Giclée – “Portuguese Bend, Rancho Palos Verdes”

This plein-air painting is of the place where Monarch butterflies rest annually in a Eucalyptus grove on their migration to Mexico.  My friend, Harvey Cohon, and I went to this site on a misty, moisty January morning.  The light that filtered  through this grove of trees appeared to be almost lavender.  Eventually, we had to pack up, when a light rain began to fall.  The following morning, we painted at Shell Beach, and had to pack up when the fog rolled in, obliterating our view of the cliffs and ocean.

Some days in California provide a crisp bright light, and this day was one of them.  Even before I began painting landscapes, I looked forward to such days, as they seemed to fill me with “the unbearable lightness of being.”  On the bluff where I was painting, the light shined in such a way that portions of the grass appeared to be almost chartreuse.