Abstracting the Pathway to the Sea: Reflections on The Boardwalk

Charlotte Wensley
Jan 2, 2024
3 min read

Updated: Sep 12

Abstract collage with leaf patterns in blues, yellows, and greens. Features layered textures and stripes, evoking a vibrant, dynamic landscape.

Working on my Portal Series encouraged my fascination with swales and beach access tracks along the Sunshine Coast.

The Boardwalk was inspired by these meeting places of land, sea, and sky; thresholds where movement, memory, and atmosphere converge. They are places of the 'in-between', with pathways that tempt us to hurry along, in pursuit of the expansive ocean vista, that we know awaits.

I find a special and unique energy in these places. They offer stillness before the sea breezes can be felt, shade before the sun drenched beach comes into view, and beautiful hidden gems in the form of ponds and reed beds. I always find myself attuned to the sound of birdsong in the swale, which can be heard before the sound of waves crashing on the shore begin to dominate.

This painting was inspired by walking Beach Access Track 68, which crosses the Peregian-Coolum section of the Noosa National Park, on a blustery day with an incoming storm. It evokes the sensory experiences offered by the swale, feeling the rhythm of my own footsteps in the sand and on the timber boards, the feeling of salt on my skin, the smell of the sea in the air, and the vibrational dialogue between human presence and the vastness of the promised ocean.

As I emerge from the stand of protective trees, the intimate secret of the swale shows itself; reed beds of proud grey-green stems pointing skywards from dark and watery foundations as the timber boardwalk suspends my passage above. Giving way to sand underfoot through swathes of Banksia, I leave behind the honeyed sound of birdsong. Scattered leaves are all around; a storm is brewing out to sea, the gathering clouds above hint at the boisterous swell beyond, the sunlight comes and goes as I leave the shelter of foredune and once atop, embrace nature’s gift, arms outstretched.

In creating this work, I leaned into textured papers and collage with organic and botanical prints, layered with colour to evoke the worn surface of timber, the shifting reflections of water, the encompassing vegetation and the hazy expanse of horizon.

The process was one of balancing structured elements with organic evolution: allowing forms to suggest the built walkway and the dunes, whist keeping the loose feeling of a blustery day, Each mark was made in conversation with the one before it, a gradual unfolding that mirrored the act of walking—step by step, moment by moment through the swale and along the boardwalk to the ocean.

At its heart, the painting became less about the place that inspired it and more about feeling of being there and the sense of possibility that arises when we find ourselves standing at the threshold of the known land and the unknown sea.

80cm x 110cm

Mixed Media on Board

Framed in Australian Oak