Lake Tahoe, CA

I stood in front of my eisel today with my mind set on creating a placid and peaceful Dominican Republic beach scene. I recently stayed at the Sun Village Resort on the island, and had thought this is where the experience would take me in my work.

However, during my stay at this relaxing resort, my young teenage daughters had been on their second visit to California without me. They had been camping in the Sierras at a U.C. Alumni camp called "The Lair of the Bear" near Lake Tahoe. Thinking of their stay, my beach scene was slowly transformed into a common view in the area - Lake Tahoe.

I grew up in small town on the Truckee River called Floriston. It was about 10 minutes from Truckee and 20 minutes from Tahoe City. This drew my family to Lake Tahoe constantly, like the sun to the horizon. We would go boating, swimming, and fishing on the water; all the while burning under the California sun.

I remember swimming in the ice-cold water with my younger brother and friends until my lips were blue and my teeth were chattering! We would run to the hot sand and roll in it (corn-dogging) to get warm again.

This bright, summer lake scene will be available for auction in about one week.