This is a signed, archival-quality giclee print of the painting "Cannon Beach Mari Lwyd."
 
Mari Lwyd is a Welsh wassailing tradition where a horse skull is mounted on a pole, dressed up in a sheet and decorations, and carried from door to door where its bearers and companions then sing to the residents to request food and drink. It’s one of my favorite winter rituals because of how it walks the line between spooky and endearing, much like the season itself.
 
Meanwhile, much closer to my home there is a famous beach framed by iconic rock formations called haystacks, and herds of coastal forest elk are known to descend from the coast range in the colder months to hang out in town and on the beach.
 
So what’s the link? When I was growing up my parents had (and still have) an elk mount in the living room, and every year my dad would put ornaments into its eye sockets, bringing it to life in a truly disturbing way. Over the years I’ve thought many times about the resemblance it bore to the Mari Lwyd. But if a domestic horse of a Mari Lwyd tours the town, what does an elk Mari Lwyd do? Perhaps a beach parade!