Painting Sea Turtle and Starfish Ornaments

My reason for making painted sea turtle and starfish ornaments was two-fold. First of all, I wanted to have some hand-painted coastal ornaments in my Etsy Shop. Secondly, Beaufort Art Association (the art gallery I belong to) is hosting a holiday show this month. Each artist is allowed to bring fifteen small items for this event.

Normally, a gallery customer would have to pay several hundred dollars for a small work of art, and that would be the lowest price. This time of year, ornaments, hand-painted gift bags, cards, and etc., are available for just a few dollars each.

If you’re an artist and you do not belong to a gallery, I highly recommend joining one in your town. Most people who create art like to get sales. It validates our hard work. But getting to know the other artists and being part of the art world in my community has made me feel useful and given me value in a different way.

I wanted to try making a painted ornament from something other than a wood slice, so I ordered some 3 by 3 wood chunks and asked my husband to drill a hole in the top for an ornament hanger. First, I base-coated the wood, then traced the patterns onto the backgrounds.

My sea turtle came to life as I added the layer upon layer of acrylic paint.

Where I live, we have an island where people are trained to relocate sea turtle nests that need to be moved, and make sure the baby sea turtles get back to the ocean (they do this at night) after the eggs hatch on the beach. If you’re interested in being a part of this process, or if you’d simply like more information, you can read about it here.

The starfish was modeled after the pink starfish, and I also gave her plenty of gold sparkle.

Why I love Painting Sea Turtle and Starfish Ornaments

It’s amazing to me how God adorns our beaches with these beautiful creatures. He didn’t have to give us sand dollars, starfish, sea turtles, whelk snails with gorgeous shells, and sparkling beaches with foamy waves. But he did. We can pick up one of his treasures and take it home to remind us of what a great trip or day we had at the beach.

I gave my ornaments an extra shiny coat of varnish, to make them shine brightly on the Christmas tree and reflect the lights.

I hope you enjoyed reading Painting Sea Turtles and Starfish Ornaments, and that my ornaments remind you of God’s amazing creation and the great days you’ve spent at the beach.

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