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Strasburg Studio Archives: Rediscovery in the Stacks
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P A T T E R N S
MAY SPOTLIGHT : "Shore Patterns"
48 x 24", oil on birch panel, 2009.
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Thank you for joining me on this monthly trip through the archives of my studio.
Shore Patterns, 48 x 24”, oil on birch panel, 2009.
When thinking of my favorite times of year, it is most often the quieter seasons that call to me—the hush of winter, when cold, snowy, or rain-soaked days invite a slower pace, and the world turns inward. Autumn, too, leaves its imprint: September and October stir the spirit with the thrill of travel and the vivid shift from warmth to crisp, golden air.
May, however, was always an afterthought—noticed only in childhood as a sign that summer, and the end of school, was near. It was a month of waiting, not wonder.
It is only through slowing down—through the habit of writing these newsletters and truly reflecting on each passing month—that I have begun to see May differently. There is something quietly luminous about it. May carries the first real promise of summer, wrapped not in urgency but in hope. The days stretch longer, and there is the gift of time: time enough to be productive, and still time to be joyful.
The light shifts, softening the world. The sun warms but has not yet hardened the earth. Flowers bloom with bright defiance, bees hum steadily from blossom to blossom, and the air is filled with the earnest songs of birds, grateful for cool mornings and the slow-warming afternoons. Everything feels poised—alive, but not hurried.
At the shoreline, winter's memory is still etched into the land. Long shadows stretch across the sand, and the water glistens with new life. The waves begin their slow, steady work of smoothing the landscape, replacing the sand over the rugged shale laid bare by winter’s storms.
This month’s spotlight, Shore Patterns, captures such a moment at UCSB’s Campus Point—a late spring day just after the season’s final rain. The deep tidepools, once carved sharp by winter storms, are beginning to soften and fill again, their surfaces holding the drifting reflections of passing clouds. It is a place—and a season—where the last traces of winter surrender to warmth, and the world leans gently toward the unfolding promise of summer.
Shore Patterns was created in 2009 for the exhibit AIR I EARTH I FIRE I WATER in Santa Barbara. It then travelled to Solana Beach in 2011 where it resided with Susan Street Fine Art while being considered for a corporate collection. Returning home, it now hangs on the wall in the Spring Salon - once again - at Sullivan Goss. The exhibition runs through May 26, 2025.
There will be a second reception on First Thursday, May 1st from 5-8pm.
I will be in attendance for the first half of the opening - hope to see you at the gallery.
Image from Spring Salon 2025 at Sullivan Goss, Santa Barbarra.
