Plein Air Muse

Rosicrucian Museum, San Jose, January 19th

2012-01-20T09:19:00.000-08:00

What a contrast weatherwise from our last outing. I was glad I dressed for winter because it was very cold when you were sat still painting. We had the Rosicrucian to ourselves for a little while, but pretty soon it was swamped by groups of school children. To make the most of it I had some fun painting figures.

We only painted until Noon, then had a quick lunch and went off to the Triton Museum to see the 2011 Statewide Painting Exhibition http://tritonmuseum.org/ There are some wonderful paintings on show there, well worth visiting.

Palo Alto Baylands, January 5th, 2012

2012-01-20T09:11:00.000-08:00

This was a gorgeous day, and no better place to be than by the saltmarshes surrounded by birds and views of the mountains. A Great Egret and Snowy Egret were fishing very close to us. Fun for us - not so fun for the fish!

Mexico Sketches

2011-12-25T19:49:00.000-08:00

Beach View

Prior to Christmas we had a wonderful week in Cabo, Mexico. Warm weather, good food and lots of Margaritas. What could be better! Here are some sketches I did over the week.


Beach Vendors - you can buy anything on the beach

View from our balcony

The place we stayed had wonderful architecture, very organic with a private, yet friendly, feeling.

Quick 2 minute sketch done at the Flea Market (I added the paint later) The shops are a profusion of color.

Our room had little alcove shelves adorned with shells and ornaments

One evening here was a parade for the Virgin of Guadalupe's birthday

Palms were everywhere - this one's a little abstracted

Lovers beach - next to what looked like Alcatraz!

A Blustery Day at Santa Cruz Mission

2011-12-03T12:02:00.000-08:00

Santa Cruz Mission in the afternoon (postcard)

Ah, the many challenges of plein air painting! Mission Plaza park in Santa Cruz is a small pretty square in front of the Santa Cruz Mission and the Holy Cross Catholic Church. It was very busy this particular morning, with crowds of school children wandering about and a large funeral taking place at the church. The capricious weather gave us an extra frisson of excitement as great gusts of wind periodically had us hanging on to all our equipment while we were buffeted by falling leaves. At one point I became aware of a large spider crawling under the brim of my hat. It must have blown onto my head in the wind. I transported it to safety on a nearby rock. As the morning progressed a crazy homeless woman wandered about the square shouting, and in the afternoon another homeless person was sleeping under the trees. All this and we had to think about painting too!

Santa Cruz Mission in the morning

It took me a while to get into painting (surprise!) and my first sketch was a bit sad. Next I sketched the beautiful Holy Cross Church.

Holy Cross Church

Then I decided to try out some watercolor canvas. This is a very strange surface to use. The paint just sits there and looks at you as if to say "I was expecting paper, what's this stuff?" Then you have to mush the paint around a bit and suddenly it looks a bit like watercolor. Its hard to do details, so I guess you just have to be broad and colorful with it. The great thing about it is you can remove the paint easily and really push your painting around. If fact if you were cheap you could probably use the same bit of canvas for years - just photograph your painting, then wash it off! I'm going to experiment some more with it.

Victorian House (Watercolor Canvas)

Our group got together for a pot luck lunch. Soo many yummie treats to enjoy! Lovely.
My final painting was a little postcard (top of page)- and again it was the best thing I did all day. There's something about painting on such a tiny piece of paper that works for me...!

Oak Hill Memorial Park

2011-11-03T18:11:00.000-07:00

View from Sunrise Hill

I really like this beautiful cemetery. With its sweeping hills and wide views it is a wonderful place to contemplate life and death. Oak Hill is California's oldest secular cemetery with burials from 1847.
I started painting with a little postcard sketch of distant sight of the hills and a tall redwood casting its shadow over the graves.

Also from Sunrise Hill

From Mausoleum

San Jose Skyline with storm brewing

The mausoleum has wonderful views of the San Jose skyline and I had several attempts at painting that. During my first painting the clouds started to build up and by the time I had my second go the colors had changed a lot. I had intended to do more sketches, but it got blustery and cooler - obviously working up to the promised rain.

Ardenwood Historical Farm

2011-10-13T22:19:00.000-07:00

Ardenwood Pumpkins

I got a late start to the day due to a blinding headache, but I was glad I went up to Ardenwood Farm today. The pumpkins looked suitably plump and orangey, the animals were all in fine voice and a fair few children were having fun learning about farming. I had to paint the field of pumpkins - the lines of orange looked great disappearing off into the distance and right on the horizon were some lovely trees turning color. It was baking hot sat out in the sun though, so I made two quick sketches. This one is my second and has the better color.

1920's Washing Machine

Sue was drawing an old 1920's washing machine behind the house and we started discussing abstraction. Abstraction is hard to do when you are looking at reality - the temptation is to include everything you see. The machine itself was a marvelous study of aged wood and corrugated metal with lovely twirly keys to adjust the spring tension on the mangle rollers. I started a paint sketch of some of the elements. Unfortunately my sketching was interrupted by lunch and I never got back to it.

Catch up!

2011-10-13T21:56:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe its 2 months since I last posted on here! Getting lazy in my old age. Well here's come catchup pieces to bring us back up to date.

Eagle Rock, Alum Rock Park

Hangar at Moffatt Field

Moffatt Field

Lovers Point, Pacific Grove

Coyote Point Hike and Sketch

Mission San Jose, Fremont

2011-08-11T21:37:00.000-07:00

In the Cemetery

This is a lovely mission church with a small garden and cemetery. There are views of the hills behind. I sketched in the cemetery area first the brush pen sketch below, then the painting above. I tried hard not to mix very wet paint into my washes and avoided the backruns. I was quite pleased with some of my greens - remembering to add some reds in there. There are times when I think I might be getting the hang of watercolor.
After lunch a few of us went into the Olive Hyde Art Gallery and saw the juried show on display. There were some beautiful watercolors by Michelle Goll-Smith, Janice Shafir and Robin Worthington. It was interesting to note that the only two pieces that sold were small, traditional, oil landscapes - they were lovely though.

Brush Pen Sketch of the Mission Tower

Later I tried a full view of the mission, but it didn't work out well at all. My values were all off so that one's for the bin.

Villa Maria, Stevens Creek Park

2011-08-11T19:24:00.000-07:00

I was all excited over the Hawk last week so I forgot to post my Villa Maria paintings. Anyway here they are. I did another little postcard - not quite as nice as the one I did of the Five Wounds.
Then I tried a little jumble of fallen limbs against a backdrop of Eucalyptus and foliage. I often get impatient and go back into my washes before they are dry and this was a typical case where I ended up with backruns. I had a stab at correcting it at home, which I something I never normally do.

The Successful Hunt

2011-07-31T22:16:00.000-07:00

Our resident Juvenile Red Tailed Hawk proved his hunting prowess today. He perched on a post with a bird he had caught. Tearing it to bits between talons and beak, the victim was consumed in less than 15 minutes. The hawk accidentally dropped a portion of the entrails onto a lower part of the post and took a minute to figure out how to hop down there to scavenge it without falling. He also spent some time scraping all the crevices of the post to ensure that every scrap was eaten. The only parts discarded were some of the feathers that were plucked off and tossed into the wind. He stayed on the post for over an hour preening and, no doubt, digesting.
This sketch was done from my photos. I started with the watercolor pencils, then added some paint.

New neighbor on the block

2011-07-17T15:13:00.000-07:00

Juvenile Red Tail, Colored Pencil

My neighbors are fun to watch, I have my binoculars out all the time. No, don't go rushing off to call the police - I'm talking about wildlife! My immediate neighborhood is blessed with all kinds of animal residents. We have a doe and fawn that live under our deck. There are also four young bucks which we see roaming around. Birds are here in abundance. We have four or five hummingbirds, with one male who has claimed our feeder and defends it against all comers with typical fiestiness. The Orioles also like the feeder. We have a scrub jay to likes to bathe in our fountain.

Hawk sketch with water added

Over the last few days we've been hearing a hawk squawking up and down the valley. I spotted it on a telegraph pole outside our dining room window, so I snapped some photos of it before a mockingbird drove it away. Hawks are never welcome guests and mockingbirds especially go to great lengths to harass them until they leave. This was a juvenile Red Tail and I'm guessing it's squawking was to attract the attention of its parents and get some food. My photos came out well so I might compose a painting from them. For starters I did a sketch. I found some soluble colored pencils when cleaning up my studio, so I tried them out on this drawing. The first image is the pencil sketch, the second is after I put some clean water on it to see what would happen. Interesting. The colors are very limited, but they might be nice to sketch landscapes with.

My other sketches are of the doe relaxing in our mulch.

Five Wounds Church, Alum Rock

2011-07-14T17:50:00.000-07:00

Today's challenge was the beautiful Portugese Catholic church on East Santa Clara St. It is a replica of the Braga Church in Portugal, completed in 1919 and built in the style of Baroque Revival architecture. My knowledge of architecture is minimal so I'm not sure what that means. Suffice to say it is a gorgeous white church with tall arched towers capped by red domes, lots of wild perspective, and enough twiddly bits to drive you crazy! We had a good turnout again (13 people) which is amazing considering we had to sit on the street and contend with the traffic whizzing by and regular buses belching their exhausts next to us!
My first sketch was done on the edge of the sidewalk so that I could direct artists to the parking when they arrived. I selected a spot where most of the church was hidden behind a tree (a cunning plan!). I wasn't paying 100% attention to what I was doing but I think it worked out well enough for all that!
Next I went across the road to get a better view of the whole building and decided to paint on a postcard. I bought this little pad of postcards at the weekend when I visited the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento (love this art museum). Anyway, the postcard worked out pretty well. It must be the smallest thing I have ever painted - although strictly speaking it is more of a drawing with a little paint daubed on it!
Feeling pleased with my drawing I then moved on to draw the L & F Fish Market at the junction with 101. Then after lunch I moved to the other side of the intersection and sketched the 101 on ramp.

