About
Where the Ocean Meets the Art
Hello! I'm Holly Crowe.
Holly's Cove was born out of a love for the sea in 2018, at Muir Beach, California, where I spent hours hunting for sea glass along the shore.
Sea glass — often called "mermaid tears" — takes years of tumbling along the ocean floor to become smooth and beautifully shaped, each piece holding a story of its own. While creating mosaic art from these ocean gems, one design unexpectedly resembled a mermaid tail. That moment sparked something. I began experimenting with watercolor to capture the sea glass's soft, shifting hues. Around the same time, my young daughter started painting mermaid scales — and that's how the idea of sea leggings was born.
My designs are created with a deep love for the sea. Each one carries its own message — an invitation to connect with the ocean and to bring awareness to its beauty and fragility.
I currently reside in Southern California, in the City of Angels, where salty air and palm trees offer a daily sense of renewal. My favorite place to recharge is Santa Monica Beach.
Medium: Painting
Style: Watercolor, nautical, whimsical, and ethereal
My Process
Each design begins on bright white watercolor paper, where I work by hand using premium-quality watercolors — liquid pigments, dry paints, and watercolor pencils. Every piece starts with a hand-drawn scale pattern that is intentionally imperfect, followed by freeform, intuitive painting.
Once the paintings are complete, I scan them into Photoshop, where they are carefully duplicated and assembled like pieces of a puzzle. This digital step is used solely to bring the watercolor work together into a cohesive design. No digital artwork is added — the medium remains purely watercolor, guided by hand, instinct, and the organic nature of the paint itself.
Giving Back to the Ocean
The ocean gives us so much — beauty, wonder, and life itself. At Holly's Cove, 10% of every purchase goes directly to supporting efforts to restore and protect the world's oceans and marine life. When you wear Holly's Cove, you're not just wearing art — you're part of something bigger.
Muir Beach, CA — where it all began.
Ready to wear the ocean?