My favorite pastime when I was growing up was building things on the beach. Sand is a wonderful medium for shaping miniature roads, tunnels, towers, seawalls... and imaginary worlds. Add bits of wood to the sand, along with other junk found on most beaches, and you can build about anything.
My brother liked to build complicated highways with bridges and tunnels that meandered down the slope of the beach as far as the waves allowed. His goal was to engineer the road well enough so a tennis ball let loose at the top would travel the whole distance without stopping. I got to help and it took a lot of tweaking to make it work.
My best friend Chris and I sometimes spent endless hours building model houses and towns in the sand. We would start something on a whim, and then add to it until there were numerous little buildings connected by roads, bridges, fences, and other architecture. At some point (if the ocean didn’t get it first), we’d invent some kind of disaster that brought it all down. Keep in mind, these were the days before Gameboy!
When I learned to read tide tables, I’d time my projects to the hours just before high tide. I’d build on dry sand near the water and then watch the waves advance toward my work as the tide came in. Whole towns were lost to light flooding, then severe flooding, then an annihilating washout which left no trace! I was probably doing this kind of project when the photo of me on the masthead was taken.
This painting, Stick Ranch Road/Stick Ranch & Big Waves, comes straight from those days. Endless sand, wildflowers, big surf, bright sun, and mysterious distant islands make this a magical place –- the essence of beach!
Check out the "Stick Ranch" series in the Rusty's Beach CafePress Shop!
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