I have been visualizing finding an art studio to live and paint in for years really. And what a gift from the universe that nearly exactly what I was imagining was dropped into my lap! It is right on the water, built on stilts over the beach and the tide comes underneath the house... almost like a boat, but it doesn't move! I have completed 2 paintings in my first week and am feeling the high-frequency salty air creativity vibes... Below is the first of a new series I'm working on. I am really feeling this palette of colors. I love the browny ochres and yellowy greens that are created when the sand gets pulled up into the clear water. The combination of those warm colors with the cool whites and blues of the foam are so stunning. This is what I'm exploring right now... I started the above painting live at a holiday event last month and enjoyed painting in front of curious eyes. Thank you to all of those who came and watched and reminded me of the magic of painting! I did not get it on the easel to finish it up until arriving into my new studio... This painting is based off a day on the Washington State coast. I arrived at dawn and was shocked to see perfectly peaking clean offshore waves at the jetty in Westport. A little too offshore, but I felt like I really nailed the forecast, it was a gorgeous high pressure sunny day and I was one of the first out in the freeezing cold water. Only problem was a didn't have a hood so I experienced acute brain freeze when duck-diving. Eventually I paddled enough, warmed up and managed to catch a few waves. Despite numb hands, I had a huge smile and was invigorated and felt so alive bobbing in the living, breathing ocean. After warming up I spent the rest of the day studying and watching the sea... mostly just breathing it in and feeling inspired by the simple beauty. I was so taken into the magic of the seafoam pulling across the surface - as I have been for years - but with a new purpose to paint it I have become even more entrenched in the beauty of the waves and their healing powerful grace. In and around the sea I do feel almost an altered state of connection. It is easy for me to let go of the worries of life, the concerns of the future and instead feel hope, feel joy just by being at the sea. Certainly a bright sky of sun adds to the glory. Inhaling that sea air just lights my fire! The sea always lifts me up, and the simple yet stunning way the foam turns to brilliant blue as the wave casts it shadow... mmmmm! The jewel-like quality of the water as the sun illuminates it from the back for just a second and pulls sand into a rainbow of changing colors... yess. It is truly magic that I get to live for a couple of months in this gorgeous house on the bay. I hope a lot of pure, uplifting, hours of creation are spent right in this little corner taking in the birds and seals and the changing tides. The Puget Sound is so calming. It is not the powerful ocean waves that I described above but a calming place to rest and dive into the joy of creating what my heart desires...