#sea stack

Beacon Archipelago | for “Objects of Affection” show at Statix Gallery in Seattle. 

Artists were invited to use secondhand/found objects as their canvas. I found this glass candle-house at Goodwill and collaged a watercolor landscape onto it for a surreal feeling, bending expectations of what seems to be outside and what’s inside. 

Sea Stack House / For “April Showers” show at Statix in Seattle. Watercolor, ink, paint marker, acrylic collaged on laser-cut wood. 

October 23 - 25th, 2015

My friends Ian and Nicky Gaston, and I decided to take a quick trip to the Oregon coast a couple weeks ago. Friday, after work we drove up the 101 until we passed the Oregon boarder and to our secret destination. We hiked down a heavily covered trail or fern and other thickets of plant, to a cliff we called home for the night. The moon was bright, but covered by clouds as we shot photos of the sea stacks which had Sitka Spruce covering the top of the enormous rocks. We finally fall asleep, only to wake up four hours later to catch the sunrise. 

Unfortunately the clouds were still hanging around and didn’t allow for a bright and colorful scene, but the view was still breathtaking! We drove farther up the coast to explore new beaches and finally decided on the most unique beach I had ever seen to make camp. The beach had sea stacks, arches, tunnels and caves around each corner. 

We waited out the sun and started a fire, roasting sausages and cans of baked beans. After dinner we took pictures of the beach lit by the moon, and diffused by the clouds. Patches of clear sky would break through every now and then, revealing a scatter of stars, brighter than most people get to experience, deep in the cities and suburbs which pollute such beauty. 10pm was high tide, and Ian’s tent fell victim to what we all decided was a rogue wave. Soon after, sprinkles came down, then rain, then we moved our tents to a spot on the beach, further from the closing waves. We had to time the waves in order to cross around a rock in order to make it to our new spot on the sand. We slept with one eye open, because the waves were so loud, we were sure another rogue would sweep us away. 

We woke up relived that we had survived the night, but the rain continued. We quickly jumped out of our warm, dry, comfortable tents, and scurried all of our gear together. We then negotiated our way up the tall rocks we climbed down to get to the beach. They were wet, but jagged enough to keep hold. We made it back to the car, wet and exhausted, but ready to drive home and dream up our next adventure.