Following Curiosity from Tide to Tide
“What the heck is it?”
At the Great Tide Pool in Pacific Grove, this question came up more than once as we explored the seaweed and marine life along the coast. Someone would notice something among the rocks, lean closer, and wonder aloud. Others would gather to look. Sometimes Emily Gottlieb could tell us what we were seeing. Sometimes the question simply led us to look more closely or search for information in a book or online.
I like this kind of question. We don’t need to know what we’re looking at, or arrive with a particular interest, to begin exploring. We notice something. We wonder what it is. We ask, and someone else might stop to look, too.
Sometimes, that’s where a conversation begins.
From making to exploring
This past weekend, we took Coastal Conversations outside the studio and offered From Tide to Paper at the California Seaweed Festival.
The workshop began with Emily sharing her knowledge of seaweed, with a particular focus on its relationship with color. We then moved into a collaborative experiment with the materials, exploring pressing as a form of play and discovery. Working together on a shared piece gave everyone a chance to contribute and explore possibilities before moving on to individual making.
Some used seaweed almost like a paintbrush, moving color across paper. Others carefully arranged it into compositions. One group’s experiment sparked ideas for another, and the approaches continued to evolve around the tables. After this shared exploration, participants made individual pressed pieces to take home.
One moment opened up a new way of thinking about color. Emily showed us a dark-colored seaweed and explained that it belonged to a group categorized as red seaweeds. I’d heard this from her before, but the participants’ response was wonderful. Their surprise opened up a question: how can something that looks dark in color belong to a group called red seaweeds? Even something as familiar as color can become a little less familiar when we learn to see it another way.
We were exploring seaweed not only as something to learn about, but through its colors, forms, textures, and possibilities as a material. Making became another way to look closely and discover something new.
The following day, we met again on the coast. This time, rather than bringing seaweed to the table, we went to where it lived.
Different ways of seeing
Emily knows a great deal about seaweed and marine life: the different kinds, where they grow, and how they live. Sharing that knowledge is an important part of what she brings to Coastal Conversations.
My experience at the tide pools was different. I found myself drawn to color, shape, texture, and the visual relationships among things. I noticed the bright orange of a sea star, the blue-green of an anemone, and unexpected combinations of color and form tucked between the rocks.
As we explored, our different ways of seeing could meet. Emily’s knowledge helped us understand the living things we encountered. My attention was drawn to visual details and relationships. Others brought their own questions, observations, and ways of looking.
We didn’t need to approach the coast in the same way. Each person’s attention could lead somewhere different, giving others something new to notice. The place became richer through what we shared.
A little secret colorful spot
At one point, while Emily was sharing her knowledge and others were looking closely, taking photographs, and learning about what they had found, I wandered off on my own.
I discovered a little cave beneath the rocks, filled with an astonishing range of colors and textures: bright orange sea stars, blue-green anemones, pinks and purples, yellows, deep greens, and darker shades of brown and black. There were so many forms and details within this small pocket of the coast.
I thought of it as my little secret colorful spot.
For a while, I simply looked, taking in the scene and capturing some of it with my camera. Then I wanted to share what I had found with the others.
That moment stayed with me. We each notice different things when we explore a place. Sometimes we wander off and follow our own attention. And sometimes what we discover on our own becomes something we share with others.
Meanwhile, the gathering was expanding in its own way. Other people exploring the tide pools nearby began asking us what we were looking at and what we had found. Emily shared her knowledge, I shared my discovery, and other participants shared their own observations. People who hadn’t come with our group became part of the conversation, drawn in by their curiosity about what was around them.
No one had arranged for these people to join us. No one had to formally invite them in. People noticed, asked questions, listened, and shared what they knew or had found. The gathering grew through these small exchanges.
What happens when we look together?
I keep thinking about how relationships begin to form through experiences like this.
We came together for a workshop and then continued exploring on the coast. What connected us wasn’t simply a shared activity or a particular skill we wanted to learn. It was the chance to experiment, follow our curiosity, and share what we noticed.
One person might know something about seaweed. Another might notice a color or pattern. Someone else might ask a question no one has thought to ask yet. We don’t have to contribute the same things to take part.
Looking at the tide pools, I was struck by the diversity of life in such a small space. Colors, shapes, textures, and different forms of life existed alongside one another. What might initially seem chaotic revealed its own beauty when I took the time to look more closely.
I began thinking about human communities, too. What happens when different ways of seeing, thinking, knowing, and being have room to coexist? What can we discover together that we might not have found alone?
These are questions I continue to explore through my art practice, including Coastal Conversations and Dream Lab. I’m interested in creating situations where people can come together through curiosity, contribute what they bring, encounter different perspectives, and build relationships through the experience itself.
I'm less interested in everyone arriving at the same outcome than in making room for people to explore, exchange, and discover together. Over time, these encounters might grow into a community of people who stay curious, welcome different ways of seeing, and value sharing what they discover.
Following color
Our next Coastal Conversations exploration will turn to seaweed color. We’ll experiment with making dye and applying it to paper, fabric, and perhaps something unexpected.
What colors can seaweed offer? What might happen when we collect, translate, preserve, or transform them?
The questions continue, and so does the exploration.
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