Matador by Southern California Artist Marian Fortunati

Matador © Marian Fortunati 9"x12" Oil on RayMar Canvas Panel Click on this link for information about how to purchase this painting.

A week ago on Wednesday, it was a gorgeous warm sunny day.  SoCal was experiencing a pleasant break in what had been several cold wet weeks.   Realizing that I needed to seize the moment, I headed out toward the beach.  I had passed El Matador State Beach on my way to Leo Carrillo when I met my class the previous Monday.  Matador is a beautiful beach with wonderful rock formations and not a lot of people.  It also has a very steep trek down the cliff, but the stairs offer the hardy beachgoers more safety than actually climbing the rocky cliff.  Going down with painting gear isn't so bad, but coming up is always something that makes you wish you were a bit more fit.

Looking north at El Matador State Beach

It was fairly windy inland and when I arrived in the parking lot there was a brisk offshore breeze as well.  I was afraid I would be plagued by blowing sand.   However when I got to the bottom of the stairs, it was sunny and warm and calm.   At first I thought I would stand, but after looking at the view from all angles, I decided to sit down in the warm sand and paint from a low angle.

The rock formation I wanted to paint is called Elephant Rock.   To me it looks like a giant, lumbering beast trying to escape the land and head back into the water.  There are several sea caves which offer glimpses of water and light from the other side and I wanted to catch that light.

I tried to keep David Gallup's "playful paint" in mind, and off I went into "the zone".  I had a great time.  Sometimes it's just like that.  I was able to paint almost uninterrupted.  A few other visitors dropped by and made nice comments but were quickly engaged with the waves and the warm sun and the beautiful scenery. 

There were some clouds skittering along in the sky, but they didn't dampen the sunny day.  By about noon, the wind had started to pick up, the sun was making me a bit sticky and my stomach was ready for lunch.  I packed up, hiked up the hill and headed home to have lunch with my husband.

Now THAT was a perfect SoCal day! 

Today the rest of the country is suffering under life-threatening blizzards and we're complaining about cold winds.  Not great beach weather, but pleasant in comparison.