Sanderling # 22

Artist Emil Morhardt captures a sanderling scurrying along the edge of incoming surf. In a second, he'll turn around and follow it back down as it recedes, grabbing invertebrates before they can rebury themselves in the sand, says Emil. He'll do this all day long for months, then disappear from Santa Barbara for the summer. I can watch these cute little birds for hours, and I love painting them in acrylic on an absorbent ground using a watercolor technique to give them a soft quality.