CALIFORNIA SOUVENIR, acrylic on board/panel, plein-air

CALIFORNIA SOUVENIR, 9x12 in. painted plein-air in Cambria, California. I must add I painted it last Spring while freezing to death on the cold beach, in spite of all the jackets I was wearing! But it was fun anyway, because I was with good company.

In painting as in life, it is not WHAT you do, or WHERE you do it, but HOW and WHY you do it. It's the motive, the goal, the company that counts.

CALIFORNIA SOUVENIR, acrylic on panel

CALIFORNIA SOUVENIR, acrylic on panel, 9x12, available
This is the second of the series of two paintings I did last year at the same spot. One looking north, one looking south, from where I was standing at the beach. It was sunny, but windy and cold. I froze my hands painting out there! I was in the Cambria area, north of Santa Barbara. So beautiful!!!

In seeking an answer to a quandary, one must consider the Law of Parsimony, proposed by the English monk William of Ockham: "All things being equal, the simplest solution is the best."

CALIFORNIA COAST, acrylic on panel

CALIFORNIA COAST, acrylic on panel, 9x12, available.

I was reading about Ted Nuttall, the fabulous watercolorist, the other day, in Watercolor Magazine, February 2014. He says that if he's not moving forward, he feels like he's standing still. I loved that comment, because I feel the same way. He also said : "the real energy of paintings comes from the feelings the artists had when they painted what they loved".  I always loved his watercolor portraits, now I also admire the person.