Capitola Village by the Sea is one of the oldest vacation retreats on the Pacific Coast. The original resort was built by Santa Cruz County pioneer Frederick Hihn in 1882. While it continues to attract tourists with beautiful scenery, year-round events, boutiques, and restaurants, it has also become a favorite spot for outdoor painters.
The Capitola Plein Air paint out celebrated its 10th anniversary last month, during the first week of November.
Hosted by the city’s Art and Culture Commission, the paint out is an art competition involving forty exceptional artists selected through an application process each year. Artists paint within city limits; the Esplanade Park and New Brighton Beach are favorite locations. At the end of the week, completed work is exhibited, prizes are awarded, and work is offered for sale.
Carol Tarzier Painting at the Esplanade
Carol Tarzier
This year, Oakland artist and Benicia Plein Air Gallery member Carol Tarzier won the First Place award and a cash prize.
She was attending her second Capitola Plein Air event. “I am so totally honored,” she said of receiving the prize amidst so many great artists. “The weather was crazy, sunny one minute and dark fog the next. On Tuesday I got in two hours of work, then got rained out. My palette was dripping; I had to turn it upside down to empty it out. I like this place because I feel challenged to deal with the elements. Painting the waves requires adding your memories together, trying to remember what the waves were doing. On Wednesday morning the waves were huge, like six to seven feet high, so dramatic. I started out just splashing stuff onto the canvas. The fun part this week has been forcing myself to get as loose as possible with these crashing waves and blinding light on the water. I’m trying to do something a little different with color, it’s been kind of an adventure for me.”
Many of the forty painters who participated in the 2025 event are from Northern California, including Marie Massey. Massey is a full-time artist/teacher from La Selva Beach, just a few miles from Capitola. “I’ve done this paint-out nine times out of ten. I like it because the subject matter is spectacular. I do open studios here and people just love these paintings of Capitola and the beach area.” On Tuesday, when it rained all day, she found a spot to paint underneath the pier. “I still got dripped on. If I don’t finish a painting, I bring it back. There’s so much information out here that you’re not going to get in the studio, that you’re never going to capture in a photo.” Massey does a plein air circuit every year, traveling to seven plein air events in California and Colorado. “You see a lot of the same artists. They all get addicted to plein air.”
Marie Massey – Capitola Plein Air
Leisa Luis-Grill at Capitola Esplanade
Leisa Luis-Grill has been painting outdoors and participating in paint outs for over ten years. Originally from Minnesota, she now lives in Fredericksburg, Texas. “I have a sister that lives in Corona Del Mar. I called her up and said, ‘do you wanna take a road trip?’ She works online, so she’s working while I’m out here.
“I love the pier here,” she said about Capitola’s Esplanade Park. “I love water, I don’t get that a lot in Texas. It was a treat just watching this amazing tide come in. When it rained all day, I painted the little row houses I could see from the carport where I stayed. I love people coming up to talk while I’m out painting. This place has a great vibe about it.”
“I have participated multiple times and am happy to be a part of the tenth anniversary,” said Meisha Grichuhin. Born in San Jose, Grichuhin now lives in Southern California. She has been coming to Capitola since she was a child.
“Capitola is such a charming town, with friendly people, and this is a fun event.”
“I’ve painted at the wharf and Capitola beach, and I love painting on the cliff by the old railroad tracks above New Brighton. There’s a beautiful grove of eucalyptus and a little trail that overlooks the beach. I’ve met at least ten of the other artists previously, whether at Capitola or the Carmel Art Festival,” she says of the collegial community of plein air painters. “I’m hoping to participate in other plein air events this coming year.”
Meisha Gruschin-Another Work on her Easel
To learn more about the forty artists who painted in Capitola this past month, visit https://www.cityofcapitola.org/acc/page/capitola-plein-air-2025
