The Blair Goodwin Gallery / Color & Light Editions

371 Drakes View Drive, Inverness, CA 94937

415 663-1616

Deer Solves Big Problem.

Inverness, Oct. 25th, 2010

It was my birthday treat, kayaking in Tomales Bay. I launched from Chicken Ranch Beach, promising to be back in about an hour, as it was already late in the day. My kayak has foot pedals, which suits me very well, as I can zip along the water, steering with just the touch of a finger on a lever that adjusts the rudder. It leaves me free to observe the passing scene with unobstructed vision. 

A grey heron flew just in front of me, then a seal popped up nearby. I skimmed along the shore passing the two Shell Beaches. In the distance I could see an unusual looking boat moored at Sacramento Landing, formerly known as Spenger's Landing. The Spenger family built a house there, and for many years caught fish in Tomales Bay for their famous restaurant in Berkeley. Now the cove has been taken over by the National Park Service as their Tomales Bay headquarters.

After a while I realized I would not have the time to visit the boat and was drawn to a cove closer by. As I pedalled towards the inlet, in the shadows of the trees at the water’s edge, I spotted a young deer standing on the shore.  I observed his reflection, even his small horns, in the still water. "What an exquisite sight", I thought, "it's a birthday gift of beauty."

A few minutes later the deer tried to climb the cliff behind the narrow strip of sand of the cove. He managed to climb about fifteen feet up the side of the steep cliffs, then gave up and slid down to the beach. He tried again and again, first on one side of the cove and then the other. Finally, with a huge leap, he climbed over a big rock that jutted out into the bay so he could see around the corner. Still more rocks faced him, so he turned around, scrambled back to the beach, and attempted once more to climb up the cliff–with no success. I noticed, with concern, that the deer was starting to lap up the salty water of the bay. 

I meanwhile was faced with a dilemma. Should I turn around to call the Park Service for their help, or watch this drama play out to its perhaps tragic end? I started to go back to Chicken Ranch Beach but found I could not leave. I had to see how the deer was faring.

Unbelievably, he had figured out that the only possible way out of his predicament was along the shore. He had once again struggled over the big rock and was now looking at what lay ahead. He started his journey slipping and sliding over the submerged rocky shoreline. I sat in my kayak a mere twenty feet away silently urging him on. A few times he fell into the bay and swam a little way, but at the first opportunity returned to the rocks. Now and then he would stop and look at the cliff. I could see him gauging whether he could climb it. 

“Keep going, keep going. You can make it!” I encouraged him mentally. As he reached the last rocky outcrop before he could see the sandy shore of Shell Beach Two, I could see he was seriously considering the cliff again. I kayaked behind him so I could herd him around the corner. It worked! He splashed around the deeper waters and finally realized that a safe landing was at hand. He calmly and slowly walked ashore. I was ready to do a victory dance myself.

I kayaked back to Chick Ranch Beach. Later, Richard brought a dozen shucked oysters on to the beach. The deer was safe and life was good!
Support Wikipedia
We were the cover story in the Pacific Sun on May 7th. Please read the article by Elizabeth Stewart, the Sun's book editor.

Vision' quest
Main Feature Story, Pacific Sun 8/28/09

Self-publishing gurus Kathleen Goodwin and Richard Blair, who've glossied up many a local coffee table over the past decade with their hardcover photo books Point Reyes Visions and California Trip, return to the picture-essay arena with Visions of Marin, the most quintessentially Marin entry in a series that's becoming the definitive visual history of the county.
Where Point Reyes Visions focused on the majesty of the western portion of the county, Visions of Marin points a far wider angle at Marin as a whole, chronicling the histories, apocrypha and legendary figures and monuments that have left their literal and figurative marks on the landscape. Chapters cover everything from towns and municipalities to parks and open space, "ethereal landscapes" and, toward the end of the book (apparently when they'd run out film), Goodwin's own plein air paintings of the county. Farms, bocce, the Coast Miwok, windsurfing, Blackie, Sir Francis Drake, the Mountain Play, Joseph Eichler, the Dipsea, John Reed, William Kent, houseboats, Frank Lloyd Wright, Olompali, tule elk, William Richardson, Marinship and the Grateful Dead are all in there as well. And they look great.

—Jason Walsh, Editor in chief, Pacific Sun
To order a signed copy of the book from the authors, please click below book.
Personalize book?
Richard Blair and Kathleen Goodwin's book, California Trip, won a gold medal in the 2009 Independent Publisher Book Awards for the best West coast regional non-fiction book. The IPPY Awards are held annually to honor the year's best independently published titles. More than 3000 publishers enter to win an award, including many museum and university presses. The aim of the Awards is to reward those who exhibit the courage, innovation, and creativity to bring about change in the world of publishing. California Trip is a big 300 page, 600 photograph book with a beautiful cloth binding and the highest quality paper and printing. It was $49.95 in bookstores, now it's $19.95 plus shipping via the paypal button. Please choose your book jacket image and add any short message you wish to have the authors inscribe!
Cover Options

Reviews of California Trip

The authors of the best-selling Point Reyes Visions have expanded their horizons to encompass the entirety of California. Richard Blair and Kathleen Goodwin bring a unique view of the state with the images and text in their new book, California Trip. Here is a link to see much of the book as a google preview.

Travelling thousands of miles throughout the state, they have captured its spirit with photographs that range from surfers, farm workers and movie stars to exquisite pictures of California’s deserts and mountains. This is an unusual book for the depth of perspective it gives the viewer of its cultural and natural landscapes.

From the hippies and the protests of the sixties to California today-the authors were there with cameras and a reporter’s notebook, recording vital details of California’s unique place in the world. Goodwin and Blair weren’t just reporting; they were deeply involved, freezing and frying in the mountains and deserts, demonstrating against the wars, dancing at concerts, always observing.

California has been brought to life–its people, craziness and peak moments of beauty and truth. The content is honest and revealing, breaking new ground for a California picture book by including ignored but important subjects, like earthquakes, immigration, gay and lesbian rights, the rise of organic farming to name a few.

Capturing a Bay Area jewel: "Point Reyes Visions." The book made it to my coffee table in my office (no small feat). When confounded when a story falls through, I open it up and the beautiful photography is like I've been hit with a tranquilizer dart. There's hardly an inch of Point Reyes I haven't seen and the slick, color photos not only capture the place, but are like windows looking at past adventures. Sections on adjacent Tomales Bay and Mount Tamalpais are a bonus to the jewel-quality photos of the Bay Area's favorite national park.- Tom Stienstra, Outdoor Columnist, San Francisco Chronicle

371 Drakes View Drive, Inverness, CA 94937 415 663-1616