Over the course of 2020 I worked on thirteen studies, all copies of paintings from the Laguna Beach Art Colony: a group of artists who lived and worked in the small town in the mid 1920’s. I started by studying the colors of these paintings. I’d look at a shadow from eucalyptus tree, and think, How would these masters have painted this color? Did they use ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson, and yellow ochre? Or mix black with lemon yellow? Breaking apart their steps taught me the fundamentals of painting: expression, visual quality, selection, composition, value, and color.

I first stumbled upon Joseph Kleitsch’s wonderful impressionistic paintings at the 2018 exhibit, Art Colony: The Laguna Beach Art Association, 1918-1935 at the Laguna Beach Art Museum. The paintings with surprisingly grand stature felt like time traveling in 3D. As I walked through the gallery, I found I recognized places in the paintings. Kleitsch’s The First Post Office, c. 1925, felt like it was painted somewhere near the Sawdust Festival grounds; The Drug Store, c. 1925, I imagined being near the Crystal Cove cottages. I don’t think either of these are correct, but that was part of the fun. In trying to map the paintings to their current day locations - I created a historic treasure hunt in my mind. The process made the images feel so full of life - I began hearing sounds, imagined people just out of frame walking to the market, greeting each other with a smile.

My childhood friend from Laguna, and fellow artist, Cassie Jones once said to me, “There is just something in the light in Laguna. There is no other place with that same light.” And it is true, these paintings from over a hundred years ago capture that same light - that unique color in the sky, that remains in the magic of Laguna today.