My sea turtle, titled Just Beneath the Surface, reflects the idea that–in nearly all aspects of life–there is always something going on just beyond our sight. By this, I refer to something deeper than the old “beauty is only skin deep” adage. Instead, ideas, joys and concerns bubble away behind every face that passes by on the street. Life flourishes or diminishes behind the bark of every tree, and oceans thrive or deteriorate beneath the surface of the waves. Knowing that there might be wonderful or even tragic secrets floating there right beneath the surface suggests that we need to be sensitive to what is going on around us.
This sculpture was worked in peyote stitch in roughly 40 colors or sizes of glass beads. The core is a “found” plastic sea turtle, over which I attempted to show a small portion of the animal exposed above the water and the rest submerged. Ultimately, I hope to mount the turtle at an angle over a rough wooden burl, as though he swims over sea coral. (The perfect burl currently remains elusive.)
Just Beneath the Surface (Sea Turtle)
Glass seed and drop beads in peyote stitch over plastic sea turtle core
L. (overall): 9 1/2″
Exhibited: Gravers Lane Gallery, Philadelphia (2020)
Available for purchase
And the below views show the figure at about three months in.
And here are a couple images of the work, when I was only about two months in:
Leslie B. Grigsby Beadwork 