I headed out to Abbot's Lagoon at Pt Reyes National Seashore. It was a cold rainy day with rainbows, rolling waves, and of course...painting. Abbot's Lagoon is a freshwater lagoon above the beach. There is the upper lagoon which looks like a typical lake, there is a lower lagoon that is much larger. The water spreads out shallow and is filled with abundant birds. I expect this water in the lower lagoon is more brackish with a mixture of salt and freshwater both from tidal overflow and the water table. After the lower lagoon you cross some dunes and a large field of sand which takes you to the pacific ocean. Within the course of 1.5 miles you get a freshwater lake, a brackish tidal lagoon, and the pacific ocean. Each area has a different set of plants and wildlife. So many transitions packed into a short walk.
For this trip I hiked past the lagoons and painted next to the ocean. I created a time-lapse video of my painting. This was my first attempt at this. I hope to do more, although I think it will be hard to mix in more inclement weather and physical humor than this particular painting trip. The wind kept blowing my easel over, and i had to hold it down. Also my arm went numb due to the wet, cold, and wind. Now I have painted in snow or heavier rain than this day, but upon reaching the ocean I decided to capture some video of the waves rolling in. I wanted to capture the waves rolling over the camera, so I kept moving farther into the waves; so by the time I started painting I had already spent fifteen minutes in the water filming. By the time I started painting my arm went numb and I could not even mix my paint. So...watch the video and see the creative problem solving it required to get the bloodflow back to my arm and get back to action.
