Life, relationship and sensuality coach, Caleen Diedrick, finds home in art
Published:Sunday | June 26, 2022 | 12:09 AMKrysta Anderson - Staff Reporter
Crashing waves, clean and cool air, sand or stones between your toes, the enticing aromas and the revelry of relaxation. There’s no denying the pleasure of the beach. But Caleen Diedrick took her love one step further, using the treasures she found by the sea to make art.
A life, relationship and sensuality coach by profession, she is a proud nature junkie behind the scenes. This passion conjured the desire to be close to water. So she moved to a place where the beach is in her backyard. “I live right beside the sea. I had to,” she told The Sunday Gleaner.
Walking and collecting shells and stones for years, she made a practice of decorating her house with them. So, how did she transition her collector’s item into this beautiful art form? There was so much driftwood and so many seashells that it inspired her to create.
“I kept thinking to myself, ‘What can I do with this?’ I had an appreciation for art but never considered myself an artist – it never crossed my mind. I did, however, do a floral arrangement course years ago. And this is what I leaned on as it pertains to putting the pieces together for Shellingsxx,” she explained further.
Her creative process included making magic to the sound of music and going wherever the melody moves her. For inspiration, she turns to her favourite flowers, orchids and lilies, which inform the shapes of forms. The materials are easily accessible – all it takes is a stroll on the beach. How’s that for therapeutic art?
Shellingsxx has since become a creative expression and artistic articulation of the places Diedrick finds rejuvenating and refreshing. She put 20 pieces together last week and the response has been great so far.
“I enjoy all of my pieces, but my favourite would have to be the boat and fish. It took time, but I executed it, and it brought me great pleasure to see the end result. I’m excited that people have been loving it,” she said. With only one piece in her possession at the moment, it will be back to the drawing board for the new artist.
Now in the process of creating custom designs, every piece out of the collection is original. “What I hope to achieve with this business is to offer other decorative options, to remind people of how beautiful the sea is and of the amazing things we get from the ocean, in the hope that we will become more environmentally conscious. Seeing the litter on the beach drives me insane. And it is ludicrous to me how we treat the environment with such scant regard. So my intention is to bring more attention to that, caring for the coastal regions and riversides,” she shared.