Oregon Coast Painting Adventures

I recently returned from a trip to one of my favorite places on earth-the Oregon Coast! This particular visit started in a town that I have been visiting for longer than I can remember-Gearhart.

Tillamook Head, hazy in the brilliant light on the beach.

We stayed at a house that was a short walk to the beach.This walk, through tall tawny grasses towards the embankment behind which the ocean awaits, never fails to make my heart ring like a bell with the many memories of the times I’ve walked here and all the people I’ve loved who have been here with me over the years.

After the long drive across the state of Washington, down, the Gorge, through Portland to Gearhart, it is such a relief to be out of the car with the sand between my toes, looking over the wide expanse of the sea, my eyes traveling for miles and the wind in my hair. Upon arriving at the coast, it is essential to go and greet the sea as soon as possible! Don’t you agree?

The dune embankment at the beach, hiding all but the highest houses from view when you are on the beach. I like to watch the clouds drift by, absent any distraction.

The house we stayed in was in walking distance of the beach but had no ocean view unless you count this sliver of beach, seen from the “tower room”. Along with the big sky and sliver of water, I also enjoyed the expanse of silvery roofs and siding-nothing weathers wood like living along the sea!

After spending four days with friends in Gearhart, I took off south with a companion-stopping at every viewpoint between Cannon Beach and Rockaway Bay as instructed my my aunt. We had ice cream and cheese samples at the Tillamook Factory (my first time visiting!) and then continued down to Depoe Bay (home of the world’s smallest harbor!) to stay. The following day we made the jaunt down to Yaquina Head Lighthouse-utterly charming and right near “Cobblestone Beach” which is covered in polished basalt rocks that clack in the waves. We arrived when the tide was out, revealing amazing tide pools and seals lounging on rocks in the distance. Yaquina Head is the furthest south I’ve ever made it on the coast and it was really fun to see so many towns and beautiful beaches that I’d never visited before.

Take a Class with Me!

Loosen Up Your Painting

May 18th 1-5 pm

Feeling like your paintings are stiff or too tight? Want to embrace the flow of watercolor paint and loosen up? This is the class for you! Megan will demonstrate how to make your paintings full of energy and freshness, giving you quick and easy exercises to uncramp your style!

Sign up here!

House Portraits & Fall Dreams

Hi all! I’ve been making the best of our short fall, refusing to be rushed by the snow. I’ve bought apples and decorative gourds at Green Bluff, did some exploring on some family property up north, went to visit the Japanese Garden at Manito Park (sadly closed when I arrived) and did some fall baking. What have you been up to? Do you have a prized pumpkin bread recipe? I’m looking for a good one-and in my mind, that means chocolate, not nuts!

Painted at Siemer’s Farm up at Green Bluff a couple years ago on a warm October day. I love to visit them and Hansen’s Orchard and High Country Orchard for apples, apple cider, gourds and more.

Sketching my old Ford Explorer on the overgrown dirt road where family goes to hunt deer. Lots of interesting plants, especially around the old homestead and near the creek. We picked elderberries!

A small watercolor sketch of the brilliant colors in the Japanese Garden. It seems like they are closed for the season (or never opened?) which is a bummer because this is the best of the time of the year there, in my opinion. These next two paintings are recently completed house portraits.

This is the 2nd time I’ve painted this house and I’m still loving it. The commissioner has hired me to do a portrait of the house in each season. So far, we have done Spring and Summer and I’m looking forward to Fall and Winter.

A little brick house on the South Hill is going to be a wedding present.

I love painting portraits of people’s homes. If you would like to commission me to do a painting as a Christmas present (whether it is of a house, a pet, a garden, etc), please reach out to me before the 7th of November when I will have to start charging holiday prices.

Mt. Rainier Camping & Sketching

I grew up on the west side of the state and I loved all the green and how lush it was, but I didn’t really appreciate HOW GREEN it is there until I lived on the other side of the Cascades in a high desert for a couple years.

We were lucky to be at Mt. Rainier National Park during peak wildflower bloom and it was wee bit chilly, thanks to the elevation but we found a sheltered spot and I did this painting of lupine and indian paint brush and yellow daisies carpeting the hill.

My friend playing her ukulele and a quick sketch of the wildflowers. It was an interesting trip because we had to camp on a forest service road because the most of the campsites in the park were closed due to tree fall danger (perhaps the rangers weren’t able to clear them earlier in the year because of Covid closures/lay offs?). No bathrooms and no running water besides a nearby stream, a 37 degree night and springing a leak in one of the air mattresses contributed to a bit more roughing it than we were initially planning but we still had a good time.

I stopped on the way home to sketch these windmills near Vantage. There’s a rest stop with a great view of them as you travel east. I sat at a picnic table and was grateful for the wind (even though it was warm) because it was still in the mid 90’s as I did this. I could feel sweat dripping down my back as I rushed to finish this. Despite the discomfort, I tried to embrace it. Soon, we’ll be in the time of year when I can’t seem to get warm and a 40 degree day is excitingly balmy! That what sketchbooks help me celebrate-living in the moment.