Uvas Canyon Hike and Sketch

2011-06-30T20:10:00.000-07:00

Today's event was a Hike and Sketch at Uvas Canyon. This is a gorgeous park and the waterfalls were flowing pretty well, so there were a lot of challenges to our watercolor skills. We got a good workout up the hills and practiced balancing ourselves and our painting equipment on various large rocks as we painted. At one point I almost lost my backpack in the river - such are the perils of outdoor painting!
I'm using a very small 7 x 5 inch "Cachet" sketchbook by Daler Rowney and while the paper is supposed to be for watercolor, the paint sometimes behaves strangely and it is difficult to glaze without lifting the original layer. Of course this should make for a more spontaneous look as you have to put the paint down and leave it, but I found myself lifting and mushing the paint around a bit, after the fact, so some mud ensued. The lifting ability was useful when I got around to scanning these sketches in as I scanned them in black and white first and that showed me that although I had a lot of different colors - they were all the same value! Oops, so I made a couple of adjustments here and there.

On our return to the carpool site at Calero Stables, Jenny and I did a sketch of the surrounding hills.

Half Moon Bay

2011-06-30T19:59:00.000-07:00

The sun shone for us at Half Moon Bay last week. It was one of those rare days when everything you love all comes together to make the perfect day! We had 18 painters turn up at Pillar Point so there were lots of people to talk to and paint with. Of course the scenery was amazing with a wonderful jumble of boats, harbor buildings, piers and coastline. Most of us partook of a delicious fish and chip lunch from Barbara's Fish Trap and then painted some more. One of our best days out of all time I think!

Nola's Iris Garden

2011-05-09T20:39:00.000-07:00

Who knew there were so many colors of Iris? At Prevost Ranch and Gardens there were beautiful Irises, sunshine and tremendous sweeping views, all up in the hills of East San Jose. We had a wonderful day out.
It was the hottest day of the year so far I think and boy did my allergies kick in. I sneezed, and sneezed, and sneezed, and when I wasn't sneezing I was sniffing - not much fun to be around! I remembered why I don't garden! Nuff said on that. I started my painting session with a little view of the hills - it looked so pretty, but the "pretty" somehow got stuck in my head and didn't make it on to my paper. That's one for the bin ('cept its on the back of something else in my sketchbook!) I think I do better with a closeup image - the grand view is just too overwhelming.
I wandered around some and found a gorgeous Iris that spoke to me, so I painted that. I started with a fairly detailed pen drawing then splashed some color on the wet paper for a wet in wet background. By lunchtime I had painted the budding flower at the top and an initial wash on the lower flower. Of course after lunch I went back and the light had changed completely. I sensibly thought about leaving it there and finishing it from a photo - but sense went out the window and I carried on where I left off. Stupid. I quickly realized it wasn't working the way I wanted. Ah well, live and learn. I don't hate it, but it was going to be so much better.
I did a couple of brush pen sketches later - all I could summon up energy for after all the sneezing. I do like using those brush pens - they're quick and fun.

Monte Bello sunshine

2011-04-01T09:17:00.000-07:00

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!
Finally, some wonderful weather after the weeks of rain - and just in time for our Hike and Sketch at Monte Bello. There were seven hikers, and three non hikers who remained behind to continue painting the gorgeous views not far from the car park. We painted here for half an hour, enjoying the grassy rolling hills dotted with oaks and evergreens, and Mount Umunhum off in the hazy blue distance. I've been working on a plan for our upcoming "Introduction to Plein Air Painting" and, aware that I should look like I know what I'm doing, I tried to consciously plan my sketches a bit more than usual. Or course, that wore off by the time I got to sketch #2! There isn't much time for thinking in a 1/2 hour sketch! View of Mt Umunhum

We had a circular route planned out and off we trotted down the hill on a tiny little path. The size of the path should have given us a clue that we were going the wrong way- but giddy with sunshine and beauty we were oblivious. We paused some way down the hill to sketch moss draped oaks, then continued along the path...until it ended at the creek. With calf muscles complaining we had to retrace our steps back up the hill.
Mossy oak

Eventually we did find the right path and stopped for lunch beside a sag pond. This is a depression created by a fault line and filled in with water and plants. This one was home to an abundance of cattails, and some frogs who gave us a little chorus as we painted.
Sag Pond along the San Andreas Fault

After lunch our little group finally set out on the trail we originally intended using. We crossed the creek several times on bridges admiring little waterfalls and cataracts along the way. We stopped once more to sketch a view of the pathway and some trees.

Wooded path, brushpens in my sketchbook

Further along the trail we came across a little garter snake out for a midday adventure of his own. One of our party (who hates snakes!) screamed like a banshee and ran in the opposite direction! Here we branched off the main trail to take a shortcut back to the carpark. Once again our path was blocked by the stream. This time most of our intrepid hikers stomped into the water and, negotiating the slippery rocks, clambered to the path on the other side. Two of us remained on the bank. Not wanting to get our feet wet, we chickened out and went back to the main trail while the brave ones continued on. The route Jenny and I took seemed steep and long in the afternoon heat, so we rested and chatted for a good while under the shade of an oak tree. On the final part of the trail there were wonderful views of the bay, but we were too tired to sketch. Much later than anticipated we returned to the carpark to find that the gentleman of our party was waiting for us. He had been waiting an hour to ensure we got back safely. Thanks Brad!
All in all a good day out - I'm only sorry we didn't all get to see everyone's paintings and sketches.

Spring blossom

2011-03-10T20:22:00.000-08:00

Gorgeous! - that was the day - rather than my artwork! After a bit of a hiatus (due to vacations and colds!) I'm back to painting. Today we visited the Sunnyvale Heritage Museum and Orchard. The planets must have aligned just so for today to be so perfect. The trees were in blossom, the mustard glowed yellow around the base of the gnarled tree trunks, and the sun shone intermittently between colorful clouds. The orchard was such an appealing view - unfortunately my painting does not do it justice. After a chatty lunch with other plein air painters I did a quick sketch of the gray barn, then went into the museum. I don't normally bother with guided tours, preferring to make my own way around museums. However, this time I got chatting to one of the docents, Jim, and he gave me a wonderful tour and potted history of the Murphy family and Sunnyvale. I learned a lot and Jim did a great job of answering my questions and pointing out items of particular interest to me. Its a great little museum in a lovely setting.

Picchetti Winery

2010-11-20T14:29:00.000-08:00

Picchetti Winery barns and farmhouse
View of a distant vineyard in fall colors
This week's sketches are from our Hike and Sketch up at Picchetti Winery. There is a little hiking trail from behind the winery, out along the hillside, with great views of the surrounding hills. The day was perfect - a little cool in the shade, but lovely in the sunshine.Bridge over a dry streambed
Foggy view of the distant Almaden hills

Picchetti Farmhouse

Asilomar, Sept 23rd

2010-09-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

The CA coast is gorgeous at this time of year. Today's visit to the Point Pinos area of Monterey was a fun day of painting and enjoying the spectacular scenery. It can be intimidating to paint huge panoramas, so I started with some little brush pen sketches to get a feel for the place.

We set up on the beach and looked out over the sea. On turning round I was grabbed by a view of some ice plants cascading down over the rocks. Above was a beautiful blue sky with the occasional seagull hovering in the sea breeze. I thought it would make an interesting painting, but of course the seagulls don't hang around so it will have to be a studio painting. I did some sketches of the idea and took photos of the birds.

We lunched overlooking the golf course, then moved up to the Point Pinos Lighthouse. This quaint little building looked very paintable, but as I started my composition sketch I quickly realized I was way too close to the building. The dark green rectangle was supposed to contain the whole lighthouse! Feeling overwhelmed by the task, I moved on to a cute little shed behind the lighthouse which nestled amongst some interesting trees. I was conscious of making the shed (my focal point) slightly off to one side, but the shed had other ideas when I started drawing and plonked itself right in the center of the paper. Darn! Despite this I was really pleased with the way it came out (see top of page).

Later we moved further along the coast to where a sea lion had spent the day sunbathing on a big rock out at sea. It seemed like a picture perfect opportunity, but he was quite far away. I did two sketches, the second using binoculars. My last painting was an attempt at the crazy rocks which line the coast here. Rocks are quite a challenge!

The Presidio, September 19th

2010-09-25T10:57:00.000-07:00

Last week we had an impromptu trip up to San Francisco. The idea was to sketch the views at the Presidio and visit the CA Watercolor Assoc. exhibition at the Officers Club. The Presidio was a bit fog bound when we got there, so the views were not extensive! However, we were undeterred and found plenty to paint. The exhibition was very instructive. We had fun critiquing all the paintings and picking out our favorites.

Villa Montalvo

2010-08-13T22:04:00.000-07:00

The plein air painting has been sadly neglected of late, and I only have one painting and a sketch from this week. Despite early fog on my side of the valley, Villa Montalvo had glorious sunshine and blue skies. I've painted the house before so I wandered down to a new area - a little cactus garden. A small group of children were painting in the area too and had wonderful big sheets of paper and watercolors to play with. They spent more time wandering around than painting, but they were quite enthusiastic. One young lady looked at my painting and said "its coming together nicely"! She may be right, but I had to leave before it was complete and now I must finish it as "homework" i.e. it will stay in its present state forever! I liked my quick brushpen sketch more.

Stevens Creek Park

2010-07-22T17:37:00.000-07:00

Today we enjoyed perfect temperatures and views of the turquoise waters of the Stevens Creek Reservoir. We had the company of ducks and kayakers, and a soft breeze rustling the leaves. In my relaxed mood, the distant clank and rumble of the diggers and trucks in the nearby quarry was just another kind of music on the breeze.I started with a couple of sketches with my brushpens, then launched in with my watercolors. I was pleased with the colors I made, but my watercolor composition is a little disappointing. I was intending to put some ducks in - maybe that would help it.Just before left, I was attracted to the contrast on one of the picnic benches, so I did a quick sketch of the lights and darks.

