"In the Surf Zone" captures the dynamism of Gulf waves sweeping up and crashing over shell beds. Growing up in a house on stilts in Northwest Florida, right on the Gulf of Mexico, I spent many happy hours collecting and drawing shells.

This painting is part of my exhibit, "Seen and Unseen," at the Arts Council of Wilmington. With all of the glazing and layering, the shell bed was a battle of inches. Each square inch took about an hour to paint and I finished it on the morning of the installation.