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Aug 23, 2023Liked by Samantha Clark

I love your work - both your writing and painting.

I think I connect with your painting because of my love of the sea, snorkeling and diving.

I too was so amazing at the “new world” I discovered when I first snorkeled. It was my gateway drug into a world of scuba diving which has taken me to many wonderful places around the world including New Zealand where I now live. Dive under and look back up at the underside of the waves watch your breath rise in a stream of sliver bubbles. Magical, peaceful and powerful. Enjoy.

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Thank you Rohan! Yes I’m tempted by scuba. A lot of divers come to Orkney to dive the wrecks in Scapa Flow. Me, I think I’m happy to potter about with a snorkel for now!

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All that wreck diving is a bit rough and tough. A gentle shore dive is just relaxed and amazing

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Lovely Sam, you paint such a vivid picture. I have a distant memory of snorkelling on a summer holiday and it remains precious. I love too the way that such absorption (flow indeed) makes us loose track of time. If you haven’t read it you might enjoy this piece of writing by @helenconway which finally pulled me into the Substack pool.

https://open.substack.com/pub/helenconway/p/are-you-doing-enough-nothing?r=29jh0d&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post

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Oooh, thanks for the recommendation - another one added to my subscriptions :-) Yes, a cheap snorkel mask opens a world of wonders. The addition of a borrowed drysuit made it possible to linger and bob, otherwise I'd have to flail around just to keep warm!

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I could feel it all! The movement in and of the water, the seaweeds, the colours, the moving dim light. Love all of it and the paintings .

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Thank you Christa, so glad to hear that! Do you live anywhere near the sea? I’m not brave enough for scuba diving but snorkelling is a great way to enter this underwater world.

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Hello Luisa! Lovely to connect with you! :-)

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