11x14" Fine Art Lithographic Print: Intertidal

Special edition, fine art series, print by Mustard Beetle owner, Elizabeth Jean Younce

This item is an Original Hand-Pulled Lithograph titled "Intertidal" featuring: fig.1 Charadrius melodus, [threatened] Piping Plover • fig.2 Limulus polyphemus [native] Atlantic Horshoe Crab • fig.3 Carex kobomugi [invasive] Asiatic Sand Sedge

The ranges of these species overlap on the Eastern Seaboard and specifically the shores of Rhode Island. The coordinates 41.48482° N, 71.25036° W reference the West end of a popular public beach, Second Beach, in Middletown, Rhode Island which I frequented while growing up.

While some invasive species have spread unintentionally, on ship hulls due to global development, connectivity, and trade, some were spread deliberately. For example, the Asiatic Sand Sedge was introduced up and down the Atlantic Coast to act as an erosion control and sand stabilizer. Without foresight of how new species will react when introduced to a landscape, humans have a had a tendency to fight fire with fire.

This precise location is where the public shore meets the Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge, and is typically blocked off for the nesting threatened Piping Plover. This area is also home to the Atlantic Horseshoe Crab which provides sustenance, in the form of eggs, for the birds. Unfortunately, the dunes have been taken over by the Asiatic Sand Sedge. Preventative and eradication efforts have led conservationists to spray the beach with herbicide. Luckily, contrary to the EcoRI news article about this situation, the Piping Plovers did in fact fledge 4 chicks at this site during the 2023 season.

A portion of the profits from this print will be donated to either the Friends of the National Wildlife Refuges of Rhode Island or the Nature Conservancy of Rhode Island for the future conservation of the Piping Plover.

Created for the 2024 (Providence, RI) Southern Graphics Council International exchange portfolio that Michael Ezzell and I hosted, Undercurrents.

✸ Handprinted on a printing press with archival inks on Rives BFK Off-White 280gsm (100% Cotton Rag, 255 gsm, Acid Free)
✸ Lithography (9-layers)
✸ 11x14" (bleed print) • 2024
✸ Signed, limited edition of 20 (never to be printed again)
✸ Ships flat and plastic free