I stayed at Crystal Cove Cottages for 5 nights and 6 days during the second week of August.  Very lucky to have had that opportunity.  I used it as an artist retreat to spend as much time as possible exploring and painting.  Here is a jewel to me, I discovered this perfect three-point perspective of rugged rocks jutting upwards from the shoreline on Crystal Cove State Beach.  The strangest double rock look like a spaceship that landed at an angle.  The white water rushed towards the tidepools behind it and made a natural focal point.  The cool atmosphere of the early morning lent to warms shadows and reflections in the blue, gray and green waters.  There is a lot of texture in this piece.  I placed my camera on a tripod and filmed myself painting it for eleven minutes.  I will upload it to Youtube and add it to this posting later.  It is nice to see me paint and see and hear the crashing waves in it.  Here is part 1 of the painting demonstration, itis 8 minutes long:

http://youtu.be/M-8TmQyAwkc

Here is part 2 which has a sharper focus on the painting.  It is 12 minutes long  The painting was finished on location, but I ran out of memory on the camera so it did not get recorded:

http://youtu.be/XFOggZpStXY

This is part of the "On Location" exhibit at the SOCALPAPA Art Gallery.  Opening reception is Saturday, Sept 17 from 4-6pm. 

9/18/2011 - Announcement:  It won an honorable mention last evening!

Here is  what the juror and signature artist Jeff Sewell told me about this piece.  "He said it feels like you can dance across the rocks through the scene, then the white wave takes you off towards the peninsula, then back over to the bluff and down to the water and rocks again.  He liked how I did not change the atmosphere to make it appear lighter and more colorful, I stuck to the authentic lighting which created a mood."