This piece was declared “done” in 2021, a very on-again, off-again affair over the course of the pandemic and much-needed escape from the real world! I then revisited it in 2026, when I added the sea turtle. The turtle is collaged out of scraps from the projects I facilitated at two local schools in 2025, then digitally composited onto the original artwork.
The background is built up from layers of collaged tissue and newsprint; cut-out paper fish are then layered over and under various depths of seaweed. I wound up going back over some of the fish with Prismacolor to lend them a bit more depth. I then added more tangible dimensionality to the forward-most seaweed with twisted strips of fabric, which I reclaimed from an old Amazon gift bag. I hope that the resulting image offers its viewers some of the same underwater escapism that it provided me during its creation!
