The light at Sunset Cliffs is elusive, slipping away the moment you try to grasp it. I painted this scene plein air while living in San Diego, starting in the brightness of midday and staying until the sun sank below the horizon. The hours unfolded like a slow, beautiful transformation stone and sky shifting in color and mood, each moment more vibrant than the last.
With wind in my hair and salt drying on my skin, there was no room for hesitation. Every brushstroke was urgent, a race to capture the changing light as it bathed the cliffs in warm golds and deepening shadows. The cliffs themselves seemed to blush and deepen with every passing minute, and I moved with them, caught in the raw, wild grace that only painting outdoors can offer.
This painting holds the memory of that day of motion, light, and the feeling of standing exposed to the vastness of the ocean and sky. It’s a reminder of how small we are in the face of nature’s grandeur, and yet how infinite that moment of connection can feel.