It’s day 25 of 30 Paintings in 30 Days!
The painting today is about the beach as I head to the Sonoran desert. I’m writing this post on my flight to Phoenix, Arizona. I lived in Arizona for seventeen years and the desert will always hold a special place in my heart. The dry, sometimes alien looking landscape has a beauty to it you need to see to believe. I think one thing I miss is the vast skyline and the dramatic sunsets. Georgia O’Keefe had a similar intrigue with the big skies of New Mexico. There is something comforting about seeing so much…or maybe it was just helpful because I have no sense of direction and being able to easily see landmarks was a tremendous help.
The environment truly does affect the landscape. The tree branches and rocks I pick up on the beach have smooth, rounded edges and the tree branches and cactus skeletons from the desert floor are rough and desaturated from the sun.
I’m hoping to bring home a few treats from the landscape during my brief stay in the desert.
PAINTING DETAILS:
“On the Coast XII”
6 x 6 inches
encaustic and driftwood on wood panel
Origin: Yachats, OR
$90
click here to purchase
The paintings I create during the 30 Paintings in 30 Days challenge will be included in my NATURE CURATED series which captures the essence of place by encapsulating carefully chosen mementos nature has seemingly left behind in a thick bed of pigmented encaustic wax. To create these paintings I explore the ocean shore and forest floor to find the perfect, unique objects (shells, pine cones, driftwood and stones) to embed in a luscious layer of wax. All of these natural objects tells the story of its origin, like the smooth edges on driftwood illustrates the journey it took undulating back and forth against the rough ocean shore. Each three-dimensional fine art painting is unique, signed by me, ready to hang and includes the place of origin.
