Thermal Windows




Thermal Windows

This private beach club cove once hosted a thriving whaling community. If one could activate time layers to run simultaneously we’d see grandmas playing smashball over bloody whale carcasses being carved away on the beach. But today is a quiet weekday and I see neither. I only see the quiet scene blurred through my sweating eyeballs as the southern California heat rises from the scorched desert at my feet. And speaking of whales and sweat, of coarse everyone knows that whales don’t sweat (I didn’t, I had to look it up just to be sure, but I strongly suspected they wouldn’t). But if that’s so, how then do they cool off?  Sometime or another all that oily blubber must work a little too well and trap them in too much heat, not unlike my current predicament while painting on this hill. Apparently they have regions on their body around the dorsal fins and elsewhere where the blubber layer is minimal, and these zones are packed with fine blood vessels. Whale gets hot, pumps more blood to these “thermal windows”, blood cools off, whale cools off, pumps less blood to thermal windows, whale warms up, etc. My thermal windows weren’t working so well today. Had to resort to some ice cold external 12oz thermal regulator cans full of deliciously fizzy fermented grains. They helped. Science is amazing.

-Matt Beard




Artwork Information:


Artwork Title: "Thermal Windows"
Original Size: 20" x 16"
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas
Year Painted: 2021

Additional Artwork Information:


Method: Plein Air
Date Painted: 10/15/2021
Region: The California Coast > Southern California > Los Angeles

Artwork Logistics:


Travel Logistics: Had to Sleep in My Van
Access Logitics: Posted: No Trespassing, Private Property
(Painted With Permission)
Botanical Hazards: Thorns and Brambles
Biological Hazards: Mysterious Insect Bites/Stings
Anthropological Hazards: Surfers Are The Worst
Weather Logistics: Painted in Full Sun with no Shade
Temperature: Cooking Hot


Tags: , , ,