This is the third painting of the beautiful beach of Menton, France. I struggled with this one, wanting to capture the beautiful color of the water and the way the sun shone on the western half of the town. I worked for several weeks to make a colorful picture. Woke up at 4 a.m. on March 21, the first day of Spring, and unable to go back to sleep, headed straight for the studio to continue my work. Finally it started to happen. After working in acrylic for the past month on this work, I got the oils paints out and made just the color and light I was wanting. I like painting on the first day of spring. It seems such a monumental day. Winter is over. The birds have returned, trees in blossom all over, wildflowers, and long days of sunshine. Other paintings over the years that I’ve made on the first of Spring are Flowering Plums, First Day of Spring (2000) and Old Barn in Lemon Grove (2004).