I set up by the beach at the back of the house, and orientated myself to paint a family boat that had dropped anchor in the bay. It looked happy there with the kids on the back and a couple of kayaks bobbing around tethered to the stern. Just as I began, the skipper headed up to the bow and hauled the anchor. That’s plein aire painting for you! I focused instead on a tree to my left that was leaning over at an angle; probably bent over by a storm. Younger branches had grown straight up from the “leaning tower of treesia”. There was a tapestry of shadows all over the foreground cast from the tree and a nearby bay grape. The beach was not quite visible below the bank, but the shallow water throwing up sand yellows told you that it was there. The composition is a bit of a departure from my usual selections; very graphic. That’s good, I’m trying different things.