The morning before painting this I had done a demo for a friend’s high school art class down on the beach below these hills. I felt like I sorta botched that one a bit, (I had higher hopes for it anyway) . He took his students to a Museum in Laguna Beach afterwards and I tagged along. The front room held several pieces from the early California impressionist masters, William Wendt, Edgar Payne, and others. As the class toured on, I stayed put and absorbed those pieces for an hour or so. Leaving there I was fired up to go paint, and had spotted a promising trailhead earlier in the week so I went after it in the fading afternoon light. It was a pretty good workout getting to this vantage point, but once here it was like standing in one of those paintings from 100 years ago. Sure the coast highway has exploded with development, but up the hills in these open spaces, time doesn’t seem to have budged.

Sidenote: this original will be on display in my gallery… er, van… this weekend during my North Coast Open Studios event at Trinidad Head. Come check it and chat art while standing in my van. Not creepy or awkward at all. All are welcome. (Maximum occupancy: 3 – but I’ll set up a pop-up tent beside the van so you can stay dry and cook up some coffee until there’s room in the van… er, gallery.