California Coast Series

California as an ideal has been a part of my imagination since I was very young. I grew up listening to The Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, and the Mamas and the Papas sing about the California Coast, and imagining what it would be like to be there. These paintings are a response to my first sight of the Pacific Ocean, and my encounter with West Coast light. It's an ongoing, changing series about my short time in California, and through it I'm exploring color, light, and how to capture the magnitude of the California landscape as a native New Englander. It's also about revisiting my childhood dreams and processing the experience of being in a place that has for so long been an ideal for me. As I continue to paint, this series will explore my experience from multiple angles, and attempt to capture the wonder that still holds me to this place, if only through memory.