When I was a child, I lived near the beach and spent days collecting treasures along the shore: stones, shells and bits of driftwood. I'd take them home, paint my designs on them and give them away as gifts.

As I painted this scene, I became that little girl again, scouring the tide's lacy edge for wondrous treasures. The mood of the water about her is not to engulf, but more to embrace as it spills out its treasures at her feet. The gulls are her friends. This is their world, yet there is a kinship among child, birds and sea. She considers herself as belonging to that world, not as an intruder or tourist, but as a sea sprite in a red bathing suit.

- Carolyn Blish