Art, Sweets, & Turtles!

I have been really busy with school, so this is going to be one of my shorter posts. Nonetheless, I thought this would be an exciting thing to share. This past weekend, my family and I went to Jekyll Island. One of my favorite islands along Georgia’s coast, Jekyll Island holds a lot of great memories for me. It has the Georgia Sea Turtle Center – the place where my whole Trash for Turtles project began, Great Dunes Beach where I did my first overnight sea turtle patrol, and the Jekyll Island Convention Center where I’ve attended events in the past. Now, I get to add one more thing to that list.

Back in middle school, I was part of a group of students that created art from pieces of garbage we collected at school. I enjoyed merging my love of art with a desire to raise awareness about cleaning up our environment. Eventually, I decided to make another piece of art from trash and donate it to the Keep Golden Isles Beautiful up/recycled art auction. This time, the focus of my art would be sea turtle hatchlings. It was on a smaller scale and not as impressive as our first piece, but it showcased the dangers of marine debris which can cause turtle hatchlings to get entangled or even starve. Unfortunately, my artwork sat unsold for several years and I eventually lost track of it.

Out of the blue, my mother told me that someone had bought my art! She said that it was going to be hung up in the Sweets Shoppe at Jekyll Island’s Historic District. I was so excited that I just had to see it for myself.

It was such a surreal moment for me, seeing my artwork from years ago hung up in a shop! If you ever happen to go by the Sweets Shoppe, be sure to check it out! I also hope it inspires you to create your own artwork and make your own statement, because you never know what can happen.