Goldsmiths Seeds, Gilroy, July 8

2010-07-17T22:43:00.001-07:00

I'm slowly getting back into the swing of plein air painting after my trip to Alaska. These are from our visit to Goldsmiths Seeds in Gilroy. Goldsmiths was taken over in 2008 and the new company name, Syngenta, is now prominent - which doesn’t sound quite as wholesome. This was borne out when we had set up for painting looking out over rows of pretty flowers towards the hills and a couple of colorful barns. An employee came over and asked us to move as they had just sprayed the flower beds behind us with pesticide and they didn’t want us to get sick!

There were plenty of flowers on the other side of the property though so most of us lugged our stuff over there and painted. The day had started off cool but cloudy skies soon gave way to clear blue. I prefer a little cloud in the sky, its just too boring to paint a plain blue wash for the sky!

Plein air painting is now down to twice a month, so in theory there won't be so much to post. However, I am seized with the desire to do some studio painting - so we'll see it that happens!

Alaska

2010-07-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

Its been so long since I posted that I'd forgotten my password. Thank heaven for post-its! Here, finally, are my sketches from the Alaska trip.
We began our journey on the overnight Coastal Starlight train from San Jose up to Seattle. The journey takes 24 hours and our accommodation (a roomette) was a little small, even for someone my size! It was hard to sleep, so I was wide awake at 4:30am and, sketchbook in hand, waited for it to get light enough to draw.
The passing landscape was quite magical - evergreen treetops silhouetted against the sky and the Sacramento River glimpsed as a silver torrent rushing through the blackness. Above Venus shone brightly in the dawn sky. Later, pink clouds appeared over the snow capped peaks of the Cascade mountains.
Rail stop at Klamath Falls
Seattle Space Needle from our hotel room as the sun was setting, Olympic mountains just visible in the background. I sat on the bed and managed to get my paints out for the first time.
The following day we boarded our ship, the Golden Princess, in Seattle and set off for Alaska. On the cruise I discovered that I have sea legs -well at least for moderate 10 foot swells! I enjoyed the ship much more that I thought I would. Even with 3000+ companions on board its still possible to get away from everyone if you so desire. The food is amazing and you could easily eat yourself into oblivion! (very quickly I realized I had to curtail my eating or I would have needed a whole new wardrobe by the time we got to Juneau!)
We visited Juneau and saw our first glacier - the Mendenhall. This was a magical moment. Nothing can prepare you for the size, force, and sheer beauty of a huge sheet of ice scouring its way over the mountains. We didn't have as much time as I would have liked to explore, but I managed a quick painting, sat at the feet of all the tourists at "photo point". I loved the milky blue of the meltwater lake and the floating icebergs shed by the glacer.

There were Arctic Terns nesting in the Lupins below me and they were performing amazing aerobatics above my head. I had my paper towel tucked in my coat pocket for easy access and when I had finished painting I realized that I had put more paint on my coat than on my sketch. I had to dash hastily to the restrooms and wash it off before rushing to catch the bus back to Juneau.

Our next port of call was Skagway for a trip to the Yukon. I only managed one tiny scribble in my diary as the coach stopped for 10 minutes at some roadworks. The landscape out there is achingly beautiful and the environments so varied. We traveled over the mountains on the Klondike Highway through rainforest, Alpine, sub arctic tundra, boreal forest and even past the smallest desert near Carcross. Our return journey was on the White Pass Railway, a narrow gauge railway that clings to the mountain side giving tremendous views of the valley and its waterfalls.
Next day we stayed on board ship and floated around Glacier Bay. We got our fill of the massive glaciers there and watched playful seals lounging on ice floes and humpback whales spouting off in the distance.Margerie Glacier in Glacier Bay. The striations and colors of these huge walls of ice are beautiful. I wished I'd had time to put paint on the paper.

Ketchikan sketched from the ship

Ketchikan (2 page spread) drawn from the ship as we were casting off

Well, what an amazing place Alaska is. I enjoyed my trip there so much and would go back in a heart beat. Photos and sketches just don't do it justice.
Since getting back I have been reading about Alaska and the gold rush. I loved Jack London's "Call of the Wild", and "White Fang". I am now reading John Muir's "Travels in Alaska" recounting his exploration of Alaska in 1879. He traveled thousands of miles in a canoe with native guides and climbed the peaks and glaciers, mostly alone, in search of knowledge about the flora, fauna, and geology of the area. His descriptions of the landscape are beautiful.

Showers at Fremont Older

2010-05-27T17:22:00.000-07:00

We had a hike and sketch planned for today - the weather turned out showery so it was just Jenny and I, two hardy souls! It was worth going out though. The colors were beautiful, both in the sky and landscape. We've had so much rain that there are still flowering bushes and loads of wild flowers blanketing the hillsides. We stopped a couple of times to do very quick sketches. I wanted to paint, but our pen sketches got splashed on, so paints were out of the question. Then we went up to Hunters Point. We stayed up there for an hour and ate our lunch - probably not a wise idea as we got very cold. The panoramic views there are wonderful though. I did a couple of paintings. I worked wet in wet and splashed on the color very quickly before it could get rained on. I was very pleased with the way I managed to capture the hills disappearing into the mist in the first one. (top)The second one came out more abstract. The light was just hitting a road down in the valley and it provided an nice white line in the landscape. When I got home I thought the sky could do with some more work, so I softened some of the blooms and the hard edges. In the event I think I ruined it. So, abject lesson there, keep it fresh and leave well alone!

Alviso moon, Capitola bulldog

2010-05-13T16:26:00.000-07:00

A week in which I get mooned and have my portrait drawn...
Alviso
Today's paintings are from Alviso on the bay. It was peaceful in the immediate vicinity, but off in the distance a big hole boring machine was thumping its way into the earth and workers were clustered around a truck with a crane. The marshes here are very colorful. There were lots of flowers still about because of the continuing rains and the tule reeds are tipped with orange. Flowers are great, but beware of "blooms" in your paintings - I was fairly happy with my colorful painting until I looked closer at the sky. Is that the Alviso "moon"?! Yikes! I'll have to go back and do something with it. Closer to the bay the water was beautiful - the waves had a golden look to them. I was attracted by the storage silos and various small industrial buildings near the water. The hills still have a green blush to them where they haven't quite dried out yet. Another month will see an end to that.Capitola
On the weekend I went down to Capitola to meet up with another artist and do some sketching. The day was glorious and Capitola was bustling. I'm not a people person really, so my sketches make it look like we were pretty much alone out there! I did a quick sketch from the end of the esplanade looking at the cliffs. Then I turned around and started a painting of the beach view with the cliffs and the pier. I continued drawing with my brushpen on the watercolor paper and actually like the feel of that. The drawing was in light blue, so not too scary looking. While I was painting I turned out to be the perfect subject for another artist sitting on the grass to sketch!Unfortunately I was talking the whole time I was painting, so it didn't turn out too well in the end. There was also a lady with a bulldog right in front of me and I so wanted to draw the dog. I got my sketchbook out and put it on my lap, under the watercolor. Then when the dog stayed in one position for a bit I scribbled a sketch, then when he moved I went back to my watercolor. Talk about multitasking! Daft idea all round. The bulldog was definitely the best bit though!

Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud - Hike and Sketch at Sunol

2010-04-23T07:15:00.000-07:00

Flag Hill, Sunol

Ever hiked in a pair of mud overshoes?! It was a little sticky underfoot today up at Sunol after all the rain we got yesterday. We started our short hike on the Hayfield Road trail. This was NOT a road by any stretch of the imagination today. We slipped, slid and squelched up the hill through the ooze. Every few yards stopping to scrape the mud off our feet, and a couple of inches off our height! I have to say though that the vistas were well worth it. After a short slog up Hayfield we were stopped dead by the staggering view of Flag hill. Its green undulations crowned by rocks and pierced by stony ribs just begged to be painted.Further up still we came across a small herd of cattle. They lay about on the crest of a hill like so many cud chewing rocks. Blue hills in the distance created a perfect backcloth of pastoral serenity. The cows eyed us with disdain as we all set up our painting gear opposite them. Throughout our day the skies were alternately blue and cloudy, making for interesting color combos in our paintings.Our original plan was to go to the top of Hayfield than via Cave to Eagle View Road, but time spent grappling with the mud put us behind and instead we cut across on a narrow trail to Indian Joe Creek trail. This narrow trail proved even worse for mud than Hayfield, having been well churned up by the cows. Little pockets of slick mud and cow manure had to be dodged without falling down the sheer drop! Our arrival at the babbling brook of Joe Creek was greeted with relief and celebrated with lunch and more sketching. We saw the promise of a drier trail to return on.The dry trail was drier in some ways, but we did have to cross, and recross, the stream numerous times. Our last stop was to try and and capture the running water of the stream with fallen trees in it. I ran out of time on my painting and will have to finish from memory. All in all a wonderful day out in a beautiful landscape.

