Happy Sunday 🍵☕
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Very few places do you arrive at and immediately feel like you're home. SoCal was that.
The first couple of days I drew everywhere.. from silent suburban streets at night to bustling beach towns in broad daylight. Not all of it made the cut. Some are more study than finished work. Some feel like finished work even though they're a study. I nailed a few strong ones I'm still proud of today. Monrovia Falls sits somewhere in the middle of that.
I've only gotten to draw at a waterfall a few times in my life, and regardless of how each piece has come out, something about the sound of running water rushing in the background while you transcend states of mind makes each time stand. I remember in college, my art professor would always put on classical music while we painted. I think for him, that was his running water.
His was always a play-button away and, on this particular day, mine was miles in on a tiny dirt path — which on its face isn't bad at all, but when you're lugging gear it adds up quickly. Even a backpack and a lightweight travel easel clanking against you as you walk can wear you out quicker than you’d expect.
Then at some point, you hear it. Faint at first, just underneath everything else… and then a little louder… and then louder than that, until you round a corner and it's right there in front of you and the sound is all there is.
We got there. A small stream of natural spring water sits below a thin, 30-foot waterfall, green vegetation scattered about, a canopy of shade from the trees, tired hikers and excited children rushing to the cool reprieve.
I spent hours there.
People took pictures of me. I talked with moms and dads and kids alike. There's nothing like being one with what's around you.
California wasn't done with me yet.
That's what this newsletter is. One place at a time. Where I have been, what I have seen, and what I was personally moved by.
26 States down. 24 to go.
Want more from this trip.. photos, recommendations, stories that didn't make the cut? Just reply and ask. I've got plenty.
“Monrovia Falls”
Just an Easel and a Dream is Cody's ongoing plein air pastel project: drawing in all 50 states, one landscape at a time.
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Thank You!