Art and Fairytale in Carmel-by-the-Sea

A quaint, fairytale-looking little town by the sea. I fell quite in love with Carmel-by-the-Sea. Carmel-by-the-Sea or Carmel simplified is a small beach city located in Monterey, California. A paradise for artists and art enthusiasts, Carmel is definitely a visit if you are ever visiting California. I’ve always associated the United States with massive metropolitan cities, and was pleasantly surprised when I got a chance to visit Carmel in 2018. You can literally walk the whole of Carmel’s city centre by foot while being enchanted by its fairytale-like cottages and art galleries that surround the city. This pretty little town definitely fueled my creative mind where inspiration was at every corner.

In April 2018, I was fortunate enough to go for a conference in the US. It was my first time to the US and to be honest, I didn’t really know what to expect. My conference was in Galveston, Texas, but since a close friend of mine lived in San Jose, California, I decided to make a trip to visit her. Knowing I was visiting San Jose, another friend who lived in Carmel invited me over and told me I would love Carmel. So I did a little research since I’d never heard of Carmel before. Obviously, after researching and learning the art history of Carmel I was intrigued and couldn’t wait to go there. My friend told me to take a bus to Monterey and she would pick me up after work. I remember arriving quite early in the day at Monterey and decided to explore a little. I went to the pier and quickly became quite a fan of this place – I have a thing about piers and waters! After half a day of wandering around, my friend picked me up around evening time and took me back to her house, located in Carmel. She then took me to the city centre and I undoubtedly fell in love with Carmel. It was just a magical place, and if you’re anything like me – I’m not a fan of big cities, and can imagine myself living on farm on a mountain somewhere with horses and alpacas (LOL) – you would fall in love with it too. Only a few minutes walk from the city centre is the beach, another major win – especially if you love hanging out by the beach. Carmel’s city centre is decorated by shops, restaurants, galleries and museums, most of which in old-fashioned cottage style buildings.

Monterey State Historic Park

Art lovers are spoiled by the many art galleries that houses works of world-renowned artists, local artists, and beautiful one of a kind art pieces. I definitely had a lot of fun going in and out of galleries. You are also spoiled for choice in terms of genres, there are conventional paintings, and more contemporary art pieces. I went inside one gallery where they told me they have clients all the way from Shanghai and Hong Kong, if you are ever in search of art pieces, Carmel is definitely the place to go!

An art gallery at Carmel-by-the-Sea

However, it’s not just the art galleries, the whole city centre is a perfect object for an art piece. If you’re into urban painting, the cottage-like buildings are unique and beautiful and would most definitely an eye catching object to paint. If you’re into nature, there are flowers planted everywhere – make sure you go either in spring or summer of course! If you love landscapes, the beach and coastal views makes for amazing painting reference. There’s something for every artists.

I imagine Carmel a place where artists gather to make art, poetry, stories and music. It’s truly like something out of a fairytale and a must to visit if you are ever in California.

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