The Long View

Plein air artwork looking toward the Long Marine Lab on the Santa Cruz coast of Central California

Sometimes a painting or a place stirs up more of a poem instead of any sort of story. Not sure what I was thinking here, but when I pulled up my notes on this one, this poem is all I had written down. Make of it what you will…

—

Bones of old ships
Left basking in the sun
The mast of an ancient whale
That swallowed the sailor’s son
Observed, measured, recorded
Love notes in the margin
In their book of numbers
Written but never done

It’s the allure of the sea
It’s the stairway to heaven
It’s the ticket that was rendered
For breaking the number seven

On that distant ship
Out near the horizon
They observe the charts
and adhere to strict notations
Students of the sea and sky
And of the publication
Of their book of numbers
Printed but still in revision

It’s all here and plain to see
When you separate the many from the few
They shout a holy countdown
But the answer is found in the long view

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Pure and Simple

Plein air artwork from the hiking trails at Purisima point on the San Mateo coast of Central California

One of my favorite things when I’m out on the road (or at home for that matter) is finding a new trail to access a piece of coast I haven’t seen before. I’d seen some new trailheads on a previous trip past this stretch of private agricultural coastal bluffs and made a mental note to return when the opportunity arose. Today it arose because I’d been painting like mad over the last few days and had planned to get get some waves this morning, and as luck would have it the surf was absolutely uninspiring. But the weather was as nice as it gets, a great day to go paint and I happened to be in the area not far from this recently opened trail. I’d looked up the trail on a map and saw that it ran for miles on the edge of the coastal bluff, fields of artichokes on one side, the deep blue sea on the other. A pure and simple distillation of the essence of this coastline. I was disappointed to find the trail closed on weekdays though. Nuts! I’m sure they have a fine reason for this, but it boggled my mind. Fortunately, it wasn’t closed up by the road where a little fence-hopping would be obvious, but all the way down by the ocean well out of view from passing cars. The view from the locked gate was just fine and all… but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a little finer just a little further in.

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A Wide Range

Plein air painting of a cattle ranch at Drake's Estero at Point Reyes National Park on the Marin coast of California

The fourth painting completed in one long day spent in solitude, hunting views and painting in one of the most beautiful parts of California I can think of. I’ve driven past this little ranch nestled along a finger of this estuary and always thought it would make a nice painting. The day was fading fast, but I don’t get out this way too often so I made the most of it. From tree lined roads, to quiet beaches, to sweeping rugged vistas, to serene pastoral settings, there truly is a wide range of possibilities to paint out here.

Also, there will always be a moon over Marin.

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Nova Albion

Plein air artwork of Point Reyes National Park on the Marin coast of northern California

Plein air painting in strong winds is indeed a sport. Especially on the edge of a steep cliff. Painters know the challenges, but most folks just see finished paintings during their 10 seconds of social media fame and think whether they like it or not. Whether they should type a comment, hit the like button, or just keep scrolling. The next painting on the viewer’s feed may have been created in a comfy studio, warm, nice lighting, no glare, no time rush to race a changing light. One created in luxury, the other with the easel constantly shaking like it’s a passenger in a third world tour bus on a back country road about to go over the edge and into the ravine. There’s no way to appreciate the effort that went into painting in 30 mph wind gusts and what sort of makeshiftery and desperate soul-pleading goes into these excursions to return with these tangible artifacts created on location. This is one of those that could have easily been lost had I relaxed my firm grip on the easel at the wrong moment in the howling wind on this exposed headland.

I could see this painting in my mind, long before arriving. A tantalizing thin finger of land extending out to the shelter of a sweeping bay- the roaring Pacific one one side and calm waters on the other- that sort of thing gets me fired up, and why not? There’s not many places one can stand on California’s mainland and get this two-sided dynamic in one frame at this geologic scale.

