Acrylic
Drywall inside an Apparel shop in North Lake Tahoe
120” x 90”
Acrylic on Primed Drywall
Echoes of the Real
surreal: Surreal, Landscape, Visionary
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This painting is a surreal and imaginative depiction of Lake Tahoe, inspired by what I call a “summer-winter day”—those moments when the weather shifts dramatically between warmth and chill, light and storm. On the left, a summer afternoon on the East Shore glows with golden light, turquoise water, and towering pines. On the right, the scene transforms into a crystalline winter day on the West Shore, where snow-laced peaks rise beneath swirling skies and radiant, geometric light.
Threading through it all is a vibrant, energetic line that moves across the canvas—shifting from warm summer tones to icy winter hues. This line was born from the very same doodle I used to draw on my school notes, instinctively sketched in moments of drifting thought. Now reborn in paint, it becomes a current of motion and memory—bridging seasons, moods, and imagination.
Radiant sun flares and near-geometric rays shimmer through the sky and ripple across the lake, blurring the edge between reality and dream.
This piece is more than a landscape—it’s a dreamscape of Tahoe itself, suspended between opposites: summer and winter, stillness and energy, memory and vision.
Tags: Lake Tahoe, Summer, Winter, Scribble Line, East Shore, West Shore, Mountains
Living in Lake Tahoe was a fun and unforgettable experience. The area had its own unique climate—sometimes so sporadic it felt like you were in two seasons at once. I’d often laugh and say, “Well, it’s another summer/winter day up in Tahoe,” shaking my head at the wild, unpredictable weather. Those contrasts in nature stuck with me, and they became the inspiration behind this piece.
This was my very first mural commission, created for an apparel shop in Incline Village on the North Shore of Lake Tahoe. I poured a lot of love and vision into it, and I was incredibly proud of how it turned out. It stayed up for about five years, becoming a part of the local scenery.
One day, I brought a girlfriend in to see it, excited to show her my work—only to find the new owners had painted over the entire mural in solid white. No warning, no call—just gone. It was a sad moment, realizing my first mural had been erased.
Still, I’m grateful I had documented it properly. Even though the wall is bare now, the mural lives on through this image—a snapshot of my growth as an artist, and a dreamscape of Tahoe’s ever-changing moods.
