Finding Creative Inspiration in Local Fossil Hunting
Greetings! Today I want to share with you a sketchbook adventure I went on, and how my interests and experiences blend into my creative practice. The Yorkshire coast has been an important part of my life, and within that time I have spent many an afternoon on the beaches and rockpools searching through what the North Sea washed in. With the weather now being much more suited to such an activity, I set out to see what the tide brought in. But this time I decided to bring my sketchbook with me to document little moments and findings along the way.
A rock full of fossils I found during the afternoon search. If you can identify the “U” shaped fossil top-right I would love to know what it is!
Art supplies: Keeping it simple
When in doubt I keep my travel kit very minimal. In this case I selected a current favourite combination of mine:
Royal Talens Art Creation sketchbook (13 by 21 cm size)
4in1 BIC ballpoint pen (black, red, blue, green)
Throughout my creative journey I have learnt that restriction often sets me free from decision overwhelm/choice paralysis manifesting upon gazing into an over-stuffed pencil case. Especially when sketching out and about, which can be quite chaotic and full of choices even in what to draw or where to sit to do so. A simple kit frees my brain power to instead focus on the choices of what to draw and how to accomplish it.
What each artist needs to help them function will depend on their own temperament, so I encourage you to discover and constantly re-discover that for yourself! We all tend to change a bit with time, so my current set up will evolve and adjust as I do.
A lone crab claw on the beach, the sand beside it dotted with pieces of coal. Nature’s still life, don’t you think?
The North Sea Treasure Trove
Searching through the sand and rocks when I was a child made me feel like I was searching for treasure. Kind of like nature’s original version of those “dig up gems” family attractions where you sift sand to find pieces of fools gold and very-not-naturally polished stones. Even now I still become giddy with excitement at finding a pretty rock among the pebbles, trying to figure out if what I found was jet (it’s almost always coal…), and the thrill of coming across bits and pieces of the sea washed ashore.
A small Witch Stone (also known as Hag Stone or Odin Stone) from the Yorkshire coast.
Despite how much I have searched the coast, especially as a child, it is still very much an amateur endeavour. I only know a few basic common fossils (mainly corals, and the very recognisable ammonites), but that doesn’t stop me enjoying the discovery of new finds. I also keep my eyes peeled for the folklore-rich stones with naturally formed holes. These go by a few names, but I was told as a child that they were called Witch Stones so that is the name that I use. Other names include Hag Stones and Odin Stones, and across the North Sea in mainland Europe they can be called Adder Stones.
The folklore around them is just as diverse as the number of names. Stories about them go back millennia even! I was mainly brought up on two pieces of Witch Stone folklore. One being that looking through the hole allows you to see faeries and otherwise invisible creatures. Another that the stones are protection talismans, only allowing good to pass through the hole. Regardless of your beliefs in such things, it can be interesting to learn about from a historical and cultural perspective, and offers a wealth of inspiration to a creative mind.
Some of the sketches I drew on the day. I sketched them in black ballpoint pen, then when I got home I finished the page with some extra line-weight and added pencil tone.
Know the rules, and don’t be greedy
Before you are inspired to roll away to your nearest beach or riverbed, please make sure to check the rules of where you live thoroughly. Every country, and even areas within a country, will have different rules and regulations when it comes to picking up fossils and whether you can take them home. For most of the Yorkshire coast you can take fossils from public land as long as it is already loose on the beach, but you cannot disturb the cliffs or rocky ground.
If you find fossils still embedded or partially embedded in the cliffs or ground, it is instead recommended to note down your exact location and take a photograph, and then pass that information on to the nearest museum or information centre (such as National Trust visitor centres in the UK). They will likely nerd out about it just as much as you, but they will be in a position to notify the proper people if anything needs doing to protect the fossil.
Local museums/centres even encouraged this interest of mine, long ago. It’s funny how even one small moment can have a massive impact rippling through our lives for years. As a young child I was once rock pooling with those small nets on a long pole. On one of the catches, amongst all the seaweed and crabs there was a loose fossil. I remember walking with my family to a building (I can’t remember if it was a museum or a trust centre to be honest, I was very young) and showing them the fossil. They were lovely and helped identify it for me, and told me to keep it. That was the first fossil I ever brought home. I still have it, wrapped up in the same piece of paper they wrote on. Actually, let me go find it! Why not share it with you while I’m at it haha.
The first fossil I brought home as a young child (between my fingers). It is a tube-shaped tendril with a five-pointed star in the cross-section. The paper reads “Crinoid or Sea Lillies” written by the person who identified it back then.
When foraging of any kind it is also recommended to follow the practice of selecting only a few to take with you, and leaving the rest for either other people or to ensure the diversity of the environment continues (which is especially so for foraging plants). With fossils and rocks I often leave most, or sometimes all, of what I find behind. A lot of the joy for me is in the discovering, the observing, and the inspiration that those sparks within me. I want other people to experience that too.
A gorgeous rock filled with unknown fossils(?) that I left for other people to find.
The above photograph was of a rock containing a really pretty formation of what I presume to be fossils, but I do not know what kind. I stood and looked at it for a long while, snapped a photo of it, then placed it on a wooden post for someone else to enjoy. A few days later I sketched the rock in my sketchbook using the photograph as reference.
The above rock that I left behind, sketched days later from reference.
An additional thing to note when searching for fossils is to make sure you are very aware of and informed about your environment. In the case of the coastline, that is making sure you are aware of the tides and the dangers of being close to eroding cliffs. Like all of nature, the North Sea is beautiful but brutal.
That’s all for now, lovelies. Happy drawing!