This bay is thought to be the site where an English explorer attempted to claim this region of the new world for England over 400 years ago, dubbing it Nova Albion- which is Latin for New England. This was well before that term had come into use for the Northeastern United States. But England never followed up on the claim, and Spain continued it’s expanding rule of the region they called Alta California. The name “Nova Albion” would be lost except to the history books, and a few old maps.

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Her New Road

Plein air painting of a road to the beach at Point Reyes National Park on the Marin coast of Northern California

I imagine it was only a seasonal closure, something about nesting birds on the sand dunes, but it rattled my whole game plan. This isn’t a place one just passes through on the way down the coast, you have to really make the effort to get off the beaten path to find yourself out here. Once you do, especially if it’s on a quiet weekday, it’s one of the most amazing places in California. But even so, if your whole plan was to march up the dunes to capture the beach scene here for a dear friend from your youth, it’s a bit frustrating to be met with signs and fencing marking everything off limits except the parking lot and the beach itself. I like to be outside of a place and looking at it from a decent distance when I paint a location, so sitting on the beach just wouldn’t cut it. I found the only vantage point that offered a distant perspective was from the side of the freshly paved road that led to the beach here. As I took in the scene I realized the road was boldly part of the landscape and it gave me a moment to reflect on the different roads we take in life. Hers and mine parted many years ago. This was her new road. I’d never been here before, and (being that I have a bit of an aversion to painting long straight sandy beaches) probably wouldn’t have come at all if she hadn’t asked me to. Realizing this, I made it part of the painting on this beautiful morning just as the fog lifted.

Later that night, I’d end up sleeping in the van illegally in this carpark at the end of the road. Restless at one point in the early evening, I got up and walked this road by starlight. The wide road providing an easy stroll in the dim light as the night mists hung over the low vegetation on either side. Not a soul around. Just a traveler alone with his thoughts, passing through in the night, and gone again at first light… (to avoid the rangers mostly, I am not an early riser by nature).

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The Light at the End

Plein air artwork of the Cypress Tree Tunnel at Point Reyes National Park on the Marin coast of northern California

First of four paintings I’d paint this day in one of my favorite parts of California. Thick morning fog prevented me from seeing the views I came for so I went with my standard back up plan- wander around aimlessly and grumble about that old nemesis- the Great Northern Pacific Marine Layer. Mid grumble I passed this road lined with Cypress trees and it changed my tune.

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Geological Chess: The King and His Rookery

Plein air oil painting artwork of Pebble Beach in Crescent City on the Del Norte Coast of northern California

I rarely paint with oils, but I’ve done several over the last few years, sneaking them in to the mix here and there as I feel like it, just to remind myself that the grass really isn’t any greener in oils, the morning dew just takes a lot longer to dry.

Most of my paintings are done with acrylics- albeit a specific formula designed to dry slower than your typical art store variety, but yes, water based, dry in hours instead of days, months, or years. I love the simplicity this creates in my workflow on the road as well as the immediacy it creates on the canvas (thin coats dry in minutes) allowing bold changes of color without scraping and/or risking turning once vibrant fields of color into mud. Mix the color, place it on the canvas, don’t noodle around going for anything too painterly, or get bogged in details. Just get ‘er done and move on. Which is how I paint in oils as well, by the way, it’s just a bit more of a chess match where moves need to be planned a bit further in advance.

That said, I generally avoid discussing my medium too much. I love art in general, and truly don’t evaluate a painting I see based on it’s medium. I look for color and form and a conveyed sense of place and time. Those things speak to me. I don’t much care what was used to get there.

The 10 year old kid that wandered by and ended up watching me paint nearly this whole painting from start to finish wasn’t even slightly concerned about my chosen medium, but he would have you know that there was a seal on the beach that I did not include (to be honest I never did see it- my eyes aren’t the best), and also that this painting looks “real” if you get further away from it. So there you go.

