Here's Jazarah. He's the bright orange starfish I bought for my daughter's marine aquarium. I was asked to name him, his name means 'carrot' in Arabic. He actually looks like 6 little carrots. Here you can see him moving up the front of her tank (I say him, but it could be a she for all we know). The top of him is a vivid orange, almost luminous, hence the name. We also picked up a sea anenome in a brilliant bright white with pink tips on the tentacles, a burgundy feather duster tubeworm and a hermit crab with bright blue legs. These keep her fish and dancing shrimps company. An expensive hobby, but..........whenever I go to visit her we both sit in front of the tank for ages watching all the creatures. One of the first items she brought for her tank was several kilos of live rock. In a few months, this rock has produced all manner of organisms. The harder you study it the more you see. I have an old hand held magnifying glass in my office and I'll be giving that to her next time I visit. It'll help us get a much closer look at what's occurring.
Looking at Soha's aquarium has got me all inspired. Quite a few months ago I worked on an oil painting of a couple of 'Nemo' fish, just for fun really. I think I might like to re-design the painting and change the composition a little. It's amazing how we can look back on our work and think of what we would like to change - especially when we have learned new techniques since the original painting.
Art Instructor