While painting along the Russian River recently, I headed out to the coast with a couple of friends, specifically to go to Goat Rock. It had been predicted to be gloriously sunny, but in reality it was socked-in, dense coastal fog. We continued towards the rock, but couldn’t see it until getting right up close to it! (This is a large rock!!) My friends headed back inland to Bodega, but I waited for the fog to clear. The visibility actually went down as denser fog rolled in, so I decided to try painting something small and nearby. I found a nice jumble of lichen-covered rocks near the road. On one, a bush’s dry twigs curling around like an enveloping hand, with tiny, red-leafed brambles amongst caught my eye (hey, writers can take liberties too!). Loosely following the form of the objects, I followed my whims and tried to enjoy the process. It wasn’t cold, there were few people around, it was pleasant. The painting is almost evenly divided between fog and land, and appears black and white, but there are actually colors! I like the idea of going a bit abstract, though it may be sort of dark…?
Micaela Marsden 