Yosemite

2010-04-08T21:30:00.000-07:00

Mirror Lake at Yosemite

We just had a wonderful few days in Yosemite and were lucky enough to arrive after a terrible snowstorm so that we could enjoy the snow without really having to deal with it too much. On our arrival there was still a lot of cloud and gloom about which made for some atmospheric views of the valley.Lunchtime Sketch from the Meadow
Day One: There was a lot of ice and snow on the smaller trails so it was hard going in places, especially as my new walking shoes had no grip on the ice. The weather couldn't have been nicer though - glorious sunshine and increasing temperatures, which meant that the snow melted very quickly throughout our visit. We had lunch overlooking the meadow, Washington Column and the Arches. There was water cascading down the rocks all over, and the waterfalls were flowing well. I did this quick sketch as we sat in the sun eating our sandwiches. We hiked over 10 miles the first day.Sketch for watercolor

On Day Two: We had an abortive trip to see the Mariposa Grove - which you can only get into if you arrive early in the morning as they have very little parking (Duh! why even make it a highlight of the park if no-one can go there! That's twice we've tried to see it and been turned away.) In the afternoon we went to Mirror Lake and had lunch. I set up with my paints, did a brushpen sketch first, then went on to the watercolor at the top of this article. I was sat right on the shore and every now and then a warm breeze would blow by from somewhere. I got totally absorbed in the scene in front of me and had no idea of how much time passed. Keith and Steve had decided to hike the Mirror Lake trail as far as the huge rockfall which has now blocked it. They came back with aching limbs, so I'm glad I decided to paint!
I did another quick sketch at Mirror Lake then we went and ate at the Ahwahnee Hotel. This involved another hike, but we were glad we didn't try to drive as the hotel road was being dug up and there was a huge line of cars waiting to go in and out. By the end of the day our old muscles and joints were protesting the miles of walking we'd done.Keith panning for gold

On Day Three: we drove up to Columbia for a little gold prospecting. I've found the perfect way to keep two old guys happy for hours!

Santa Clara Mission

2010-04-01T16:03:00.000-07:00

We were lucky with the weather today - sunny, but cold. I needed sunscreen and a hat and gloves! The clouds were looking threatening, which meant we could have some fun with the skies. Not so much cobalt blue or cerulean, more of the grays and purples, yay! And, for once, we weren't driven crazy by the lawn mowers and leaf blowers.
The Wisteria was blooming nicely over the walkway next to the church and it seemed like every other bush and plant had flowers too. I set up behind the church building, with just a hint of the church tower peeking amongst the foliage. However, I "removed" some of the palm trees trunks which should be on the right so I could put in more sky.
At one point I was stalked by one of the local cats, who was apparently attracted by the movements I was making behind the bushes. When this black and white carnivore got close enough he realized I was too big to hunt and decided instead to see if I had anything good to eat in my paintbox!
Just for fun, here's my painting from this site back in 2008, a much warmer day I think.

Sacramento

2010-04-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

Old Sacramento, outside the Railway Museum

Spent a fun weekend up in Sacramento, staying at the Citizen Hotel. We were a short walk from the State Capitol Building and Capitol Park which is a beautiful area during the day (I was told by another visitor that the park is full of homeless people at night).
Here is a scribbly view from our hotel window
and a couple of sketches of the Tower Bridge, a vertical lift bridge spanning the Sacramento River. Old Sacramento School House (Tower Bridge in background)
I was hoping to see the bridge raise up for a ship to go under, but the only excitement was a protest march about education cuts. The marchers made quite an impressive noise as I was sketching the School House in Old Sacramento, and then I caught them going back over the bridge after I'd had lunch. I'd forgotten my usual sepia pens for drawing, so had to make do with a biro from my purse,

Calero Hike and Sketch

2010-04-01T15:25:00.000-07:00

View from above Los Cerritos Pond

Another glorious day, perfect for hiking and sketching on the Calero Regional Park hills. There were some wildflowers out and it was warm enough to dispense with jackets once we got going. We started with a quick sketch in the car park. We had a wonderful clear view of Mount Hamilton in the distance with its cluster of telescopes on the summit.Mt Hamilton (from the car park)
We hiked up a steepish trail to Los Cerritos Pond. From here we had views across the rolling green hills to the distant purple mountains. We were serenaded by redwinged blackbirds who flew among the reeds in the pond. Above us hawks and vultures soared. It was a very peaceful and serene spot.
I struggled with trying to capture the panorama in watercolor and after a couple of attempts went back to my brush pens and sketchbook for subsequent sketches.Wildflowers on the trail
We did another couple of stops and had lunch. We all enjoyed the peace and quiet of the park on a beautiful spring day.

Granada Theatre, Morgan Hill

2010-04-01T15:14:00.000-07:00

Granada Theatre, (brush pens)

For this paintsite we were invited to paint the Granada Theatre to bolster public awareness of this local landmark and hopefully save the building from demolition. We were blessed with a beautiful sunny day and despite sitting on the sidewalk with all the traffic going by, it was a fun day out and everyone enjoyed it.
My initial pen sketch came out pretty well and I was pleased with that.
My watercolor was not so successful, so I turned around and faced down the street and did a sketch of the road and hillside with my brush pens.

Magnolias at the Triton

2010-03-04T15:24:00.000-08:00

Like the rose between two thorns; today is a riot of blossom and blue skies between days of grey rain. Hooray for the sun, what a difference it makes! Seven hardy souls painted in the Triton Museum grounds today, even though it was a bit chilly for sitting around. (I wished I hadn't left my fingerless gloves behind.)
The Magnolias and Camellias were in full bloom amongst the redwoods and the wind blew the petals down on us as we painted. It was just beautiful. I started out with a quick sketch (below) using oil pastels I just got for my birthday. I haven't used them in a long time - so not very expert, but I have a lovely lot of colors to play with. After enjoying the oily pinks I decided to paint a closeup of some of the darker Magnolia blooms that were just beginning to open. I drew quickly in pen, then splashed on lots of water and had fun making the wet in wet background. Flowers aren't something I usually paint, but I'm pretty pleased with how these came out.

Chinese Lions

2010-02-18T16:36:00.000-08:00

Its the beginning of the Chinese New Year, and what better to paint than the Chinese cultural gardens at Overfelt park. I have tried to paint the wonderful Taiwanese gate in the park several times without success, so this time I focused on one of the lions alongside the steps of the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall. We had a good turnout of six people today and a couple of Chinese women came by and looked at our paintings. They asked if we knew whether the lions were male or female. We didn't know so they told us that the male was the one with his paw on a ball. The other (the one I was painting) was female and had her paw on a baby lion. The baby doesn't look like much in my painting, but it didn't look much like a baby lion in the sculpture either!

My initial sketch of the lion:
In a strange upside down weather event it was warm and sunny when we started painting and got progressively colder and foggier as the day wore on. The park was filled with blossom though, so it was a wonderful day to be out painting.

A quick color study of the blossom etc through the trees.

Carmelite Monastery

2010-02-04T15:24:00.000-08:00

We had fun skies today. Rain threatened, but stayed away long enough for us to do a little painting. This Catholic monastery was consecrated in 1917 and is the home of "cloistered discalced nuns". I had to look up discalced - it means nuns who go barefoot or wear sandals. Who knew there was a special word for that? I now have a romantic picture of barefoot nuns picking olives in the garden.The monastery buildings are very beautiful, and therefore very challenging to draw and paint. I am always attracted to palm trees so I was very torn between the two here. Parts of my palm tree came out quite well, but I think I most enjoyed using some different colors for sky for a change!

Guadalupe Oak Grove Park

2010-01-30T21:53:00.000-08:00

Well, after all the rain we finally had a beautiful day to be out painting. Guadalupe Oak Grove is a gorgeous little park with hills for views and lots of oak trees and lichen covered rocks to tempt the artist. Sadly I was out of practice. I tried to capture the sweep of the trees and hills, but my trees left a lot to be desired so I cropped them out of the sketch!
I tried to portray the feeling of a bush perched on a ridge, its large exposed roots snaking down the rock face. The ridge was a quilt of soft oranges, browns, greys and yellows with patches of green moss clinging to its swellings. The roots looked strong and purposeful, as though they were responsible for holding the ridge in place (and perhaps they were). I don't think I quite did it justice.
Later Jenny and I climbed a steep hill for the views and were struck by the sight of a tree and rock almost melded together. On closer inspection it seemed the tree limb had been trimmed and the rock was worn or scraped underneath. Whether this was by human design or nature we couldn't tell. The rock and tree both had the same pinky hues and minty green splashes of lichen as though both had absorbed the others' nature through a long marriage. We hastily sketched the lines of branches and rocks, swearing to rush home and add the color. My sketch lies naked and unresolved in my sketchbook still. Tsk. Tsk.

Christmas gathering and Saratoga Foothill Club

2009-12-17T22:10:00.000-08:00

Today we had a small Christmas gathering for the plein air group at my house. The weather cooperated nicely and we were able to paint outside and enjoy the views. I was a little preoccupied with organizing lunch, but did manage a couple of quick brush pen sketches of the hillside behind me, and a half hour sketch of the valley in front. For some reason I started the sketches by drawing the middle of the hillside at the top of the page. So the brush pen sketches are actually the opposite way round in my sketchbook, but through the wonders of photoshop I can post them so that they actually look like the hillside!

When I got my paints out I realized that I had two watercolors in my sketchbook that I hadn't posted, from a previous paintsite in November at the Saratoga Foothill Club.
Looking back at them now I am quite happy with how the colors came out that day. I remember it was pretty cold that day and I was sitting in the shade for the first painting so I had to move into the sun to thaw out a little.

Birds at Emma Prusch Farm

2009-12-06T18:15:00.000-08:00

This week's paintsite was at Emma Prusch Farm. I've painted the house many times so I strayed into the barnyard and was attracted by all the geese, chickens and peacocks strutting around.
The geese were busy preening and taking short naps before the day's next invasion of school children.
I was very pleased with some of these quick gesture sketches of the birds, trying to catch their shapes as they stood on first one leg, then the other, or stretched out their wings.

Shoreline Hike and Sketch

2009-12-06T18:09:00.000-08:00

I've been a bit of slacker with posting my sketches. Better late than never, here are some drawings from our hike and sketch at Shoreline Park.

There were a lot of birds to watch, and the color started to get really interesting towards late afternoon. I didn't take my paints - so made do with pen only.

San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin

2009-10-24T12:07:00.000-07:00

Last week's paintsite was in Japantown at the Buddhist Church on North 5th St. We had a huge rain storm two days previous, so I dressed for cool weather - was surprised by hot tropical weather!
We were sat out on the sidewalk painting in full sun, so eventually it got way too hot to do anything. I didn't even do a drawing for the second sketch, just launched in quickly with the paints.
Over lunch, some adorable children came across from the Kindergarten to look at our paintings. I'm not sure they were that impressed!

