ON THE COVER
By Sally Bookman
When our now 25-year-old son Drew was 15, we strongly encouraged him to get a summer job. His older brother Chris had worked at the Boardwalk during a summer break, and we felt working there had been a good experience. Later, Chris went on to work retail at a local sportswear company and we like to think those months working at the boardwalk gave him confidence and pride in doing a job well done.
As parents, we wanted Drew to gain similar confidence and experience as his brother. In all honesty, he needed to get out of the house and learn to interact with the public, take instructions, follow through and generally experience what the real world is like. He was assigned to work at Barnacle Bill’s. On his first day, I was so excited for him and got caught up in the color, the excitement, the sounds and the smells of the Boardwalk. I tried to capture that moment in a painting.
This was not the first painting I had done of the Boardwalk. Throughout my 40 years of painting Santa Cruz County, I had done two official commemorative paintings of the boardwalk and many non-official paintings, in both watercolors and acrylics. However, I can say the watercolor of Barnacle Bill has been far and away the most popular painting with the public.
In addition to the Boardwalk, I have especially loved painting summers in the county generally, and this love was reflected in a watercolor sketchbook I published 20 years ago called “Sand Between Your Toes.” That book, now sold out at 11,000 copies, depicted my love for all things summer in Santa Cruz. A recent publication of 62 paintings of Capitola continues this love of capturing summers at the beach.
Those of us who live here are incredibly blessed. People come from all over the United States and the world to enjoy our weather, our beaches, our redwoods and state parks, our restaurants and yes, that includes the boardwalk and Barnacle Bill’s.
www.sallybookmanart.com
@sally.bookman
