Tidal flats teem with legions of tiny blue crabs and yet I can’t get within catching distance.
There can be 1000s crossing a sand or mud flat at low tide seemingly unaware of danger. But at a certain point my slow creeping signals them to turn and scurry away.
When I move slowly, sometimes a dozen or so of the biggest crabs will turn around, waving their largest claws, click clacking at me while walking backwards. At some signal I can’t detect, they burrow beneath the sand and disappear.
More often, I detect their presence from the excavated sand balls left on the surface. I have hundreds of photographs of these sand ball ‘patterns’ and every one seems unique.
Colour
Sometimes I see a colour combination that seems overused or that I don't like, but somehow it seems to work (on fabric, a building, an artwork etc.). While my first visceral reaction is to run away, I’ve learned that if I try using this palette I’m often pleasantly surprised.
This is how these colours were chosen - a challenge to myself.
Initially all I could see was a red, blue and white national colour scheme (e.g. UK, Australia, USA, Netherlands, Croatia, France, Cambodia, Cuba, Russia - to name a few). Now I see soldier crabs at sunset.