Alum Rock Hike and Sketch

2009-10-24T11:48:00.000-07:00

This week we went on a hike and sketch in Alum Rock Park. The day started out foggy, which was a nice atmospheric change and gave us a few challenges for painting.

We were only a short distance from the carpark when we came across beautiful views and lovely colors, and we had to stop several times in quick succession to paint.

We were stopped on the trail at this point by a magnificent view looking up the hill into the fog. The fog drifted over the hilltops and was continually changing. It was so peaceful and calming sitting there. After we had painted for about 20 minutes the fog started to clear and by the time we left it was blue sky and sunshine and the hillside had totally different colors and shadows.
Eventually we did get to do a little more hiking than sketching and discovered a large, dead tarantula on the trail (why didn't I suggest sketching it?) The male tarantulas are all out looking for females this time of year and I guess it came off poorly in the mating game.

After lunch we made our way back down into the valley and sketched alongside the creek.

Aerodynamic Aviation, Reid Hillview Airport

2009-10-08T17:40:00.000-07:00

Fly me to the moon, la la. Well, fly me over the Bay at least...

Here we are today at my local airport trying to paint the planes. Like boats, they're quite a challenge. Somehow, you think you have them contained on the page, but then you realize they're bigger than you first thought and the perspective is damned tricky!
It was a lot of fun.

Many thanks to Aerodynamic Aviation for hosting us.

Hank

2009-10-08T17:36:00.001-07:00

Here is a recent pet portrait I did for a friend. I just love to paint animals, it's a challenge, but also fun!

Coastal Bliss

2009-10-03T22:25:00.000-07:00

This last Thursday paint out was wonderful. Imagine sun, sand, surf, gulls and pelicans. Down at Point Pinos Lighthouse the views were terrific and the weather perfect. My first painting turned out remarkably well. In fact one passing car load of people asked if it was for sale. I replied that regrettably it was in my sketchbook and on the back of another painting. If I'd had my wits about me I should just have ripped it out and asked for $50!
My second painting was not quite so successful, but parts of the third one came out ok. For this last one I sat under some trees on the very edge of the golf course, beyond a bunker. Fortunately the golfers seemed competent enough not to send the balls in my direction!
The whole day was like a salve for the soul. Gorgeous seascapes, good company, and time spent with paints. it doesn't get any better than that!

Wow, its been a while!

2009-09-25T20:13:00.001-07:00

Wow, I can't believe how long it is since I last posted here. Life (and death) circumstances have taken my time instead. I created this blog to share my art with my mum and daughter. Sadly my mum has passed away and her support and encouragement will be greatly missed.
Mum would be cross if I didn't continue, so, I'm back! Most recent work first - some very quick sketches from our visit in downtown Los Gatos on Thursday. Top - Le Boulanger. Above Santa Cruz and Main Street, with a sad half-assed watercolor wash. (I'm using brush pens for drawing as I seem to have mislaid my regular pens!)

Next some sketches from Shoup Park, Los Altos.
The top one was the first one I did, so I didn't quite have my sketching eye in. then I changed positions and did the second sketch and the painting. The sculpture there is called "The Cradle of Liberty" and the soldier is holding a baby. I was quite pleased with how the painting came out.

Garrod Winery and Lake Cunningham

2009-08-17T17:26:00.000-07:00

Wow, its been an age since I last posted, but here are some sketches I did over the last two weeks. The first is at Garrod Winery, Saratoga. They have a lovely old car outside the tasting room. I wasn't too pleased with this at the time, but now it doesn't look as bad as I thought.These are some sleeping geese over at Lake Cunningham. There were loads of them around and they didn't pay much attention to us at all once they realized we weren't going to feed them.This painting is in need of a lot of finishing - which it probably isn't going to get anytime soon, poor thing! The composition leaves a lot to be desired too. I think I'll have to start dividing this larger sketchbook into smaller sections.

Allied Arts, Rengstorff and Bernal Gulnac

2009-07-06T13:01:00.000-07:00

I've been a slacker of late and not posted for weeks, even though I've been painting. Shame on me! Anyway, here's the art from the last several weeks.
Allied Arts
I just made a larger sketchbook, 12 x 16, so I'm doing a bigger picture, but only one per paintsite as it takes longer. The problem then is that the light and shadow change such a lot in the hours I'm spending on one painting. Its hard to know when to stop and just go complete the thing at home. For this one I just kept going so the lighting is a little inconsistent. Sigh.
Rengstorff Mansion
I started out with the black and white sketch of the house. There are so many fiddly details on it that I got exhausted after a while and went and talked the next few hours away with a painting buddy!(way to procrastinate) I did manage a panoramic view of the lake and hills beyond. The big white space at the bottom is mean to be grass, but I thought if I painted it all green that would be all you would see. Hmm, there's a lot of blank space in both of those, an accurate picture of my brain that day!
Bernal Gulnac Joice Ranch
This was a lovely spot. Lots of deer and quail wandering around, and a nice shady tree to sit under. The barn in the painting is due for renovation so it will eventually be all fixed up and the deer won't be able to wander in for shade. Too bad really, it looks quite picturesque in its broken down state.
You know I can't resist chickens when they're around, so I did some quick sketches of these in their little chicken coop. One of them was fascinated by the squeaky scratching noises my brush pen made. Another was a lovely caramel color and a very interesting shape - she looked like she was wearing bloomers from behind. She was the mean one though - kept sneaking up on the other chickens and pecking their feathers out.

San Jose History Museum

2009-06-04T20:41:00.000-07:00

San Jose History Museum has a wonderful collection of buildings from the city's past. The museum is free during the weekday afternoons and you can pretty much have the place to yourself, although the buildings aren't open. I found a wonderful peekaboo spot where I could see the romantically titled "Dashaway Stables" above a sea of pink and blue hydrangea. Unfortunately my perspective is a little off and the lettering less than perfect - which I blame entirely on my wearing sunglasses rather than my reading glasses! Located in South Second Street in 1888, the original building was destroyed in 1928. Dashaway was a premier stable offering a wide range of horse drawn vehicles for rent in which to see the scenic beauty of Santa Clara Valley. We'll return here in July and look at more of the buildings.I went next door to the Japanese Friendship Garden, which is gorgeous this time of year. The maples offer a delicate splash of red or gold amongst the multitude of greens. There is a beautiful view to contemplate at every turn. All appears serene and cultured in this park. Although I learned that sadly the famed Koi are depleted due to a herpes virus and will have to be replaced.

DockTown Marina

2009-05-28T15:26:00.000-07:00

I spent a glorious morning (breezy 70F) painting at the Docktown Marina in Redwood City. There is an interesting selection of odd buildings, moored boathouses, boats, and marina views.
I was just about to set up and paint the boats, when I noticed this wonderful collection of propane tanks. The light and shadows on them were great so I was very enthused. Most of the shadows changed/disappeared as I was painting so it was a challenge to capture. This is where cameras come in so handy - if only I could remember to take mine! I stood up to do this - and should have got the easel from my car (silly!)Next, I liked the look of the Peninsula Yacht Club building, with its water tank. This was fun to do, and I got to sit in the shade which was a blessing. This picture now appears on the Yacht Club website -"http://pycboating.org/uptown/"
On the drive to the site I'd seen some wonderful hoppers at a granite crunching place. So, after everyone else had left I set off down the street to see if I could get a view of them. Typically the only place which had a view was surrounded by a fence and guarded by a fierce dog (who sounded like he would definitely eat me if I got close). I had to settle for the view at the truck entrance to the facility - not ideal, but better than nothing. There were some very interesting noises in there, but I couldn't see what was going on.
All in all, a fun day's painting.

Alamaden Lake Park, San Jose

2009-05-14T15:11:00.001-07:00

Alamaden Lake Park is a serene little park with a view of the surrounding mountains. Today the weather was picture perfect. The geese were parading around with their goslings and I started by trying to sketch them - not easy as they are continuously moving, and my brush pen sketches are a little tentative.

A young woman with two small girls tottered over in shorts and high heels to feed the geese, and before long geese came from far and wide to enjoy the feast. It was funny to watch the interaction. Any time the geese got too close to her children the mother shoed them back and flung the bits of bread farther away, likewise if any underling geese got too many bits of bread the "boss"goose shoed them away with much wing flapping and beak snapping.
I did a couple of watercolors of the trees and scenery, which I wasn't happy with.
Then I went back to sketching the geese, which were sleeping nearby. Much easier to draw sleepy geese!

Festive Garden

2009-05-14T14:26:00.000-07:00

These sketches are from last week's venue - a private garden. We had a record turnout for plein air painters and it was quite a festive atmosphere. There were so many little vignettes of flowers, plants, statues, sculptures etc it was hard to know where to start. I only did two sketches, but I was really happy with the second one.
Thanks to Anna, who not only provided the venue but supplied us with lemonade and snacks!

Ulistac Natural Preserve

2009-04-30T15:17:00.001-07:00

Last weeks' paintsite was at the Ulistac Natural Preserve. We were hoping for lots of wild flowers, but apart from a few dancing poppies everything had been mown down. However, the butterfly and hummingbird garden was in flower. There were lots of bees and birds about, and also plenty of Western Fence Lizards rustling in the undergrowth. One came out, bobbed his body up a down a few times, and sat at my feet for a short while.

I give waters in the wilderness

2009-04-16T22:36:00.000-07:00

The Pulgas Water temple in Woodside is a monument to the Hetch Hetchy Project which brought water from the Sierras to the Bay area. The Hetch Hetchy reservoir was built during the Great Depression - a great use of "stimulus" money back then! Anyway, the temple is a beautiful, quiet little spot. A fitting tribute to engineering, and a great place (in this time of drought) to ponder on the vital, and diminishing, nature of our water supply. The inscription on the temple reads "I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people. Isaiah XLIII:XX"Filoli
After a few hours in the peace of Pulgas we visited Filoli house and gardens just down the road. The gardens are at their best this time of year with so many gorgeous flowers in bloom. There were so many spots just begging to be painted - but, tragically, no painting allowed. We sneaked in some little sketches though.

