Chasing Light: Notes from a Coastal Painting Trip

Every fall I try to get out to the coast for a few days before the light turns flat and grey for the winter. This year’s trip produced the studies that became “Morning Tide” and “Pale Horizon.”

What I’m usually chasing isn’t a specific view — it’s a specific window of light, often no more than ten or fifteen minutes, where the color relationships in a scene suddenly click into place. Everything before and after that window is just reference material.

I work fast on location: small panels, a limited palette, minimal blending. The goal is to get the color notes down accurately while the light lasts, then bring the piece to a more finished state back in the studio.