Lincoln Park

I'm reading, "The Forest Lover" by Susan Vreeland and, inspired by Emily Carr's plein air adventures, I thoroughly enjoyed my painting today. Not that my work is anything like hers - but I did feel more in tune with what I was doing. Lincoln Park is a narrow strip of green between two roads, so you wouldn't expect much in the way of exciting subject matter. However the park is next to a beautiful church, has pepper, oak and redwood trees, and showcases several large sculptures.
The lumpy trunks and delicate ferny foliage of three pepper trees grabbed my attention first. I liked the blue truck that was parked behind them too. I drew everything in pen, then got to work with the paint. I was busy with the foliage, then thought, ok I'll do the truck. I looked up and the truck was gone! Good job I'd sketched it in when I did.
Next we went off and painted St. Nicholas Church. The light on this was exquisite, with pink/purple shadows on the side of the tower where the roof reflected the warm color. I did this purely in paint, no drawing in pen or pencil. The shadows changed quickly, so this had to be a rapid painting to capture the color and light.
We had our lunch in the gazebo, and we were drawn to a very gnarly pepper tree right next to us. There were so many protruberances that you could imagine orcs, or trolls just under the bark. I did this sketch with my brush pens.
Lastly, I sketched one of the metal sculptures (Space Dance for Peace, by Paul Mercea Goreniuc) in a grove of redwoods.