Laguna Beach

Whew!! It's getting hard to squeeze in the painting time I need, in between working outside on the house trim, doing computer and promotional stuff, and dealing with the fact that I get REALLY sleepy in the afternoon. This last item is a tendency I've dealth with all my life, but these last few years, I can't seem to ignore it anymore. I end up taking a nap (whether I want to or not) for an hour or so, then I'm groggy for another hour! Sheesh!!!

So as long as I'm sleeping, I might as well dream about one of my favorite places: Laguna Beach, CA.

Besides the natural and parklike settings there, Laguna Beach has a cute village atmosphere that also features -- surprise! -- art galleries! Many of them show works that I personally don't care for (in fact, some of the pieces are such turn-offs, I actually feel discouraged about the entire art world!) But some of the work is wonderful. Thankfully, I know which galleries to visit to see the good stuff!

California has lots of beautiful beaches and beach communities, but IMO, Laguna Beach is without peer. And the art scene there is the icing on the cake.

Sun 'N' Surf

Ahhh...California! Just the name conjures up scenes like this, doesn't it?

This state has it all when it comes to scenery -- sandy beaches and rugged coastline, mountains, deserts, redwood forests, the highest and lowest points in the continental USA, Yosemite, a theoretically active volcano, and a totally inept state legislature -- but we won't get into that. This time, anyway.

My wife and I lived in Colorado during the 1990's -- and we missed California terribly. We realized California isn't the perfect "sun 'n' surf" place it's made out to be, and it isn't always the "land of fruits and nuts," either.

But as a landscape painter, the variety of spectacular scenery would be hard to match anywhere else.

On the other hand, much of the scenery resulted from earthquakes and land movement. Someday, the area we live in will be devastated -- it's inevitable. It could happen in our lifetimes, or it may not. We prefer "not." We hope to continue enjoying the results of nature's handiwork, and I hope to continue to paint it for as long as I'm able to do so.

Someday, too, the cliffs on the right in the above painting will collapse, and this area (in Laguna Beach) will look quite differently than the way it looks in the artwork.

That's California for ya!