Art Up Close: Ruth Mayer’s ‘Path to Glory’

Ruth Mayer has never illustrated a “Where’s Waldo?” book, but sneaking obscure characters into panoramic scenes is part of her forte.

The Laguna Beach gallery owner’s painting “Path to Glory,” which portrays an orange-imbued sunset on the city’s Main Beach, looks like an unpopulated landscape until you spot the bench-dwellers enjoying twilight together. But even they’re not the main hidden attraction. According to Mayer, the painting also features angels in the sky and a profile of the artist herself in the flowers.

Where, exactly?

Mayer, whose Coast Highway spot recently won the Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce’s annual Spirit of Laguna Award for Gallery of the Year, won’t reveal all the concealed goods in her work. She did point out a few things, though, in an interview with the Coastline Pilot earlier this month:

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1. Catch it while you can

Mayer, not surprisingly, started painting “Path to Glory” on Main Beach at sunset. But she had only a short time to capture the color in the sky — meaning that she spent her time on the beach mixing “color patches” to use as a reference later. “When you’re doing something like a magnificent sunset, then you’ve got put down your color patches fast,” Mayer said. “And then you can come back and get the surrounding areas.”

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2. Pristine and protected

Near the center of Mayer’s composition is the lifeguard tower, which the artist considers a local landmark. “It’s a symbol of ‘be safe’ when you come to Laguna,” she said.

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3. It’s a bird! It’s a pelican!

When Mayer was setting her color patches, a flock of pelicans flew by — and she opted to include them in the scene, flying toward the sinking sun. For good measure, she threw in dolphins, which she spotted passing by in the water. Since Mayer didn’t want to ruin the calm ocean composition, though, she snuck the dolphins into the clouds (look for them in the lower tier of clouds on the left).

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4. No one’s up for chess?

Actually, the game board in the lower left does have a pair of attendees — just not human ones. Mayer painted a pair of birds that alighted on the small table.

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5. As for humans...

They’re tucked in on the bench on the left side of the lifeguard tower, and also on the right, just before the frame. In Mayer’s words, they’re enjoying “their own private sunset,” undisturbed by a painter’s request for poses.

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6. Take the path

Stand in front of “Path to Glory” and your feet are perfectly positioned in front of the titular path, which begins between the flower beds and continues over the ocean, where the orange reflection on the water seems to continue the steps from shore to sun. “I want you to feel that you could walk up that walkway right across the sea and into heaven,” Mayer said. Yes, but before you do, see if you can spot those angels.

‘Path to Glory’

Medium: Oil on canvas, 30 by 40 inches

Location: Ruth Mayer Gallery, 380 S. Coast Hwy., Laguna Beach

Hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays through Sundays

Price: $45,000 for original; unframed reproductions start at $3,200

Information: (949) 494-8185 or https://www.ruthmayer.comhttps://www.ruthmayer.com