52 Weeks 100 Paintings
Painting #25 - Driftwood
7" x 5"
Oil on Canvas Board
Sold to Lacey Schnell
Angela married me 16 years ago yesterday. We flew out to Seattle the
day before, I met her parents and siblings for the first time, and the
next day we drove east across the state and were married at a little bed
and breakfast in Couer d'Alene, Idaho. A few days later, I was to meet
the rest of her extended family at their annual reunion in Seaside,
Oregon. Scary enough meeting a large group of complete strangers who
were now family members, but it was going to be on the ocean, and
there's nothing like a little splashing in the surf, and a little fun in
the sun in the warm water on expansive, white sand beaches. Turns out,
having spent all of my beach time on the southern Atlantic coast and in
the Gulf of Mexico, I was not aware that there are different types of
beaches, and different types of ocean. I ran out, ready to make a sand
castle and do a little body surfing, and found this. Rocks of all sizes
as far as the eye could see, huge piles of driftwood, a stiff, cold
25-mile-an-hour breeze freezing me to the core, and an ocean that was a
full 30 degrees colder than any water I had ever attempted to frolic in.
After this minor shock, at least I could look forward to meeting her
entire family, or at least a large percentage of them, which was
frightening in and of itself (there were 40-50 of them, all complete
strangers who seemed to know more about me than I did of them).
It turns out that they are some of nicest, funniest, warmest people I
have ever met. They welcomed me into the family immediately and
unconditionally, and I have looked forward to the reunion every year
since. I now love Oregon beaches. I love the rocks. I love the cold. I
love the driftwood. The driftwood in the painting is probably 7 feet
tall. It's the spot where we have the official beach party every year,
and every year it gets a little smaller and a little blacker, slowly
burning down as it used by others who make beach fires at its base. But
as it gets smaller, the love that I feel for this place, these people,
and especially Angela, continues to grow.
