Chitactac Adams Heritage County Park, Gilroy

 Ohlone structures at the park- built from Tule Reeds

This park is new to me, so I was pleased to be able to join the Saturday Paintsites group here.  I was fascinated by the Ohlone structures built of Tule Reeds.  I talked to the docent there and she told me they take many hours of work to weave the tule and put it all together.  The object in the center of the painting, which looks like a large basket, is a granary.  It would normally have a top on it, but that hasn't been finished yet.  The Ohlone people would keep acorns in it, layering them with bay leaves to keep the bugs away.  Close by are enormous rocks with many hollows where the women would grind the acorns to make flour or meal.  The docent also told me that the settlement that existed here was a meeting point for surrounding tribes who would come from far and wide to the dances held in the village. As I sat in the shade and painted I tried to imagine what life would have been like back then.  I thought about putting some people in my painting, but I think it has a poignancy with their absence.

Memorial Park, Cupertino

Memorial Park

Not as sweltering a day as expected - but pretty hot all the same!  With our drought conditions Cupertino are not filling the ponds here this year, so the view was baking concrete. There were a couple of ducks waddling about wondering what had happened to their home, poor things. However, with a little painterly magic, hey presto, water and reflections! If only it were this easy to really conjure up H2O.