I'm the first Artist in Residence at Cabrillo National Monument, a new program for them. Many national parks have AIR programs; each of the larger parks hosts a dozen or more artists each year. Cabrillo is relatively small, but loaded with significance. Several months ago, I suggested to them that they should consider having an AIR, and sent along my resume and portfolio. It took some perseverance to get approval through all the channels, but things finally fell into place and here we are. I'm the first of (hopefully) many. This place has deep meaning for me personally--it's where I did my very first plein air paintings in 2007, and have painted there countless times since. In a historical/cultural context, it's a very rich and important place. I will have the opportunity to explore that in depth now, and I'll talk about it here.
First and foremost, it is where Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo landed in 1542--the first point of European contact in California. He made landfall not far from the cliffs shown in the painting above.
The Monument is also a very important preserve for native plants, birds and animals which are now endangered everywhere else.
My residency will culminate in a series of larger, more finished studio works, but there will be lots of these small plein air studies in the meantime: color notes and explorations of subject.
