This is the third painting in the Exit 35 series, 24 x 20 inches on linen-wrapped canvas. This past spring, driving west on the 101, I saw the brown hills turn a sharp, sudden green. I stopped near exit 35 and took photos, wanting to catch that brief change. In the studio, I worked in layers, one over the next, letting each color and mark shift like the land itself. The painting holds that moment: the hills waking up, the road cutting through, the sense that something familiar can still surprise you.