Sand & Surf

I filled a whole sketchbook while in California.... I love looking at my sketches and reflecting on all the wonderful encounters and experiences. I thought I would share a few over the next few blog entries.

One Friday evening I picked up Caroline and Lucia (a student from Germany who was also taking the training courses at Monty Robert's ranch) from class and we headed south on Highway 101 for a beach excursion. The ocean is just a thirty minute drive from Solvang. It was Lucia's first time to see the Pacific Ocean and a nice opportunity for new scenery!

It was surprisingly chilly with a strong wind but the girls were determined to get in the water. They ran right in and jumped into the waves. It was a short swim and after bundling up with every available towel and sweatshirt we had brought we sat and enjoyed a picnic dinner. The sea gulls stayed very close... determined to make their case for a morsel or two.

Afterwards, the girls went beach combing and I stayed to paint the panorama in front of me. Large wispy pink clouds rolled in off the ocean and hovered over downtown Santa Barbara in the distance. Huge flocks of pelicans zoomed overhead and swooped down into the ocean. The surf crept up the sand and began to form a channel in front of me that opened to a tidal pool to the left. Kids were having fun watching the water carve away the sand.

Caroline and Lucia returned from their walk and had fun taking picures jumping in the channel.

I finished the painting and then we packed up to go. But not before Lucia stopped to fill an empty soda bottle with sand to bring home to Germany for her little girl. A souvenir from a lovely evening at Refugio Beach.