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The San Clemente Pier is one of the longest piers in California. I was drawn to this subject because of the unique play of light on the wood and the water. The water is powerful, and moving--the architecture of the pier, and its construction, must be well-designed and strong to be able to withstand the repeated onslaughts of wind and wave.

It's January here in the Southland, and even as I write this post, huge waves are attacking the rocks, cliffs, and houses along its coastal span.

It always intrigues me how bold and even brash man's initiative can be, in the face of the truly immense and awesome elements. There is the attempt to build an "unsinkable" ship, to send men to the moon (even to Mars!), to build houses not even 50 feet from the shore-break. Man's enterprise is seemingly unlimited.

It is that same enterprise that has given the world its greatest music, erected its loftiest cathedrals, and provided our cultures with the most magnificent of artworks. As I sat at the water's edge under this pier, with my sketchbook in my hand, I silently admired that unbending enterprise, as I drew the unbending columns of this "temple of water and light."