Natural Bridges

Digital Illustration, 2016

Natural Bridges is a beach that is only a few blocks away from the house I grew up in in Santa Cruz. This beach holds a lot of personal meaning for me and I have spent a lot of time over the years looking at this view. Natural Bridges is also one of the more popular beaches for not only locals but tourists looking to visit the beach as well, so I knew that this picture would be easily recognizable by anyone that knows anything about Santa Cruz.

This beach does hold a lot of emotion for me personally, which is the inspiration for the piece. The past two generations of my family have been based here in Santa Cruz so overall it is a symbol of family. Natural Bridges is also the name of an old elementary school here in Santa Cruz that my dad went to. The final, and probably most significant reason for this piece, is the fact that this is the spot we spread my grandpa's ashes in 2017. He passed in 2016 and it was a really hard time in my life to go through that loss, but I know he would be so happy for me and where I am at today.