She Walks to Oceano

"She Walks to Oceano" 36x36" Encaustic and paper on wood panel "This piece lives in my favorite palette—blues and whites—and is deeply inspired by my grandmother, Grandma Campoy, whose love of the beach shaped so many of my earliest memories. Her story began with her parents’ immigration from Spain to Hawaii, where she was born—drawn by promises of opportunity, work, and a new beginning. It was there that her connection to the ocean first took root. Later, when she moved to California, that love settled along the Monterey coast, with Pismo Beach near San Luis Obispo becoming her favorite place. For as long as I can remember, my grandmother lived with debilitating lupus. Walking was often difficult, but something changed when she was on the beach. The firm, flat stretch of sand gave her freedom—there, she could walk for miles. The ocean was her medicine. Together, we would walk from Pismo to the Oceano Dunes—about three miles each way. With buckets and small shovels in hand, we would halfheartedly dig for clams, combing the shoreline for sand dollars, starfish, and pieces of sea glass. Those walks felt endless and timeless filled with endless conversation and stories of her youth. This piece is a kind of scrapbook—layered with the colors, textures, and quiet rhythms of those long walks we shared." -Lisa Moriarty