This piece was inspired by my July visit to the Taft, on Siletz Bay, south of Lincoln City, Oregon. It is the view from the hotel I generally stay at when I take time on the coast to paint, and the early morning sky is often a soft smudgy assortment of pinks, mauves, and pale orange hues. The gulls circle the pier, and above the nearby fisherman, and even at such an early hour there are often people walking the beach at low tide.

This is another piece I photographed immediately after completion although the Pastelmat tends to warp just a bit when I remove the masking tape I use to mask off the border and release it from the surface I’ve secured it to. One reason I recently switched to Ampersand Pastelbord is to avoid this warping (and the time required to press new work flat again, risking smudging or damaging the work).