At a time when my life took a downturn I often found solace from my chaos by sitting and sketching on quiet beaches. On one of the beaches I retreated to, I began picking through the rocks next to where I sat. I pulled them out of the darkness below the surface, gently digging down and creating a hole, not unlike digging in the sand. I stood over it and observed the rocks pulled out, the rocks underneath and the depth of the hole. It felt like an abyss, a dark hole that seemed bottomless.

The act of pulling the rocks out, holding them in my hand and placing them on the surface felt meditative. I became engaged in the action of creating the holes, observing the rocks and keeping the structure from collapsing. This activity turned into a desire to create these structures on other beaches and became scientific observation (noting the geology and coastal geomorphology), nostalgic journey (visiting beaches from my childhood) and exploration (visiting beaches I had never been before).

I wrote about my observations, photographed and created sketches of the structures. These are recreated on 20 x 20 inch square birch panels using acrylic paint. They are uniform in appearance, though completely different, reinstating my need for order in my life. Amid the chaos I launched myself into creativity.