3 Otters in a trench coat

Last spring, my children and I travelled to Xeraco, Spain. We stayed in a small fisherman’s house in a neighbouring village. It didn’t have many modern comforts, but it stood right beside the beach and had a terrace overlooking the sea—and that was more than enough.This quick sketch was painted directly from life on the coast in about 30 minutes, while the children played in the sand and flew a kite nearby.Everything in front of me was constantly changing: the light shifted, the sky transformed from one minute to the next, the waves kept moving, and a ship slowly passed across the horizon. But on the canvas, all these fleeting moments remained together—still, yet somehow full of movement.That is what I love about painting from life: the world never stops, but for a moment, the painting holds it still. 🌊🎨🪁