The Spirit of San Juan
Paul Gavin, Oil on linen, 16" x 12", 2007
The original has been sold.
A Peaceful Location
The hills above San Juan Capistrano provide a peaceful location to get away and on a clear day a beautiful view of San Diego to the south, Avalon on Catalina to the west, and the San Gabriel Mountains to the north. With one of the oldest extant California structures at the Mission, San Juan Capistrano has been a stop on the El Camino Real since the 1700s.
Horses and riders have played a major role in San Juan's history and the city is still home to a large equestrian population. Familiar with riding and at home on a horse, I grew up on my grandparents' Ventura County cattle ranch, learning to ride when very young and rounding up cattle since elementary school and rode Gymkhana in high school at Thacher in Ojai.