When I lived in California, I longed for Santa Fe and now that I live In New Mexico the opposite is true. I was born on an island and spent much of my early life near or on the water. There were contests among my friends to see who could get into the freezing cold water of Long Island sound earliest in the year. I never won that one but more often than not, I had the first sunburn and the blisters that went along with it. I moved from there to California in my 20’s and managed over the years to live in all the most beautiful beach towns along that coast From San Diego to San Francisco as well as places in between and beyond. One of them was Mendocino where I did a six month artist residency at the wonderful art center there.

This painting started with a photo reference but it is more imagined than anything else. I started with a drawing to study values and shapes and then did some color studies. I set up my easel near my computer and began painting after transferring the image to my canvas using a grid. I wanted to get it right! At one point I found myself being very fussy with the rocks and ended up with a muddy mess. I wiped the area out and thought I had wrecked the painting but instead of tossing it into the trash, I kept painting and stopped looking at the photo reference. To my amazement, I ended up with a painting that for me, really expresses the essence of this place and my experience of it. I didn’t realize it at the beginning, but I already had everything I needed to make the painting work. I just needed to let go and allow it to happen through me.