Whidbey Island artist collects beach rubble to make Ragamuffin’s Rock Art

Whidbey Island beachcombers may find pretty rocks, colorful shells and sea glass, but Oak Harbor resident Libby Hammer sees something more in the bits and pieces that collect on the shore: skirts, hats, pants, shoes, butterflies, kites and balloons.

Under the name Ragamuffin’s Rock Art, she creates portraits and scenes entirely out of “rocks and shells, bits and pieces, found on Whidbey beaches.” Hammer’s work depicts wholesome scenes of sisters playing, fishermen fishing and families enjoying Whidbey’s natural beauty, among so many more.

Hammer started making art with pieces of wood seven years ago in Tacoma, she said, but they didn’t make her feel anything. Something shifted when she moved to Oak Harbor.

Pulling parts of nature into her work seemed like a perfect fit for the beach community of Whidbey Island. Tourists come and want to take a rock from the beach. Hammer tends to pick broken pieces, items people often overlook, and turn them into something beautiful and memorable.

Her new pieces have a whole different feel to them. They are lively and appear to be moving. Hammer calls her characters — which wear clam-shell skirts, catch mussel shell fish and fly glass balloons — Ragamuffins, because they are made of all these broken little pieces.

Hammer’s Ragamuffin artworks are allegories of her own life, she said. At a recovery group after an abusive marriage, Hammer learned to let go of the bits and pieces of her own life that were broken.

“I needed to relinquish with God and let him take it and use it,” she said. “When I go on the beach, I pick up washed up, broken stuff that people think is garbage, but I really believe that God takes the junk in our life, and when we relinquish it to him, he’s the great artist. He puts us back together. I have a brand-new life, and I really believe it’s because what God did in my life.”

Ragamuffins are Hammer’s way of returning to the community what God gave to her, she said.

“People are really struggling now in this world,” she said. “There’s so much bad news out there. That’s why I love when (people) walk in and they brighten up. It kind of harkens to a simpler time.”

To gather her supplies, Hammer combs the beach along Windjammer Park with her husband, who used to be a biologist with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife. They’re careful about where and what they collect, to make sure it’s legal and safe for the ecosystem.

She’ll start with a piece that looks just like something, she said. An arm, say. Then, she keeps going, because “you can’t have an arm without a shoulder.” Oyster shells make great ruffled skirts. Seagulls help, she said, dropping cleaned cockle shells for her to use. Piece by piece, she assembles the scenes in her mind.

Some scenes she returns to over and over, she said, but because she uses new organic materials for each one, they come out with unique personalities.

Hammer pulls inspiration from the French artist Edgar Degas, who said “art is not what you see, but what you make others see.” She wants to show people that they can make art out of anything.

Painting, jewelry and pottery are already popular artforms on Whidbey Island. She wanted to do something special.

People of all generations can find something in her work. For kids, they want to find their own shells and make their own art. When Hammer sets up at a farmers market, she sells do-it-yourself kits for kids.

On special occasions, she’ll break free from her staple scenes. Over the holidays, angels might grace Whidbey beaches. For this weekend’s Holland Happening parade and street festival, her characters might don classic dresses and Dutch hats.

Hammer’s Ragamuffins will be on display during this weekend’s festival and at the Whidbey Allied Artists’ shows May 3-5 in the Coupeville Recreation Hall.

Learn more about Ragamuffin’s Rock Art on Facebook and Instagram.