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Unagi

Plein air artwork of the mouth of the Eel River at Crab Park in Humboldt County, California

This is from a quiet little beach near our home. The inlet to the sea out there was letting these perfect little 8-inch waves into the bay and watching them spin along this quiet beach is a rather hypnotic way to spend an afternoon. These flat and expansive beach landscapes have always given me trouble when composing a painting, but I’ve been really trying to make peace with negative space and enjoy a more quiet approach to composition when the need arises.

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Moonlight Sessions

Plein air nocturne artwork of city lights over San Diego Harbor at Kate Sessions Park in San Diego

Fueled up after a feast at Besta Wan Pizza in Cardiff, and armed with a headlamp, moral support from my pals in mischief Pierce and Petra Kavanagh, and further fueled by the french fries and milkshakes they brought back after dropping me off in this park just up the way from a pack of howling teenagers, well, this is what happened. The city lights in this scene are a good reminder to take nothing for granted as we are soon heading into yet another round of planned power outages because apparently Humboldt County’s power grid is not actually a grid, it’s more like an extension cord running through some gnarly fires that are burning south of us. Lots of trouble for lots of folks all over California right now. Some minor- we had to eat a whole bunch of weird frozen food today because it pretty much thawed in the last outage and it was either eat it, or toss it out. But many south of us are losing a whole lot more and it will take a lot more than a trip to the market for them to recover. Wishing everyone the best out there.

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First Things First

Plein air artwork from the California coast near Carlsbad in San Diego County

A quick one first thing in the morning after spending a week painting with Wade Koniakowsky down in his neighborhood awhile back. I guess I wasn’t done painting yet. Pretty sure I did 4 paintings on this day to celebrate being done with a busy week of… painting? Don’t judge. Just like mourning, we all celebrate in different ways. 

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Bass and Treble

Plein air artwork from the Swami's Beach carpark in Encinitas on the San Diego coast of southern California

3rd of 4 paintings painted this day- a larger piece for a single session plein air, but I was warmed up and found some shade so I settled into this one for the afternoon. Speaking of shade, how shady are some of the characters in this parking lot? Saw some things that can’t be unseen, but those are other stories and they aren’t that good anyway. I was focused on the scene beyond. The palms reminded me of ascending and descending notes on a piece of sheet music, the posts and rail a steady beat beneath it all. There’s music in every painting, but this one was louder than usual. Or it could have been the music through my headphones- I was feeling it and might have turned em up a bit. That’s also one of my strategies to get things done in a crowded place with lots of people looking to interact. Just blast music and sing badly. It keeps them at bay anyway. When the easel is rocking, don’t come knocking. Wrong metaphor, but for this parking lot, on this day, I don’t know, maybe not so off after all.

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A Stone’s Throw

Plein air artwork from Stone Steps in Leucadia on the San Diego coast of southern California

2nd of 4 paintings painted this day- a quick study done in the midday heat. Figured since I mentioned my last one was the first of four in one day, I better own up to it and show the rest of them as well… bear with me

Painted and titled this a year before the recent fatal bluff collapse on this stretch of coast. On any given day down here, this is a common site- folks posting up right beneath these coastal bluffs. Everyone knows they can and do occasionally collapse, but it seems so easily forgotten when the sun is out and the sand is warm. I painted this scene without a thought for the danger these red umbrella folks had put themselves in. Just be mindful out there, that is all. 

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48mph: The Speed of Memory

Plein air artwork of the Pacific Coast Highway at Carlsbad state park on the san diego coast of southern california

I’d driven past this little dip in coast bluff several times over the prior week while painting with Wade Koniakowsky, Norm Daniels, Jose Emroca Flores, and Greg Gorgas a couple summers back. One crispy clear afternoon the scene here really caught my eye. A day or two later I’d dragged Wade and Norm back here promising them a beautiful sweeping scene in the afternoon light. It wasn’t. Turns out the view from a car on the highway is pretty different than the view standing on the scorched earth between the north and south bound lanes. Also an early afternoon haze can put a rather undramatic gray/white blanket across a landscape. Feeling just a tinge of guilt for dragging the guys to this bland scene, we decided to make the most of it, and I just painted this from that first 48mph fleeting memory instead. Pretty sure someone got attacked by ants also. Plein air painting is pretty fun.

