Day 27

My friend Erin Gafill called this morning to ask if I wanted to paint with her at Sobranes Point. Did I die and go to heaven?

Finding this particular location proved slightly more difficult than planned. I drove up and down the coast between Rocky Point and the Carmel Highlands about five times. No sign of Erin. I stopped to ask three people picnicking out of the back of a van where Sobranes Point might be and they told me I was standing on it. At that very moment, Erin's Suburban passed by going north.

We finally met, and situated ourselves along the side of the road. The golden light was beginning. Excitement was in the air. Two women artists, two easels, a highway that is already difficult to keep eyes to the road. Sobranes Point is the scenic spot on the Central Coast where, if you look south, you see mountains meeting rolling knolls meeting rocky cliffs, sky and sea (and a little cabin off to the side.) It is the quintessential Big Sur view and a favorite subject of Erin's work. Rebel that I am, I decided to paint the view looking north instead. That way I could warn Erin if a car was going to run us over. My view was not as majestic as Erin's; it essentially included Highway One, the telephone poles that dress it, and all the ambient hues that are Big Sur at that hour. As the setting sun charged the air with color, invariably, tourists stopped, totally blocking my view. (Couldn't really blame them.) At least one honeymoon couple pretended they were photographing each other, but they posed to include the "artists" in the background. Did I mention I was wearing Erin's psychedelic tie-died painter's apron?

Racing with the light, Erin made brilliant headway on three small paintings. I would buy them all. As for my "on the road" picture, I'm keeping it.