast; here you watch people and not the sea most of the time! The number of people seems to be the same as the drops in the sea! All sort of enterprising businessmen who never went to any business schools sell Candies to balloons to carving your name on a rice grain and making a pendent out of it for your chain! A guy with a portable weighing machine sits on the sand and collects one rupee to check your weight! The beach that teaches optimism!The most memorable one till today has been the Marina beach, Chennai, where I built sand castles with my little son years ago and I can still feel the sand in my hands :-)