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.
While painting a full arc rainbow spread across the beach. Check out the images below to see the rainbow, my painting, and the lagoon and the ocean. All told it was a wet and cold, but extremely rewarding day painting and learning at the ocean.
