Sketchbook: Ferry Rides, Beach Reads, and the Art of Summer
Washington State Ferry, June 2026
My husband’s birthday was this week and we did one of my favorite Pacific Northwest things — take a ferry.
This time we walked on the ferry in Edmonds and took it over to Kingston to try Sourdough Willy’s, a pizza place that has been on Drew’s list for a while.
I love spending time on the water like this. Being part of it, moving and traveling through it. And I love that you can just wake up one morning here and go do that. You can just choose to be on a ferry and cruise Puget Sound, sailing from relaxing seaside enclave to relaxing seaside enclave.
Small seaside towns like the ones I frequent now are the kinds of places I used to dream about visiting.
All photos by me, all right here in Washington — ferry views, driftwood beaches, small seaside towns, mountain water, and sunset light. Stunning beauty. Places include Edgewater Beach in Mukilteo, Discovery Park, Port Townsend, Lake Wenatchee, and Golden Gardens Beach.
Years ago in my early 20s I remember reading the book Outer Banks by Anne Rivers Siddons. I don’t recall much about the novel itself, but I was so drawn to the descriptions of the beach towns of Outer Banks, North Carolina, a place that was foreign to me then.
I would picture the shingled beach houses, basking in summer sunshine, and cooling off in ocean waves. Strolling along the beach in the morning and picking up seashells. Relaxing with a book and nowhere to be. It’s something I longed for in my life way before I even realized it.
Excerpt from my March 2022 post Outer Banks Inspiration: Abstract Seascapes and Coastal Memories:
An image from a beach walk on my 2021 visit to Outer Banks, North Carolina
Burying my head in books has been a lifelong joy for me. I didn’t grow up anywhere near the ocean, but books, TV shows, and movies regularly summoned me to coastal places that I loved lingering in. That’s something I’ve carried with me into and throughout adulthood.
This morning I watched the first episode of a new (what I call) “summer show” — Every Year After, based on the Carley Fortune book that I also enjoyed. For reference, other shows that fall into this category for me are The Summer I Turned Pretty, We Were Liars, Summertime, Maestro in Blue, The Durrells in Corfu, Anotherself — nearly anything with a beach as a central character counts.
Note: These shows do not have to be viewed in the summer, but for me they usually are. In case you’re wondering, yes, in the fall and winter there are another forms of fiction I sink into that I call “cozy shows”, like Virgin River, Northern Exposure, or Gilmore Girls.
The book cover for Every Summer Ever After | The welcome sign for the beach I go to every weekend (via The Everett Clipper). I LOVE that it has a sign that looks like it would show up at the beginning of one of my “summer shows”!
I’m so drawn to bringing MOODS into my world through books, movies, shows, images…all of it. It makes me feel like I can merge into them for a bit. Not usually in an escapism kind of way (although sometimes it TOTALLY is), but more like a place for my mind to rest.
I laughed to myself the other day because I realized that even at 56 years old I’m still learning how my brain works. I noticed that my mind can totally relax if I’m reading fiction or watching TV or movie. It has to be fiction — there has to be some kind of story I can sink into. Contained edges of a world. When I’m there, I don’t have to DECIDE anything. I don’t have to FIGURE ANYTHING OUT. I’m not reading for a purpose. I can just be.
The Art of Rest and Relaxation
The Day We Met, 36×60 inches, 2025
Some of my paintings are able to bring me to seaside towns too. Whether I’m creating layers of blues or temporarily sharing space with a finished work, they are tactile ways of revisiting the kinds of places that I love to be.
Held By Depth, 36×36 inches, 2025
Where I Find Myself, 36×36 inches, 2025
Departure, 36×60, 2025
Wayfinder, 48×48 inches, 2025
Beach Reads
In addition to Carley Fortune novels — I’ve read and enjoyed three of hers so far! — here are a few more books that feel like a day at the beach.
Note: It’s been a while since I’ve read some of these and I don’t remember the stories clearly, just that I liked them. There may be some sad or disturbing parts, or maybe it’s winter…but there is still a beach element.
I'll Be Your Blue Sky by Marisa de los Santos
You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi
Sea Wife by Amity Gaige
The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han
Beach Read by Emily Henry
Happy Place by Emily Henry
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
The Summer Book by Tove Jansson
Just for the Summer by Abby Jimenez
Travels Through the French Riviera: An Artist’s Guide to the Storied Coastline, from Menton to Saint-Tropez by Virgnina Johnson
Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
Sandwich by Catherine Newman
A Drop in the Ocean by Jenni Ogden
The Secret Love Letters of Olivia Moretti by Jennifer Probst
One Italian Summer by Rebecca Serle
One Night on the Island by Josie Silver
Maine: A Novel by J. Courtney Sullivan
Home by the Sea: The Surf Shacks and Hinterland Hideaways of Byron Bay by Natalie Walton
Love & Olives by Jenna Evans Welch
Edmonds, WA, August 2023
I hope you get to jump into a body of water this summer.
Notes From The Studio
If you’re drawn to artwork shaped by atmosphere, memory, and the emotional experience of place, I share personal and studio reflections along with early previews of available work through Notes From the Studio.
