Kathleen Goodwin

Getting to know the Point Reyes National Seashore was for me like coming home. I was born in South Africa and lived there until I was a young adult. After I moved to the Bay Area in 1974, I missed South Africa’s wide open spaces. Then I discovered the Point Reyes National Seashore. It filled a need to rest my eyes on expansive beauty. There were trails where I could walk for miles with frequent opportunities to observe animals and birds living in their natural habitat. I began really appreciating the visual world in a much more profound way after I lost the sight in my right eye in 1975 when a melanoma tumor started growing on the iris. Seeing everything two dimensionally was disconcerting at first but I found painting and photographing my environment, made it become more real. I was able to overcome the feeling of being in a movie that never ended and use the new way of seeing creatively.Painting and photographing in West Marin is a pleasure and privilege I really value. I paint both on location and in the studio using water color, oils, acrylics and pastels. I make archival prints of my paintings and photographs.

Kathleen Goodwin and Richard Blair are the authors and publishers of Visions of Marin, Point Reyes Visions, the Point Reyes Visions Guidebook and California Trip.