Carmel Charm, Baylor Connections, and a Godwink
From Carmel to Texas: A Painting, a Baylor Connection, and a Little Godwink
A chance meeting next door became a treasured part of my California Coastal Collection’s story. I went to Carmel expecting to find inspiration along the shore. I didn’t expect to find a Baylor connection in the hotel room next door—or to send a freshly painted piece of the California coast home to Texas. Sometimes the sweetest moments arrive without any planning.This one began with a coastal walk, a small painting, and the decision to step outside with my paints.
Bringing a Little of the Coast Back With Me
There was so much to take in along the water: brilliant blues shifting toward turquoise, rocky outcroppings, pale stretches of beach, and coastal plants weaving rose, green, and gold through the foreground. Above it all, long wisps of cloud moved across an extraordinary blue sky.
I wanted to spend more time with those colors. A small study gives me a way to do that. With gouache, I can explore the shapes and color relationships while the experience is still fresh—working out what caught my attention and what I most want to carry into the painting. Back at our hotel, that little coastal scene began to take shape. Then the people staying next door became part of its story.
We met Liz and Michael, visiting from Texas, and discovered that we shared Baylor ties. Liz, Michael, and I had attended Baylor in different seasons. Our conversation also reached into another generation through our children’s connections to the university. With our own children having attended Baylor, it felt especially sweet to discover those familiar threads so far from Waco.
There is something lovely about meeting someone new and finding that you already share a little history. A place, a tradition, a season of life—suddenly there is so much to talk about. We had arrived as hotel neighbors. Now we had a Baylor connection, a conversation about art, and an unexpected reason to remember one another.
Sic ’em, Bears!
Off the Easel and On to Texas
Liz and Michael connected with the little coastal painting and chose to purchase it right off my easel.What a joy. A piece that had begun with my own response to the shore would now carry something of Carmel home with them. Along with the landscape, it would hold the memory of a trip and the unexpected meeting next door.
For me, those are among the most meaningful moments in creating art: discovering that something I felt moved to paint has touched someone else. I can choose the colors, arrange the composition, and spend hours working through the details. Then a collector brings a whole new layer of meaning to the piece simply by recognizing something they love. Its story had become ours to share.
I think of this encounter as a Godwink—a small, personal encouragement that felt lovingly arranged. The neighboring rooms. The shared Baylor history. Our names being the same! Our children’s connection to that story. A painting made during the visit, finding its collectors just as it was coming into being. I couldn’t have planned that combination.
For me, faith is woven into the way I notice beauty and receive these unexpected moments. This one left me grateful: for the opportunity to paint, for new friends, and for the reminder that stepping out with what we have to offer can lead somewhere we never anticipated. I stepped outside to paint. A friendship and a new chapter followed.
A Small Painting That Helped a Collection Grow
That coastal study also became an encouraging part of the development of my California Coastal Collection. Small studies are an important part of my process. They let me explore a place through paint, discover combinations I want to revisit, and begin thinking about what a larger work might hold.
This painting gave me those discoveries—and the added encouragement of seeing someone connect with them. Back in the studio, I continued developing the coastal work through studies, photographs, and memories of being there. The larger paintings offered room to explore more: the sweep of a shoreline, the movement of the water, the intricate colors of the cliffs and coastal plants. The little painting that traveled to Texas remains a special part of that beginning. When I look at its photograph now, I remember both the landscape that inspired it and the people who welcomed it into their lives.
Many of us return from a trip wishing we could keep a little of it close. Perhaps it is the color of the water, an evening walk, or the feeling of having time to linger somewhere beautiful. A painting can give those memories a place in everyday life.
That is something I hold in mind as I create. I hope a piece will continue to offer discoveries after it leaves my studio—and that, over time, it will become connected to its owner’s own experiences.
For Liz and Michael, this painting became a little piece of Carmel to take home to Texas. For me, it became a reminder of how art opens conversations and how wonderfully small the world can feel. Thank you, Liz and Michael, for becoming part of this journey. I’m so grateful that our paths—and our neighboring hotel rooms—brought us together.
You can explore the California Coastal Collection at ElizabethVanTassel.com. If a painting brings a favorite place or memory to mind, I would love to hear your story, too.
