Sacred Space

Coastal rocks Point Lobos State Park. Painted en plein air in late afternoon light., during the Carmel Art Festival Juried competition in 2015. This was my first plein air painting done using " Pan Pastels. Original framed pastel is at The Coos Art Museum, Coos Bay, Oregon Painted en plein air at the Shoal Bay Estuary about ¼ mile from my home on Lopez Island, during the worst wildfire era I’ve ever experienced. Smoke mixed with fog and marine layers of air, made it hard to breathe, let alone paint. That distant spot of land that divides the estuary from Shoal Bay was only 500’ away, with Upright Head on the right side drifting in and out of visible sight, about 1500’ further out. It felt like the twilight zone! The air and water seemed to be one and the same, with nearly imperceptible value & color shifts between the two. The painting clearly called for very soft edges or none at all, making Pan Pastels my choice as preferred medium! This painting won “Best Plein Air” in the Plein Air Washington Annual Juried show in 2019, awarded by Dave Santillanes, whose atmospheric oil paintings in the Rocky Mountains are absolutely brilliant. I was thrilled too get an award from him! The lyrics below, from a title song in the musical “Hair” were sung by me the whole time I worked. Welcome, sulfur dioxide Hello, carbon monoxide The air, the air is everywhere Breathe deep while you sleep, breathe deep…