Linda Ogram with a recent work, an eagle and American flag for Memorial Day. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

BY SHERI TRUSTY

PORT CLINTON – Linda Ogram gives new meaning to the phrase “buried treasure.” Nearly every week, all year long, she creates mixed media, 3-D beach art along a shore of Lake Erie using paint and found objects like rocks and driftwood. Locals walking along the private beach behind her home may discover a pelican, a sunflower or a girl flying a kite. They are Ogram’s hand-created treasures, all made of stones, shells and other natural discards from the lake. While most people hang their art in prominent places where it can be easily viewed, Ogram often watches her art disappear beneath blowing sand.

“It usually takes me about two hours to make one,” she said. “They’ll last three or four days, unless the wind is blowing.”

A strong wind can cover her artwork up in a matter of minutes. Once the wind settles, she uncovers the art, gathers the pieces, and plans her next work. None of her creations last more than a week.

Linda Ogram created this patriotic scene in the sand for Memorial Day. (Photo by Sheri Trusty)

“They rake the beach once a week, so I have to dismantle them the day before,” she said.

When Ogram retired and moved from Indiana to her Port Clinton home a few years ago, she discovered that she loved the lake but missed her grandchildren. She soon found a way to connect the two and create long-distance memories with her family by creating beach art.

“I’ve always been a crafty person. When I came here, I loved the beach, so I started collecting on it,” she said. “Then I got the idea – why don’t I make things?”

Her first creation was a unicorn for her granddaughter.

Walleye beach art by Linda Ogram. (Submitted photo)

“I missed my grandkids so much, so I started making these and putting them on Facebook for them to see. That’s how I got started,” she said. “Then I joined the Port Clinton Artists’ Club, and they encouraged me and gave me ideas.”

Ogram has created dozens of beach art pieces. She paints rocks to incorporate more realism into her work – light blue for water, brown for animals, and pink for people – and she arranges them alongside shells and driftwood to create works of beauty.

“I do a lot of flowers and a lot of butterflies, and I always do people in action, like a guy fishing. I do all the birds you can think of,” she said. “I take requests. I get a lot of requests for eagles. I put them on Facebook, and people share them.”

Owl beach art by Linda Ogram. (Submitted photo)

She created a two-foot-tall beehive and often makes beach art replicas of local attractions, like the Marblehead Lighthouse and Perry’s Monument. She creates all year long, when possible.

“If the sand is not frozen, I work even in winter,” she said. “I made Santa Claus with flying reindeer, and I made a girl skating in January.”

Ogram never seems to run out of ideas.

“My mind is like a sparkler. It goes off all the time,” she said.

It’s a good thing it does, since the wind buries her old ideas under the sand.

“The sand just keeps covering it up,” she said. “But that’s ok. The sand was here before I was.”

Lighthouse beach art by Linda Ogram. (Submitted photo)