Yaquina from Afar

Yaquina from Afar              Pastel                  18” x 24”                 $300               © Sharon Lewis

            Somehow I have ended up painting a lighthouse series without consciously deciding to do so. I don’t know if it’s just because I have a love of lighthouses (I do) or because I had decided a few weeks ago to paint on larger surfaces whenever I could and lighthouses seemed perfect for a larger format. Either way, this is the second of three lighthouse paintings I’ve done recently. I wanted to do this painting, which I based on some of my photos of the west coast, because I love the lighthouse silhouetted against this magnificent blue sky. It also shows how tiny the lighthouse and the living quarters appear compared to the size of the land it sits on. As small as it looks, this is Oregon’s tallest lighthouse and is made up of 370,000 bricks and has stood steadfast through winds and storms since 1872.

            Happy Almost Weekend!

Ocean Solitude

“Ocean Solitude”             Pastel             18” x 24"            $ 350            © Sharon Lewis
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             I was born in a city with a vast inland sea (Chicago) and then grew up near the ocean in southern Florida. I now live outside a major landlocked city (Atlanta), far away from the ocean and I find myself really missing it from time to time. There’s something so mesmerizing about standing on a shore, whether sandy or rocky as in this case, and just watching the force and beauty of the incoming waves.

            For this painting, I used photos I took while climbing out on the rocks and shooting the shoreline all the time hoping I didn’t lose my balance and become part of the crashing surf below. 
            Happy Weekend!

          

 

Who Do You Think Lives Here?

“Hidden Valley”        18” x 24”       Pastel       $300        © Sharon Lewis 
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             When I took the photo that I used as a reference for this painting I was so focused on the gorgeous light falling on the mountains that I didn’t notice until much later that someone lives in this beautiful hidden valley. I can’t help wondering who this person or people are. Are they sheepherders? Are they eking out a living on a small farm? What must it be like to live in this valley, far from any neighbors, surrounded by mountains when the winter snows come? I imagine that however lonely it might be, you would have the most amazing view of this beautiful valley hidden amongst these magnificent mountains.

            I hope wherever you are, you’re enjoying the beautiful light of these early September days.