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Hot Water

Plein air artwork of the Powerhouse at Del Mar on the san Diego coast of southern California

I recall that I really wanted to focus on creating a graphic band of information across an otherwise quiet composition here. It was liberating to not feel the need to indulge in extra information in the sky above or grass lawn below. The busy action that cuts across the canvas puts the busyness of our lives in context- together we make up a band of vibrant information in a cosmos dominated by vast empty spaces… trippy. I probably took that a bit too far right there but oh well.

Also I sat and painted this with 3 other artists sitting nearby: Wade Koniakowsky, Norm Daniels, and Jose Emroca Flores. We drank Norm’s fancy drinks while sitting on the edge of a playground cracking jokes and painting. Nobody told us to leave and the kids really dug watching the old guys do their art things.

Oh, and like always on this particular trip, it was rather hot, so I jumped in the water after painting this, and it was not much cooler. The whitewater, being made of air trapped in turbulent water consisted on this day of warm water and hot air, and gave the distinct sensation of not being even slightly cool at all. Not cool. I know this is normal in tropical oceans, but somewhat unusual for California.

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Dog’s Eye View

Plein air artwork of Dog Beach at the mouth of the Del Mar Lagoon on the San Diego coast of southern California

This was a quick one at the end of a longish day of painting with Wade Koniakowsky, Norm Daniels, and Jose Emroca Flores. I believe Greg Gorgas joined in for this quick later afternoon session as well. We’d been painting all week together so by now these guys knew when I wandered off with a 16×20 canvas that it could be awhile- I often spend well over 2 hours on a single painting that size in the field. They looked at their watches and exchanged concerned looks and promptly gave me a stern 1 hour curfew like good parents. I can only wonder if they said to one another after I went marching up the hill that it was “for his own good, you know”. It was a neat view up there. I didn’t have time to think it over much, so I just went after this one in a flurry. I think a few of them are in the painting too, painting by one of those umbrellas on the beach. I made it back right on time, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say they seemed surprised. I can be a good kid sometimes.

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Eventually

Plein air artwork of the trail to Beacon's Beach on the San Diego coast of southern California

That’s my dad’s 76 VW parked in the prime spot for this painting of this busy beach access trail down in San Diego. I believe Norm painted a closeup of the bus while I tried to bite off this whole scene. I have a habit of doing that, often taking on a bit too much. It’s not an easy place to get an angle to paint from and I really wanted to show the whole path to the beach, or at least as much as I could of it. At the time there was much discussion of a new proposed stairway to access the beach, and much resistance to the proposed design as well. I’m not sure where that stands now…

When I saw these old railroad ties sticking out of the eroded cliff face, I figured they must be part of an older trail long since collapsed. This trail will eventually suffer the same fate as well, like every sandcastle does. These cliffs aren’t made of stone. And they are also very dangerous as recent tragedies in the area have shown. Be respectful, mind your distance from the base of any steep cliff or coastal bluff, and tread lightly out there.

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All You Can Eat

Plein air artwork of Tabletop Reef in Del Mar on the San Diego coast of southern California

This was a significant painting for me. I have a tendency to want to include everything, and break up every space on a canvas into smaller and smaller pieces. When painting flat beaches or spaces with a lot of empty foreground or sky I usually struggle with those empty areas. Here I finally just let them be. Not sure why it took nearly thirty years of painting to figure that one out, but better late than never, yeah?

Also it was super hot and humid and uncomfortable. I found shade under the stairs to the beach- smart! …And it rained sand every time someone passed overhead coming or going- not so smart!

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