Last summer I took Dawn Donnelly’s “Treasures From the Great Lakes” class. She had been inspired by stylized waves she had seen on a business card.

Having owned a cottage on Lake Michigan, I had extensive an collection of Petoskey stones. I had taught a class with similar techniques several years ago, which was inspired by Dawn’s earlier class, Sea Treasures. So, I wasn’t as interested in tying down rocks as I was in creating the feel of water.

I tried working with Dawn’s elegant color pallet but I couldn’t be that elegant. I like giving the beach texture by using pulled work. The beach at our cottage had more than sand. It had a lot of rocks and weeds and sticks and footprints. Not much of it was nice smooth sand. I was especially interested creating the look and texture of water. Since there were lots of rocks in the water, I used sheers over the rocks and around the rocks to give the feeling of waves and water.