Three arches carved by nature out of a sandstone cliff inspired the naming of Natural Bridges State Beach. The outmost arch fell during the early 20th century, and the inner arch collapsed during a 1980 storm, leaving only the central arch. Natural Bridges SB is home to one of the largest monarch butterfly over-wintering sites in California, and they were just starting to arrive.
It was overcast when we arrived, but it was not gloomy because we could see large areas of blue sky over the ocean and heading our way. The winds were light, the temperature was in the high 60's, and the calming sound of the surf made Natural Bridges SB a delightful place to paint. By the time we met for lunch, the clouds had dissipated and the sun was shining brightly.
For more information about Natural Bridges SB visit
https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=541
The Wikipedia article about Natural Bridges SB has a 1970 photo of two remaining arches:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Bridges_State_Beach
For more photos from our paintsite, see Edward Rooks's Flickr album:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/edwardrooks/albums/72157711082930403
Upcoming Paintsites: See the SCVWS
website or the October Newsletter for details:
- Thursday, Oct 3, Ardenwood Historic Farm, Fremont
- Thursday, Oct 10, Los Altos History Museum with potluck at member's home
- Thursday, Oct 17, To Be Announced
- Saturday, Oct 19, Ardenwood Historic Farm, Fremont
- Thursday, Oct 24, Sawyer Camp Trail, San Mateo County
- Thursday, Oct 31, Triton Museum Grounds, Santa Clara
Artists and their artwork:
The sound and action of the surf and the close view of the arch lured some of us out on the sand quite close to the surf:
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| Three artists with a good view of the last remaining arch |
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| Susan B-G |
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| Susan B-G's painting of the arch being hit by a wave |
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| Lorraine |
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| Lorraine's painting of the arch |
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| Edward |
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| Edward's painting of the arch has lots of action in the surf |
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| Annie and Marilyn |
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| Marilyn's painting of the arch |
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| Annie's painting includes children playing in the sand |
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| Lauren |
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| Lauren used permanent resist in her painting of the arch |
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Claudia was taking no chance with a sneaker wave and
chose a perch up on the cliff
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| Claudia's first painting of the arch |
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| Claudia's second painting of the arch |
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The sun had not yet come out, and Tanvi said
the sand was cold on her feet.
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| Tanvi's first painting of the life guard station and the arch |
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| Tanvi's second painting of the life guard station and the arch |
Some of the artists discovered that the view was just fine in the picnic area near the parking lot and there was no need to walk down to the sand.
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We welcome Santa Cruz resident Karen who was
painting with us for the first time.
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| Indira |
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| Indira's painting of the beach and battered cliffs |
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| Matt |
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| Matt's painting of the beach and battered cliffs |
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| Cindy |
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| Cindy's painting of arch and artists |
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| Sham |
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| Sham's painting of the beach, cliff, arch, and many beach-goers |
Elaine found beauty in another direction -- overlooking Moore Creek
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| Elaine |
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| Elaine's first painting of Moore Creek |
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| Elaine's second painting of Moore Creek |
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| Thank you, Edward, for leading the critique |
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We gave careful consideration to each painting. Notice how the sun
is shining brightly by critique time
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This pygmy nuthatch came so close we thought
he wanted to participate in our painting critique.
Photo by Edward Rooks.
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We had been told that the monarchs had started to arrive for their over-wintering, so some of us had to check it out.
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Inside the fence is the butterfly garden and across the road is the monarch
grove. There were many butterflies which brought out the photographers.
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| Monarch on milkweed in the butterfly garden. Photo by Edward |
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The monarchs are starting to cluster in the eucalyptus in the monarch grove.
Photo by Edward
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