North Carolina gets hot and humid in the summer and that's when I retreat to work exclusively in my studio. I pause pop-ups and festivals, hang up my plein air backpack, and sort through all the photos I have taken to find inspiration for my next series of paintings.
This year I focused on three themes: Beach Days, Farmers Market Fresh, and Spain Travels. In this post, I will preview some of my beach paintings.
I love visiting the great beaches of North Carolina and have a stash of many beach scenes to work from. Rather than paint cliched scenes of waves and seagulls, I decided to concentrate on scenes with people. People running, swimming, preparing to surf or sail, or having an intimate conversation. "Beach Happiness" (below) is one of my favorites in the series and was just hung in a show at WakeMed Cary.
This composition focuses on the triangle of the daughter in the foreground with her back turned, her brother running towards her amd her mom in the background at the top of the triangle.I tried to capture the movement of all three to create an interesting composition.
Another work in the series, titled "Advice" depicts a mother with her two boys sitting in their beach chairs. I love the dynamics of the three, as you almost feel you can eavesdrop on their converstion.
The last in the series (so far) looks up the beach with many people doing what people do at the beach: sleep on a lounge chair, make sand castles, take walks in the sand and wade into the surf. It's titled "Storm is Coming" because you can see how the clouds are building up in that hot afternoon, which so often happens in North Carolina at the end of a summer day.
I am having fun with this series as I share my love of the beach with others.
Maybe one would make a welcome addition to a beach house. Or remind people of their love of the sand and surf to add to their own homes.
If you are interested in any of these works, they are all available in My Shop on my website LIndseyChestersArt.com
Thank you for reading my blog!
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