Beach Days and Summer Joy

Summer Fun 1, 15 × 30, acrylic, graphite and metallic paint on canvas. Sand between your toes, the sun on your face, the sound of waves lapping - summer at its finest!

Summer should be a time of play, joy and memory making. Armed with this thought and many happy stories of time at the beach, I have begun using palette knives and drawing elements to create paintings that feel alive with summer energy. At first it was a challenge to ignore the desire to recreate something from a photo, but soon I began to find joy in the dab of red placed spontaneously, the glide of the knife edge to create a wave. I let my intuition guide me me and just tried to hold onto those moments of happiness in the sand.

Our family has spent many a day playing in the waves, building sand castles and walking hand in hand along the shore. We have reapplied sunscreen only to realize the next day that we missed a spot or two and to relish in the pain of the burn as we recount our stories in the sun. We have climbed the dunes and paddled our boards out to the point. We have napped on our towels and stared up at the moving clouds. We have laughed as we crunched on sandy sandwiches and let ice cream melt down our chins.

To have those precious moments along the shore means the world to me. Those times together, filled with joy are moments I hold on to through the cold winter days. To celebrate all those stories, to recreate those places, to feel the essence of summer, that is why I threw caution to the wind and joyously painted these beaches. Perhaps they will spark a memory or bring a smile to someone else as well?

Along the Way to the Beach, 30 × 30 acrylic, graphite and metallic paint on canvas.