“Painting is just another way of keeping a diary.” – Pablo Picasso
Every painting has a story. Whether it’s intentional from the first brush stroke or developed throughout the creation of the painting, an artist hopes to convey that story in their art. Sometimes it’s fun to keep ’em guessing, but sometimes it’s nice to share a bit of yourself too.
People often ask why I paint what I do. The quick and easy response is that I love the beach and all things tropical. This is 100% true. However, each painting has its own story to tell and I want to share these stories with you.
My “Behind the Brush” series will highlight individual paintings and tell each story. Some will be more personal than others, and hopefully you will gain some insight into me, learn something new or maybe even laugh a bit.
Since we’re already deep into hurricane season, facing the aftermath of Harvey and wishing away Irma, it only seemed logical to start with ‘Pensacola Waves’.
In August 2012, my husband and I visited Panama City, Destin and Pensacola for his birthday. To this day, Destin is one of our favorite US travel destinations, even though we haven’t had an opportunity to return. Our Pensacola portion of the trip was cut short by Hurricane Isaac, but we still enjoyed a day at the Margaritaville Hotel and Landshark Landing. The beach was quiet and the waves just in front of the hotel were so beautiful that I couldn’t help but snap photos. This was my favorite:
Fast forward to 2017. Since tropical vacations have come to a temporary halt with the addition of two toddlers to our lives, I have been looking through all of my vacation photos for painting inspiration. Ocean waves have always been very soothing to me (even these pre-hurricane waves) and although it seemed like a very difficult subject to paint, I decided to give it a try.
As a finished work of art, I am happy with the end result and it brings back memories of a wonderful trip, a calming view and includes a wide mix of shades of my favorite colors.
Since this is one of my most popular paintings, what does it say to you?