Art and death in Boston

2009-04-16T22:02:00.000-07:00

Last week I was in Boston and managed a visit to both the Museum of Fine Art and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. It was fun to revisit old favorite artworks and discover some new ones. The ISG has a beautiful courtyard with plants and sculptures at its center and it was looking particularly pretty with orange Nasturtium flowers trailing from the upper balconies. This museum is not just a building for housing art, but an artwork in itself. The very floors, walls and ceilings are covered in fascinating decorations ranging from silk wall coverings, gilded and painted leather panels, and flemish tapestries to a reproduction of a silk ball gown fabric worn by Isabella Stewart Gardner. The side galleries house cabinets with displays of dozens of interesting letters from all sorts of society people who visited Isabella. One person said he hoped she wouldn't mind if he brought a knife next time and cut a few paintings out of their frames to take home! (Unfortunately that actually happened several years ago when 13 artworks were stolen from the museum by 2 thieves masquerading as police officers).
I discovered an interesting phenomenon while sitting in one of the MFA galleries. Some people came in and looked at all the art studiously from about 10 feet away. Others came in and went directly to the labels next to the art and spent a long time reading. They might then glance at the art for a second before moving on to the next "label". I thought it would be interesting to interview these two different groups and see what opinions they had about the art!
My daughter and I had an interesting visit to Mount Auburn Cemetary wandering amongst the graves. There is a hill in the center with a tower on top, and you can get a magnificent view of the Boston skyline from up there. Gravestones are facinating reading, often giving long lists of family members, their ages and place of origin. Looking at so many graves for tiny children and young people from the 18th & 19th centuries makes you realize how lucky we are to live in an age of good heathcare.

Bad paintings and apologetic computers

2009-04-04T11:51:00.000-07:00

A busy week at work. We are always having some sort of computer problems there. Always random and short lived, just to make our jobs more challenging. This week, after several unsuccessful attempts at printing a simple notice, the computer announced (in a Stephen Hawking type voice) "It's.. not.. my.. fault." I have never heard a computer apologize before - it really cracked me up!

Inside a temple

My visit to the Rosicrucian Museum in San Jose this week was hopeless painting wise. Shame, as its a pretty enough place with its Egyptian temples and courtyards. The Wisteria was blooming beautifully, but in the shade mostly. My first sketch from inside one of the temples was a reasonable start, although I didn't quite capture the feeling of backlighting on the papyrus plants.
Then I tried a watercolor sketch of a domed building with a lovely sculpture in front of it. There were lots of light and dark areas, but somehow I lost those in my painting and muddied my greens. I was thinking tones, but my hand had another agenda. Maybe it just needs more work, or maybe its overworked already... Okay, its one for the recycling bin.
My last effort would probably be passable with some more work. I liked the Wisteria on the right and should probably have just focused on that. There was a lovely bright yellow bush behind it, which could have been a great abstract feature.
Ah, well. Sometimes the painting muse just can't be conjured up.
"Its.. not.. my.. fault"!

Waterfalls at Uvas

2009-03-26T17:56:00.000-07:00

Today was an impromptu trip to Uvas Canyon to try our hands at painting waterfalls. It's a 40 minute drive to Uvas for me, but once you get off hwy 101 it's gorgeous. The rolling green hills are studded with twisted oaks, and rock strewn fields had the first blush of wild flowers streaking across them. Then you wind up into the mountains, into the aromatic realms of pine, and redwood. (Spring brings out the poet in me!)

(above) Granuja Falls

Natural waterfalls in CA are short lived events, but recent rains made us hopeful, and we weren't disappointed. Uvas has five falls on a readily accessible 1 mile loop trail. The first stop was barely out of the car park, but we had a lovely view of the Granuja Falls from a little bridge. There were lots of butterflies flitting about nearby and dappled sunlight on the falls. Very pretty.

There are so many paintable views we could have stopped every few yards. This next sketch was done looking back down the path. My fellow artists looked upstream and painted the boulders and water. I like the look of the three of them clustered together perched on the edge of the trail.

We eventually forced ourselves to move on to the biggest of the cataracts, Black Rock Falls.

(above) Black Rock Falls

The spur trail ends directly in front of the falls and we set up a little camp and had our lunch, then painted. My painting captures the upper part of the falls. The water falls about 35ft at this point. The surrounding rock is black and covered in mossy spring green patches. Fallen branches interrupt the cascade and ferns reach out from the canyon walls to catch moisture.

(above) Basin Falls

When our bottoms became numb from sitting too long on various rocks and branches we moved on to Basin Falls. The cascade here was impressive too, but the only view of the falling water was from the other bank and you had to look into the sun, so we settled for an easier view of the water exiting the basin and tumbling among the trees and ferns.
I had a great time. An excellent day spent in the company of artist friends and mother nature at her most scenic.

Phew! What a scorcher!

2009-03-21T10:28:00.000-07:00

(above) The tank tower hidden amongst the trees

We picked the hottest day of the year so far, for our visit to the Harris-Lass Museum in Santa Clara. My painting was done from the car park. I sat in the scorching sun for as long as I could to capture the light and shadows around the tank house (water tower) behind the house. In the museum office is a great 1920's photo of the original site of the tank house, on a farm not far away on Homestead Road. Its hard to imagine that back then this area was covered in acres of prune orchards instead of the miles of asphalt and concrete that exist today.

The farm house was built in 1865 by the Harris family who came from Australia in search of gold. They expanded and improved it over the years. In 1897 the house was purchased by a German sea Captain, Christian Lass and his family, and they lived there until the 1980's. It was sold to the city in 1987 and designated an historic preserve, as the last farm site in Santa Clara.

The house is furnished and still contains many of the personal items used by the Lass family. It was fun trying to choose which items to sketch out of the many fascinating antiques in every room. I loved the kitchen, which has a great 1920's Wedgewood stove; and the parlor with its fancy velvet loveseat and chairs.(above) Kitchen/parlor sketches

Captain Lass had a speaking tube installed from the kitchen to the upstairs landing, so that he could bark his orders through it (great idea, I'm thinking of getting one installed to save me having to shout through the heating vent in the floor to my husband downstairs in his hobby room!) Apparently, Captain Lass also kept canaries and there are several little bird cages dotted around the house. The house is a treasure trove of historic items and you could spend hours looking at them all.

(above) Bedroom/Hall sketches

Thanks to the museum, and its president, who opened the house specially for our group.

Coyote Hills

2009-03-13T21:46:00.000-07:00

I wasn't sure I wanted to paint, feeling weakened from an illness the previous day, but Thursday was a glorious, sunny, spring day, not to be missed. And Coyote Hills Regional Park is one of my favorite areas on the Bay.
Everyone else hiked up the hills, while I elected to stay close to the visitor center and went out on the boardwalk into the marshes. It was so peaceful sitting in there with the birds twittering in the Tule reeds, ducks and geese on the blue water, and Egrets stalking the edges of the ponds. There is a lot of water in the marshes at the moment. Last time I was here it was mostly mud. I did a quick sketch of the hilly reflections in the pond. I was almost tempted to sit there all day and just listen to the bird sounds and enjoy the salty aroma of the marshland around me, but I was so rejuvenated that I decided to go up one of the hills to get a better view of the marshes.
Just as I was finishing this sketch, my phone rang and the group wanted to know if they could meet me for lunch. I looked farther up the hill, and there they were, right above me. We sat on the hillside and had lunch with great views of the Bay, and the marshes. We were even looking down on the Red Tailed Hawks and Kites as they flew by. A large flock of sheep kept us company on the hill. They're there temporarily to keep down invading weeds and improve the environment for native plants. The sheep are all Ewes and their lambs - the lambs are quite big. I tried to incorporate a few in my painting - but they move around such a lot its hard to do from life. They would stand for a few seconds to look at me and make sure I wasn't hostile, then put their heads back down to business and walk off. They made quite a racket with their bleating, but I loved it. It reminded me of England.
When we were leaving the park We stopped on the roadside and did a very quick sketch of a little red building behind a field of yellow mustard. I used my brushpens and was reminded that I should always be thinking about value rather than color. If only I'd remembered that with my watercolor sketches! Duh!

St. Joseph's, San Jose Art Museum and Faber's Cyclery

2009-03-05T17:40:00.000-08:00

I was very disappointed the first time I ever visited downtown San Jose. It's not like a real city bustling with people and shops. There are one or two streets where you see activity and the odd cafe, but mostly its like a ghost town. It really lacks a soul. There are some attractive buildings though and the two of us painted across the street from St. Joseph's Basilica and San Jose Art Museum. When I got partway through my first drawing I realized that I needed bigger paper - or a magnifying glass to work smaller. No matter what I did I could not fit it on my paper. After several attempts - getting gradually worse, I switched over to the museum building and finally managed a brush pen sketch of that. My heart really wasn't in it though.
I visited the art museum and looked at some art for inspiration. The exhibit of Jack Stuppin's landscapes was interesting, but sadly there were too few paintings. He used to be a big plein air painter, but has taken to the studio to create his art. His landscapes are brightly colored with fun textures for foliage. They are happy enough paintings, but they didn't really speak to me. There was an exhibit of photographs of Frida Kahlo and, being familiar with her work, I found these interesting. Here was a woman who created art through all kinds of pain and trauma. Very inspiring.
So, after a quick lunch I moved on to a building I'd seen a few weeks ago and wanted to paint. Its the Faber's Cyclery shop. Yes, the building really is crooked! Built in 1884 its got loads of character. The building is currently for sale - and hopefully some civic minded person will buy it and save it for posterity. Surprisingly there were a few people about, and several stopped to look at what I was doing. I was very much in the "zone" though and barely noticed them. A young tattoo artist also stopped to see what I was doing. Had I been more "with it" I would have asked to see his artwork too. Amazingly I was sat in the sun for the entire time doing this painting, but clouds did come and go. Eventually, I stopped painting, and it rained again. Timing is everything.

