One of the collections accruing in my home are pebbles, shells and miscellaneous wood bits.  Years ago they were the subject of a lengthy series of paintings.The work started out merely by observing and recording them, but then  I became fascinated by the idea that these little things were pieces of massive mountains now lying underfoot at the beach. The more I worked with them, the more I noticed how they had been worn into unique characters, their residual shape revealing the texture and strengths of their substance.  From there I began to muse about the relativity of the experience of time, which can range from the immeasurabilities of deep space, to the vast expanses of geological time, through organic time, to human time. Here is a sample of the first observational works completed in drybrush watercolour (approximately 2001.)

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 Here is a link to my first attempt at pebbles and shell painting in oil on canvas...

http://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/nicoletta-baumeister/collections-from-the-beach/214476