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Many of us living in the Bay Area have a peaceful stroll along the beach, but few of us have done it with such purpose. Brenton Bostwick, an artist from Marin County, has taken California coastline strolls and turned it into an art.

Growing up, Bostwick always wanted to be a painter, and to this day he still does beautiful oil work. Only after the gentle nudges of his sculptor friends, and experimentation with the creation of figures out of wire, that he discovered a natural talent for three-dimensional art.

Now, he takes regular trips to the coastline to collect unique pieces. With a camping bag on his back, he sets out across hidden beaches in search of particular pieces of driftwood and bones to utilize on his sculptures

Bostwick says he prefers to take these peaceful trips alone – after all, only he truly knows what will work and what won’t when it comes time to assemble the sculpture.

He fills the camping bag until it’s too heavy to carry with found wood and bones, of all sizes. Then he drives it back to his workshop in San Rafael, where he gets to work sorting and perfecting his treasures.

Perhaps the most important and time-consuming process is sanding the rough piece of driftwood. Using several different grains of sandpaper, Bostwick transforms rough, sea-worn twigs and logs into finished, smooth elements for his creations.

The sanding alone can take anywhere from hours to days. The assembly can take years. But the finished product is something that can’t be replicated. It’s a once in a lifetime creation.

To see more of Brenton’s Artwork, check out his website BrentonBostwickArt.com.