Santana Row

2009-02-22T13:40:00.000-08:00

Our visit to Santana Row was well timed - between two patches of rainy weather. The day was glorious. If you get there early enough in the day (before 11 am) there are few people around to bother you, and there are plenty of benches and outdoor cafe seating where you can sit and unobtrusively draw your surroundings.
Santana Row is an upscale shopping area with lots of designer stores. Despite what people say about Santana Row being fake and snobbish, I actually like it. It's an attractive, elegant area to walk around and you can actually walk from shop to shop in the sunny outdoors. It has some unusual shops too, one of my favorites is MaiDo, a Japanese stationery store. Sadly parking has become an issue there, most lots seem to be for valet parking only now, so get there early.

Santa Clara Railroad Museum

2009-02-14T13:08:00.000-08:00

We've actually had some rain and cold weather in CA - who'd have thought it! Rather than putting me off the plein air painting, I think it actually added another dimension. Having to paint grey skies instead of blue was a welcome change (apologies to you folks who'd give anything for warm sunny skies). At one point my painting buddy complained of rain, but strangely I didn't feel any. Some time later I realised that what she thought was rain was actually me flicking the water off my paintbrush - the wind blew it in her direction! It did rain later and you can probably see the effects in my painting of the signal tower. When our fingers got too cold to paint, we retreated to the car for lunch and hot tea.
The Santa Clara Railroad Museum has a few old buildings around the current Caltrans station.
The Signal tower (above) was built in 1926 and housed the machine that controlled the signals and switching.

The railway station gives good views of the surrounding hills and San Jose off in the distance. I found a good spot at the end of the car park next to the tracks for this view.

Lincoln Park

2009-01-29T17:04:00.000-08:00

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.

Rain and Fog

2009-01-22T11:32:00.000-08:00

Rain cancelled play (or plein air) today! However I did a quick painting from my dining room window of silicon valley in rain and fog. We desperately need the rain so I'm not complaining and the colors are very different in the gloom. Happily, I noticed that one of the trees next to our house has blossom appearing - spring is here!

A Perfect Day

2009-01-20T09:14:00.000-08:00

I just had the most perfect day on Sunday. The weather was gorgeous, we visited an art museum, looked at wonderful art, and we walked on the coastal path with views of the Golden Gate Bridge. I even managed a quick sketch of the view. It doesn't get much better than that! The trees leading down to the coast path were giving off the scent of pine and eucalyptus. The sky was blue and lots of little white boats were sailing in the bay. I should have more boats in my sketch, but hubby decided he'd sat on a rock for long enough and we had to move on!
At the Legion of Honor museum in SF you can get a quick overview of the history of art in just a few galleries. I loved looking at the different painting styles and subjects, but enjoyed even more watching the progress of fashion through the paintings. I was very interested in an early painting called "Two scenes from the Passion of Christ", by a German artist c 1500-1530 Master of Cappenberg Jan Baegert. This shows the torture of Christ by flagellation (in this case beating with bundled sticks) and the crowning of thorns, all taking place in an impressive looking building with columns and tiled floors. The men doing the torturing are carrying sticks and wearing amazing brightly colored shorts and vests with scalloped edges. The effect is of a lot of cheerful bright colors and theatrical poses, which seemed rather at odds with the very serious subject matter. You can check out the painting on the Legion of Honor's website www.famsf.org/legion by searching their collection for "Master of Cappenberg".

Happy New Year!

2009-01-10T23:27:00.000-08:00

Wow, seems like we're already well into 2009 and I've hardly drawn breath since Christmas!! Here's a mammoth posting of a couple of recent sites, and, (in the spirit of new year countdowns) my personal 10 favorite plein air sites!
Firstly, here are a few sketches from a hastily organized hike and sketch in Joseph D. Grant Park that took place on December 31st. We had originally organized this for the 30th, but that day dawned foggy and gloomy and totally uninspiring, so we chickened out until the next day. To our horror, Dec 31st dawned even foggier and gloomier. However, a contact informed us that the fog was absent in the valley we were going to, higher in the hills, so off we set with trepidation. True enough, once we drove higher we emerged from the fog into blue sky and sunshine. The view down into the valley was spectacular. White fluffy fog stuffed the valley below and the blue tips of the Santa Cruz mountains rose in a long wiggly line above it. Unfortunately there is nowhere along that road to stop and paint so sadly no sketch of that.
Joseph D. Grant Park is sufficiently off the beaten path to be very quiet and empty, especially at this time of year. The site was originally home to the Ohlone Indians, but the land was granted to the Bernal family in the early 1800's and the Grant family acquired it in the late 1800's. Joseph D. Grant was a successful and prominent business man with interests in numerous large companies of the time, including the Central Pacific Railroad. The mans' influence was such that he was able to have the only area road moved further from his home so that he had more privacy! Above is my quick sketch of the ranch house and water tower.
Above is the view from the Ranch garden, where we had lunch, looking up towards the Lick Observatory. We rambled on towards the Snell Barn and stopped at a water station to capture the view. Some of the trees are still looking very fall-like with their bright foliage. A couple of horse riders stopped while we were there and let their horses slurp the water. It was a very gentle rural scene, wanting only a yodelling goatherd on the hillside to complete it!
Despite the sunshine, it was a little chilly in the shade, so we hiked on. For our final stop we found a lightening blasted tree which looked interesting against the backdrop of the hills. We set up and sketched until we got cold. When we moved off down the hill a bit we found an even better view of the tree - but we were chilled by then and didn't stop to repeat the sketch!
Our most recent paintsite was Las Palmas Park, Sunnyvale. This pretty park, with its ring of large Palm trees has fun stuff for children and dogs and is a great meeting place for mums and dog owners. Unfortunately the water pool was dry - so no reflections for us to paint this time, but the trees and people were challenge enough.
Using artistic licence (!) I made the trees somewhat shorter than they really are so that I could do the people at a reasonable size. This was sketched to the accompaniment of screaming as a small child threw a temper tantrum. The screaming lasted for some considerable while, until the poor mother eventually gave up and took the child home! I felt bad for her, remembering back to when my children were small and had inconsolable screaming fits for no apparent reason!
I moved closer to the dog park to draw the trees beyond the picnic tables. From the dog park came shouting as a couple of dogs got into trouble (must have been something in the air that day) and "No, Ginger" and "Bad Dog" echoed around the trees. This day the weather was glorious to start, then got cloudy and cooler. By the time we had lunch, we were all frozen, so we drifted home quite early. I had intended to put some color on the trees, but didn't wait around to finish it.

10 Favorite Plein Air Paint Sites

2009-01-10T23:21:00.001-08:00

O.K. everyone has a top 10 at the end of the year, so here's mine. Based purely on what I enjoyed the most here are my favorite sites for painting/sketching over the last couple of years.
At #10 Santana Row -a teaser! Haven't sketched here in a while, but the site is coming up next month so look out for that set of paintings!
#9 Emma Prusch Farm - loved this site for the chickens. A large variety of stuff to draw, animals, plants, farm house, machinery etc.#8 The Rosicrucian Museum - A museum with Egyptian buildings and artifacts - beautiful, and very different.

#7 Ardenwood Historic Farm - we visit here in the fall for the Pumpkins, but they also have Christmas celebrations which might be fun to see. The house is stunning, and hard to paint. I loved this view of distant pumpkins as I was leaving, so I tried to loosely capture them in a sketch that was quick and wet.#6 Stanford University - so much to sketch here, but my favorite spot is the Main Quad. (see pics on Dec 24th blog entry) The Rodin sculpture garden is fun too, also the cactus garden.

#5 Winchester Mystery House - an overwhelming amount of stuff to paint here. Such fun! This is one of the sculptures at the front of the house.

#4 Coyote Hills - I love being near the Bay and Coyote Hills is a perfect place to hike and sketch. There are views of the Bay and surrounding hills, plus lots of birds down on the marshes. The mud alone would give inspiration for dozens of abstract paintings!

#3 Point Lobos -Stunning vistas of rocks and crashing waves, the California coast is spectacular. The rocks are hard to draw, and my paintings of the sea not so successful, so here are trees. I also did a color study of the plants on the cliffs in China Cove.

#2 Hawaii - sketching the lava flowing into the sea from a volcano has to rank among the greatest sketching opportunities ever!

And -
My all time favorite #1 sketching place was, (drum roll here...)
#1 India - Just the most amazing place to visit. These are my sketches of the Taj Mahal and also some of the tombs in Lodi Gardens, New Delhi.

Stanford

2008-12-24T15:32:00.000-08:00

My current offerings are sketches from last weeks trip to the main quad at Stanford University. After some cold rainy days we were, with perfect timing, presented with a dry, sunny day.
The buildings and arcades of the main quad have gorgeous decorative columns and archways that reveal pretty views both into and out of the quad so artists really are spoiled for choice here.
As we sat in the quad I was reveling in the peace and quiet, when some nearby construction work started up. In the distance there were metallic squealing and grinding noises not dissimilar to something from War of the Worlds. Fortunately, no alien spaceships invaded our peace and it was almost musical! In a rash moment I decided to include my three fellow artists in the sketch.

From the opposite side of the quad I decided to sketch the church and show some of the trees that decorate the quad. The non-denominational Memorial church, completed in 1903, was commissioned by Jane Stanford as a memorial to her husband, Leland. Designed by Charles A. Coolidge, its Romanesque style features carved sandstone, red tiled roofs, and elaborate colorful mosaics. The original huge mosaic on the church's exterior apparently took 12 men 2 years to complete but was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake. The mosaic had to be recreated from the original drawings. Its worth going just to look at that alone. (I carefully positioned myself so that I could only suggest it in my sketch!) There are lots more mosaics to enjoy inside the church (open to visitors on weekdays between 8 am and 5pm).
After sketching, the four of us enjoyed a festive birthday luncheon at the nearby shopping mall.
Have a Merry Christmas ... and here's to more plein air adventures in the new year.

