Portuguese Beach
Hello, friends! My favorite month has finally arrived. The flowers are blooming, bumble bees are buzzing, doves are cooing, and sunlight is warming us up here on the coast.
This month I want to share a painting with you that I created after a lovely day on the beach. It was a crazy time. We were celebrating some wonderful news. We’d found out that Vern’s latest PET scan was clean. No residual cancer was visible in his body. Our journey with his cancer is not over, but sparing you the details, I can say that it was a huge day for celebration.
We headed down to Mendocino. We were craving a day with sand between our toes, wind in our hair, the scent of seaweed, and the sounds of waves crashing. We were not disappointed.
We chose to head towards the headlands. We knew the views from the bluffs would not disappoint, and while there we decided to try Portuguese Beach. Here’s a map to show you where this particular beach is located:
We drove through downtown Mendocino Village. Then we walked down Main Street to the headlands. Just past the mustard blooms, you come to the headlands.
We’d never hiked down to Portuguese Beach before. I don’t know why. So we headed to the stairs at the south end of Mendocino.
The path is short and steep. The stairs had washed out at the bottom of the path, so I’m glad I didn’t try this by myself. My age was definitely showing as Vern helped me over the rocks to the beach.
What a charming beach! It’s quite small. Just a strip of sand tucked up against the cliffs. Vern was quite happy to take the time to rest, but I was eager to explore.
As you can see from the photos, there weren’t many people there. It was just perfect. Armed with my camera, I wandered alone down the sandy beach.
The first and most obvious delight is the driftwood. The little beach had driftwood piled up in mainly one corner. The logs were casting violet shadows on the sunny beach.
Check out the little window box in the cliff for this charming driftwood shelter. Wonder what forest people inhabit this fairyland.
Certainly enough driftwood here to keep an artistic creative busy dreaming.
What about this charming idea? This hobbit hole is so intriguing. I enjoyed poking into its cool interior. A perfect playhouse fit for an afternoon of creative play for children or an adult with a desire to return to simpler days.
Love these curtains of nasturtiums. How glorious they must be in full bloom.
“Give me coffee to change the things I can, and the beach to accept the things I can’t.”
As you turn your attention to the sea, your attention is immediately captured by the arched sinkhole cave.
This view is the focal point of Portuguese Beach. What an intriguing mystery. Reminds me of my first ride on the Pirates of the Caribbean in my youth. Wouldn’t it be fun to take an explore through that cave?
So the fact that I chose this view as the subject of my painting, is no surprise. I’m often challenged by capturing the sea, but the structure of this landscape made the effort a perfectly enjoyable one.
I think the three elements of this composition gave the landscape structure. The first rock mass is the most focused. Then your eye is drawn to the main focal point, and the distant cliffs wrapping behind the cave complete the perspective.
I couldn’t resist adding the three birds in the sky, mirroring the three earth masses. The sky and sea are kept relatively simple, which aids in keeping the focal point strong. The color scheme is a simple one with a modified and restricted palette.
Hope you enjoy this closeup of the painting. I find it enjoyable to study the various brushstrokes.
Thank you for joining me again this month. I hope that you’ve enjoyed a little explore of Portuguese Beach.
My hope, as always, is that seeing my efforts encourages your own. It is such a delight to be able to capture in watercolor the environment around me. I hope that my creative forays stimulate your own creative juices.
And if you’re not the creative type, perhaps these little watercolor journeys lift your spirits. The world is so amazing. I just love turning my focus on the broad canvas of nature that surrounds us. There is beauty everywhere, and it was given to us to sustain, enrich, invigorate, and motivate us in our own little corners of the world.
Here’s hoping you’re headed our way!
