Wind n Sea Beach, La Jolla — New Painting

I mixed that turquoise four times before I got it right.

I'll be honest — it was a pain in the rear. My eyes aren't what they used to be. I've been having some vision challenges lately, and there's something humbling about that when your whole life's work is built on seeing color with precision. It's interesting, getting up there in age and the surprises that come with it.

Maybe that's part of why I keep chasing bright, uplifting light in my work — like the light in this one. It reminds me why I live where I do. That clean midday California sun dazzling us all. Like here at Wind n Sea, no long shadows to hide behind. Just full, honest color brought right out in the open. Not to mention the golden hour here. But that's later in the day. Not now.

So today I stood in front of this canvas and really looked — at how the water never settles into one shade. Deep navy out past the break, a green-teal where the swell rises over the reef, then that impossible aqua-white where it gives up and turns to foam. The artist love-hate relationship with the beauty of it all. Could I get it right? Did I even need to?

I mixed. Scraped it back. Mixed again.

It's interesting — how we can all look at the same thing and each see something different. At some point I had to ask myself: what did I have to prove? Nothing. Someone else's idea of perfection was their own, not mine. The nagging came back.

Should I make it tighter? Looser? Or was it already complete? Sometimes you just need to step away. You know — before you turn something wonderful into a big pile of mud.

I decided it was finished.

New painting: Wind n Sea Beach, La Jolla.

What's something you've had to lighten up on and let go of recently?