The Red Tide

16x20 Glow in the dark, glitter, crushed glass. Resin coated. 

In May of 2020, I experienced my very first red tide in San Diego. The red tide is bioluminescent algae. At night when the waves form and crash they take on the electric blue, glowing color of a bolt of lightning. The year in itself had so far been incomprehensible. In very short order I had lost my job, fearfully followed the governors stay at home orders, and experienced things just as bizarre as glowing waves. What sticks out the most is how at a giant Vons one night, every shelf of the room-sized dairy/ milk section of the store was empty. There was no canned food. No noodles and of course no paper products. This creeping reality came in that I had better start figuring out a way to survive that didn’t rely on an industry where masses of crowds showed up and thousands of pieces of used silverware sit in a tub together for half the afternoon.  

It’s funny to look back on May of 2020 now. We were convinced covid would “be over” by July at the latest. By May, they had finally taken the police line tape off of the Pacific Ocean and opened some parking lots. Kevin and I parked our car at our secret beach parking spot (it’s on Carnation & Seacoast if you’re ever in town.) It was still so bizarre to see people all around us wearing masks. Through the dark we walked with our two dachshunds leading the way, being careful to avoid any people. 

When the dogs took a step in the sand it left a glowing paw print. Seeing the waves crash electric blue, glowing underneath a black sky felt a whole lot like a visual of what the year so far had been. Impossible. Yet here. 

Just like those glowing waves in the black of night, 2020 became the year that my life completely transformed. The depth changed. The pitch of light changed. And through all of the fear, confusion, and chaos - the true light- for me - emerged. 

This painting is a reminder of all that we have overcome. How it changed me. How it illuminated my mind despite all of the fear. How it made life deeper and provided all of the little things with so much more meaning.