Spark Taylor: Finding Stillness

The morning began wrapped in mist—the air was cool enough to carry the scent of eucalyptus and damp earth.

I set up across the road from Lake Casitas, where I could see the road wind down and around to the other side of the lake, and the mist on the surface of the water. The colors were subtle — soft greens, muted violets in the shadows, and a pale peach sky just beginning to brighten behind the hills.

I keep my palette simple—so there’s less to carry, and also to make sure I’m creating the color as I see it, not just buying color. A warm and a cool of each primary, the expensive Old Holland ultramarine blue and transparent red iron oxide - for my darkest darks, and white—and my beloved Cad red light laid down first - the warmth of the earth!

Painting outdoors always reminds me how calming the act of observation can be—and how joyful it makes me. You don’t need grandeur or drama — just patience, and an openness to whatever the light brings you. The light in coastal California feels less like illumination and more like an invitation — to slow down, to listen.

There’s a moment in every plein air session when the world seems to quiet down, and you feel completely present — not painting a place, but taking up my role as part of the place.

Join me this weekend in my studio, to see the final (?) phase of this painting!