Paint Ventura ROCKS!!!

"Ventura-ness-osity," by Jim Martin

Ahhh yeahhhh!

Paint Ventura (www.paintventura.com) rocked!!!

Thanks to everybody who came out, down, over and up to make this such a super fun weekend!

For me, the trip down was EPIC (as in “wow, who knew Ventura was sooooo far from Bend.” Um, almost everybody ... except ME!).

But, the feeling of running on the beach with the waves crashing, the perma-grin I had from meeting such inspirational and energized people, and the taste of salmon and asparagus and the all-night laughter of Jen and Phyllis – well, it all made up for the drive ... and a LOT more!

And, even though never-ending, the drive itself was gorgeous, too.
Perfect moment: Waking up with a smile on Sunday, a six-mile run on the beach just steps from my hotel, the warmth of a southern Californian sun and sky and on my skin, diving into the ocean for some much-anticipated bodysurfing, breakfast of huevos rancheros, coffee, and the Sunday paper in Santa Paula, and a feeling that ALL was right with the world.

Come on NOW!!!

Moonshines over fiery starlit Hoodoo, snowy plovers, Saturday Cajun brunch with bloody marys, big dogs, soft pastels, bent metal, front-row seats, open doors, and stories galore ... this was something special.

Again please!

Artists that you need to check out ASAP:

• Jen Livia (host, gallery owner, person extraordinaire): http://www.liviastudios.com/www.liviastudios.com/Welcome.html and http://www.redbrickart.com/livia.html
• Kim Sawyer (bleep, bleep, bleep): http://www.etsy.com/shop/visionquest and http://www.redbrickart.com/sawyer.html
• Tasia Erickson (magical, spiky, brilliant): http://www.redbrickart.com/erickson.html
• Phyllis Gubins (more, more, more): http://www.redbrickart.com/gubins.html and http://www.redbrickart.com/gubins-custom.html
• Jim Martin (whoa): http://www.redbrickart.com/martin.html
• David Rivas (you must ask him about process): http://www.redbrickart.com/rivas.html and http://rivasart.com/
• James Scolari (an eye!!!): http://www.redbrickart.com/scolari.html and http://www.jamesscolari.com/
• Sue Harding (paint genius): http://www.redbrickart.com/sharding.htm
• Colleen Friedman (jewelry master): http://www.redbrickart.com/friedman.html

Suffice it to say, I’ll be back...

And, it was great...

And, Jackson, you rule.