Oil on canvas, 16×20, $350
This abstracted view of Fogarty Creek looks upstream from the bridge, where the forest leans close to the water and light skips between the trees. This work explores the rhythm and texture of the creek without trying to capture every detail.
I’ve painted this location many times, but in this version I focused on gesture and suggestion — letting shapes blur and colors push forward. You can see hints of the golden creekbed through the surface reflections and flashes of sky in the darker water.
Fogarty Creek flows into the Pacific just a short walk downstream. It’s a popular beach for visitors, but this piece tries to capture the quiet, shaded part of the creek upstream.
Personal Note: I have painted variations of this scene a number of times based on photos that I took on what has become quite a fortunate visit to the site. Since then I have returned to Fogarty Creek numerous times and have never seen the beautiful flowering of the vegetation that I witnessed on that day.