Odometer: 221.8 miles
Free Range #7: Just Around the Corner
Matt Beard
Free Range #6: Roadside Blues
Odometer: 213.5 miles
Sometimes we all need
a soft shoulder to cry on
But other times all we need is
A wide shoulder to park on
Free Range #5: Getting Lost
Odometer: 205.1 miles
Free Range #4: Entrance
Odometer: 179.8 mi
Last one from my home territory. Hitting the road tomorrow a.m. Huge thanks to everyone that has made suggestions, requests, and commitments for the pieces I’ll be painting each day of this trip. You have all helped make this trip possible and you have my gratitude. I’ll try not to blow it.
Free Range #3: Maybe Later
Odometer 149.6 miles
Got a little sidetracked already. Trying to get just the right angle to paint from the van for the previous painting, my front bumper just grazed the railing on the roadside… and promptly broke, bent, and dislodged itself halfway off. Not wanting to spend this whole drive wondering if it would fall off completely, I figured I should take care of it sooner than later. Fortunately this all happened very close to home, making things simple. But in the rush of taking care of business to begin the real road trip down the state, this little funky one is, all I could muster up. Looking forward to points south soon, hopefully tomorrow.
Free Range #2: Leeward
Odometer: 75.4 miles
I often paint right out the back or side of my van, literally standing up inside the thing, enjoying the shade and windblock it provides. The added elevation gain is a nice bonus as well, and sometimes it’s the only reason I paint from in there. On this day it was all three. Bright and windy, and if I stood on the ground outside I just couldn’t see over the bushes in the foreground. I know it only adds about two feet or so, but that can make all the difference.
Sometimes I get a bit picky and want to position the van just so, getting the perfect view out the door. This one was just past a large parking area as it narrowed back on to the road. It took a bit of positioning to get the view without blocking the road at all. Due to the tight squeeze, I was parked right up against the roadside guard rail.
It all worked out great until it was time to go. Somehow an edge of my bumper got caught on a spot where two railings overlapped. As I pulled away it just about ripped the front of the van off. That might be an exaggeration, but still, it was beyond me to fix it. Had to take it to a body shop later to sort that one out.
Free Range #1: Waiting for the Day to Warm Up
Odometer: 0.00 miles
Kicking off the tour of California’s coast with some river time near the Oregon Border. Mornings have a bit of a chill that make swimming sound a little better… later. Like after this quick painting. Took a four hour swim with the family up the river right after this one.
Summer Evening
Summer Calm
Time Zone # 2
Plein air, but with a twist.
Traditional plein air work involves working fast to give an impression of the place at a particular time of day. The changing nature of light throughout a day limits the working time for a single session so larger pieces usually involve multiple sessions returning to the same location at the same time on different days.
This Timezone series is a slow cooking experiment in painting larger works in single sessions over a longer period, all day even, while still remaining true to the traditional plein air ethos. Each vertical band represents a different “timezone” painted quickly to reflect the light conditions of that fleeting moment.
Crossing Lines
Passing Through V
Painted live for a friend’s going away party gift. These passing through series pieces represent something very simple for me: the movement of energy through any medium. I painted the first one live at a music festival in southern Humboldt while on my home from San Francisco. Just passing through. Something resonated with that one and I’ve done several more since then. In this case the vertical bands in the piece seem to me like periods of a person’s life, where significant life-changing events happen, new chapters are begun but the same vitality of life keeps flowing through from one to the next. Ok. That is all. Robin from HumBrews, I wish you the best in your next chapter.
Airwaves
Painted live on the radio?
Yep, live radio.
KHUM with Mike Dronkers in the KHUM studio in Ferndale, CA. Huge thanks to @mikedronkers and @khumradio for letting this happen. If you squint your eyes and stand on your head and sip an IPA while viewing this one you’ll clearly see Mike spinning tunes from the control booth at KHUM on his 7th to last radio show here. We’re gonna miss this guy.
With a Blazing Midday Sun
Time Zone # 1
Plein air, but with a twist.
Traditional plein air work involves working fast to give an impression of the place at a particular time of day. The changing nature of light throughout a day limits the working time for a single session so larger pieces usually involve multiple sessions returning to the same location at the same time on different days.
This Timezone series is a slow cooking experiment in painting larger works in single sessions over a longer period, all day even, while still remaining true to the traditional plein air ethos. Each vertical band represents a different “timezone” painted quickly to reflect the light conditions of that fleeting moment.
Light Horizon
Passing Through IV
“Freedom doesn’t exist out there, real freedom is within…” that was a passing thought while painting this one in full art hobo mode operating in a small shady alley in the beautiful town of Ferndale, CA on the fourth of July this year. Pretty random. I think I was trying to paint the American flag, but something went a bit sideways… I can only guess what the townsfolk thought of the hairy hobo arting out water rainbows in their alley during their patriotic street party. Nobody told me to leave so I’m calling it a win.
Lifting Grays
Out of Eden
Carl’s Crackers
Out of Sight, Out of Mind
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t hide from a helicopter and duck for cover in the bushes by the train tracks twice on my way to get this view. Graffiti guys deal with this sort of thing all the time, plein air guys not so much. That was fun.
Sounds like its been an intense week for folks that live here and love and care for this coast. Another oil spill is just another example of how the cost of living our lives plays out in many ways.
Big thanks to my friends Guner, John, Mike, and Chris for all the Intel and access logistics.
Beautiful from Here
Always dug the graphic road vibes on this one. There may or may not have been boats anchored just to the left of the frame cleaning up* an oil spill from a busted pipe on the side of the highway. Either way, the color if the water in this little cove was incredible.
*or just dumping poisonous dispersant in the water to break up the oil and put it out of sight, out of mind. I hope I heard that wrong.
Then They Took Him Away
Who wrote this book of etiquette?
All of the pages are blank
As though the ink has spilled right off the paper
Leaving us to write our own rules with pencils
And skin
And burning eyes
After reading from cover to cover we are left
Just as we were before
Somewhat crude
And still rather unrefined
Tolled You So
Time Slides Away
