Somewhere
in Monterey
“…he painted them in twilight, in moonlight,
and in the darker nocturnes…”
(Albert G. Haskell in his introduction to Old Missions of California)
Will Sparks, from his
California Mission Series
Shadows creep in to darken inland Monterey. Daylight wanes, and colors are richer for it.
The sky turns amber, a portent of approaching storm. Hazy light soaks the grasses in garnet shades of red and honey-brown.
An old Spanish mission, contorted with age, sits where sheep once grazed. Time and weather have added character to its countenance.
The environment is reclaiming it. It belongs to nature now.
A calm, and calming moment in Arcadia. But not for long. Clouds approach, smoky gray, menacing.
Nocturnal? Sparks meant it to be, and to us it is: in its solitude, its silence, and its serenity.