Hi, people of the internet!

I’m Sara Thompson and, believe it or not, this is my first blog. Before the age of 23, I never even had a Facebook page! But times change, and I finally decided to go digital. After all, my new profession is all about internet technologies. I just found a job as a web designer and, although it’s not quite what I wanted, the salary is rather good and I have flexible hours, so I still have time to dedicate to things I really like – jogging, hiking and fishing. Yes, I prefer to spend my weekends out in the open. And I’m much more likely to boast the size of the fish I caught here than my latest website design, that’s for sure 🙂

Ocean of colors

House of the rising sun

As I already told you, I’m in love with water. My bedroom faces the San Francisco Bay and every morning I wake up to the glow of the rising sun. I slip on my bathrobe, pour myself a cup of hot coffee and go out on the balcony to enjoy the show. I’m telling you, there is nothing more beautiful than that! At first, the whole city falls silent, as if waiting for something. The world around starts fading in like a TV screen. Very slowly, bit by bit… And then it happens. The sky explodes with a multitude of colors. Pink, crimson and gold, they mix and dance overhead waking everything to life. This beauty is mirrored in the still water of the bay, and if there are any boats, they seem to be sailing in the clouds 🙂 And then there is that accumulating glare on the horizon that grows stronger and stronger, and finally the sun comes out – huge and unbearably bright, like a ball of fire. For a couple of moments, I swear, I hear music accompanying its emergence 🙂 Starting your day with a picture like this is worth going to bed a bit earlier to be awake before the alarm 🙂

 

On the painted waves

My window isn’t the only way to enjoy spectacular water views in this house 🙂 For several years, I’ve been collecting oil paintings of sailing vessels and marine panoramas. I guess, I have about 10 or 12 of them. My entire apartment looks like a seascape gallery 🙂 My favorites are:

• A replica of ‘Sunrise’ by Monet. I believe it doesn’t need introduction 🙂 I put it over my computer 🙂
• Some unknown marina by a street artist – I saw him painting it from scratch at Pier 39 and bought it right after he finished.
• This canvas here is one of the best paintings of sailboats I saw. It is a seascape by Leonid Afremov, a contemporary artist I’d like to tell you more about.

I first found out about Leonid and his paintings about a year ago. One of my friends sent me a link to his online gallery and I was absolutely stunned by what I saw there! Afremov has a truly memorably style. The colors are so bright and vivid, the manner is so unusual and the images are so lovely that you can look at them for hours! But when I set my eyes on this particular canvas, I knew I had to have it 🙂 So now it hangs in my living room, on the most visible spot 🙂 There are many more images in Leonid Afremov’s store for you to choose from. I’m sure everyone will find something to one’s liking here 🙂

What’s life without a bit of risk?

As you already figured, I’m a girl with guy hobbies. I’m one of those people who prefer to ‘relax actively.’ Perhaps that has something to do with the fact that I was raised with three brothers and naturally picked up a few of their habits 🙂 Whenever our family went out on a field trip, nobody cut me any slack just because I happened to be a girl. I had to set up tents, chop wood, gut fish and climb rocks. And I liked it 🙂 My brightest memory is traveling to the Mulberry River. I was only seven, but I remember everything down to the latest detail. How we got caught in a terrible storm right in the middle of the forest, how Rob (my eldest brother) caught a 3 pound fish that took our entire team to pull out, how we saw a deer and how we canoed down the river. It was awesome! Of course, I was too small to take real part in the process, but it was still incredibly exciting! Ever since then, I developed great passion for water sports. I’ve been to many rivers, calm and rapid, quiet and moderately dangerous. One day, I’ll pull my guts together and kayak through a waterfall, just like this guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EznRcs1DffA 🙂