Los Gatos Old Town

2008-12-09T21:35:00.000-08:00

One of the fun (or scary!) things about painting outdoors is the possibility that people will be interested in what you are doing. I was approached by shoppers many times while sketching down in Los Gatos Old Town last week. One wide eyed little boy was wowed by my artistic talent (bless him!!) and told me that he likes to draw and paint all kinds of things. I hope that his youthful enthusiasm will stay with him and that his talents will be nurtured. Too often art is one of the first things to fall off the curriculum when budgets are tight. Yet when we examine other cultures, and even our own history, we look to art to show us what people do and how they think. Art is crucial in our assessment of how great a civilization has become. Hopefully no one is assessing the whole of Western culture based on my little sketches, but it's good to be reminded that art is a communal joy - not just a secret pleasure to be enjoyed alone in your studio!

Villa Montalvo

2008-11-20T17:04:00.000-08:00

Today we were at Villa Montalvo and the weather couldn't make up its mind. One minute it was sunny, then cloudy, then rainy, then sunny again - I thought I was back in England! Villa Montalvo is an Italian style mansion built in 1912 by James D. Phelan, the well know CA politician. Today the mansion is a CA historic landmark with gardens, aboretum, art center, and hiking trails open to the public. Its a great place to paint and sketch - even when the weather is less than perfect.
The mansion was all decked out for the Christmas Fair so it looked very festive. I did some quick sketches with brush pens and actually added a bit of color to the Xmas tree drawing in photoshop when I got home. (This the first time I've used photoshop for coloring so I'm pretty hopeless at it! I'm still getting the hang of using the brush pens, so the drawings are a little rough too. A bad workperson always blames their tools .... !)
Around the side of the house is a lovely area with sculptures and benches and the ground there was covered in fallen leaves. I drew the sculpture of the naked woman, but it made me feel very cold looking at her in this fall setting and I developed a hankering for some hot soup!

Wisteria is growing around the house and along the arbors and looks very colorful this time of year. The twisty trunks are fascinating to draw and I should have spent more time on this one getting the shapes right. Oh, well... there's always next time!

José Higuera Adobe

2008-11-17T10:19:00.000-08:00

The Adobe
The "Casino", an original redwood building dating from the 1850's. This building was used as a saloon, gaming hall and, allegedly, a brothel! I discovered that the Sycamore tree behind the building is the largest in Milpitas - I thought it was two trees!

These sketches and painting were done on a gloriously warm and sunny November day. There was no-one around but us painters and a few cows in the field so it was lovely and peaceful.
This small historical park in Milpitas has the remains of an adobe built by José Higuera circa 1828. José Higuera was granted the land in 1821 by the last Spanish governor of California and this adobe is one of the oldest buildings in Milpitas. The current building is a shell, built to protect the remains of the adobe.
Prickly pear cactus that originally formed a hedge around the central compound of the rancho can still be seen at the site, as can pepper, fig and olive trees supposedly planted by José Higuera.

Alum Rock Park

2008-09-29T09:07:00.001-07:00

I'm totally behind on posting my plein air sketches - which must mean I have a life, of sorts!
Anyway, here we were in Alum Rock Park on a beautiful autumn day. The mineral springs are the primary reason for the park. Back at the turn of the last century they were used as baths for curing all kinds of ailments. Now we just have the various little bridges and grottos left. The accumulation of minerals on the rocks give rise to interesting textures and colors (and smells!). Here's my color/texture sketch of one of the springs.As I sat there painting every now and again there would be a little rockslide and a heap of small pebbles would rain down the rockface onto the ground. There are always lots of little earthquakes here and I wondered if that was what was dislodging the rocks. I didn't see any squirrels or birds causing it. It seemed like the whole park was in constant motion, rocks chittering down the hills, trees swaying in the breeze, undergrowth crackling as deer and squirrels wriggle through it. We followed a couple of deer down the main path. A young buck and a doe. Neither seemed concerned about our presence as they stopped frequently to munch on the fallen acorns.
I tried to sketch the buck, but he never stayed in the same pose for more than a couple of seconds.

Skye and Bart

2008-09-29T09:05:00.001-07:00

Here's a pet portrait commission I had recently. Cute dog and cat.

Life is a fountain

2008-09-11T17:01:00.000-07:00

Today's painting site was at DeAnza College campus. They have a beautiful white building called La Petit Trianon and a sunken garden with a fountain. I wasn't drawn to the building with the greek style columns, but to the fountain, which has beautiful contrasting rectangular and oval stone shapes. The water wasn't flowing, but even so it looked very paintable. I settled down on a strategically placed bench which just had a gorgous view of the fountain silhouetted against the dark trees.
I think when you sit still for a long period of time you become invisible. Certainly the young, tattooed woman, chain-smoking on the terrace above didn't notice me. She was yelling animatedly into her cell phone and everyone on campus must have learned of her pregnancy and that one of her friends was jealous because the friend couldn't get pregnant even without birth control (life's ironic like that!). Fifteen minutes into the call we almost got to learn her boyfriend's social security #, but I think someone shushed her up at that point. Shortly after the cell phone left a young father suddenly appeared and plopped his toddler son on the wet grass directly in front of me and proceeded to change his diaper. Fortunately he obscured my view of his son, so I was spared the worst, but his excited cry of "oh what a big poo!" gave me more information than I really needed.
Such are the pleasures of painting outdoors. Not only do you experience the changing light and atmosphere from the beginning to the end of your painting, but you learn something about the world around you. It's never dull!Over lunch our little trio of plein air enthusiasts discussed the difficulties of using color, painting shadows and the myriad other problems that have to be solved every time you put paintbrush to paper. We came to the conclusion that sometimes the complexities of creating art can do your head in - thankfully we can just go out again the next week and have another go.
The fountain sculpture, called La Vita E Una Fontana (Life is a Fountain), is by Salvatore Pecoraro. (check him out at www.salvatorepecoraro.com/) My sketches really don't do it justice.

Deer Twins

2008-09-05T09:06:00.000-07:00

Breakfast this morning was disturbed by a loud clattering outside on the deck which caused the Scrub Jays and squirrels to go beserk. I looked out and was surprised to see one of last years' deer fawns paying a visit. He paused to see what response his ruckus had made and when nothing bad happened he trod warily across the deck, in that "step, pause, step" way that they do, and disappeared down the steps to munch on the rose bushes. I noticed he had a single tiny spike antler growing, with had an even smaller spike right next to it (nothing on the other side). I've nicknamed him "Spike" of course! His sister eventually appeared too, but while Spike was filling his stomach she just stood and watched. Eventually Spike rejoined his sister and she greeted him by pawing his shoulder and licking his neck and shoulders. Periodically he would rub his head against her and she would enthusiastically clean his ears. After a few minutes they retreated under the deck to rest and digest.

2 Weeks for the price of one

2008-08-28T15:19:00.000-07:00

I'm more of a slacker than a blogger lately! Here's 2 weeks worth of plein air sites.
Last week we had a gorgeous day - perfect temperatures. We were at Lake Cunningham, lots of birds, water and hills to paint. The birds cooperated pretty well, setting themselves up for a doze on the shore of the lake, or sitting on the pontoon. It was weird, though, sketching the idyllic scene to the accompaniment of loud disco music and screams coming from the water park next door! In the end I only put paint on one of my sketchbook drawings, which didn't turn out so well.

Today we were in downtown Los Gatos, sitting in a shady park with a view of Main Street. We were grateful for the shade 'cause it was a real hot one today - was up to about 96F by the time I left! Anyway, I started with a drawing in my sketchbook, then thought I would paint the scene.

The trouble with painting a street scene is that cars and buses are always pulling up in front of you and blocking the view. I tried to include some of the cars, but the scale is a little off - I don't think I wanted to block out the buildings so I subconsciously made them very small! It also made me realize that America is populated with the ugliest, most boring colored vehicles in the world. Almost every car I looked at was an SUV in either silver, grey or white. Yawn!
The painting is very unbalanced (& unfinished owing to the heat) and looks a little "melty", which describes perfectly how I was feeling.

Memorial Park

2008-08-15T22:51:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm a little behind on posting here. This is last week's painting from Memorial Park, Cupertino. Its a lovely little spot with lots of ponds, trees, play areas for kids, and, of course, a lovely war memorial (left side of my sketch, very tiny). While I was painting a supervised group of children were playing "What time is it Mr Fox?" on an open grassy area. It made me smile every time they shouted "dinnertime" and all the kids ran around screaming! Too bad I'm not a people painter or I'd have put them in my sketch.

Update on the thieving squirrel - a quarter of the seat cushion on my deck has disappeared into the little beggars nest and its now started stealing stuffing from the back of the seat! I have sprinkled pepper all over the chair in an attempt to keep the pesky critter away.

On a completely different note, my microwave has now started criticizing my eating habits. I put a casserole dish of leftovers in the microwave and pressed "reheat". After a couple of minutes the thing went crazy, flashing lights and alarms. The little screen told me "this setting is for one portion only". So now my microwave thinks I'm eating too much! Pah!

Squirrel Trouble

2008-08-09T13:30:00.001-07:00

This week I didn't go painting - had plumbing problems to deal with instead! So my offering this week is a squirrel sketch I did a while back. We have a couple of squirrels visiting our deck and I caught one sharpening his/her teeth on the metal bracket for the bird feeder. This week I found out that the squirrel was using its sharp teeth to rip our chair cushions up and steal the stuffing for its nest! Cheeky devil! So far it's had a go at 4 of the chairs and the umbrella, and we've had to resort to keeping the cushions in the house. We left one cushion out in the hope that the squirrel wouldn't be tempted by the more expensive chair we have on the deck. So far that's working - the chewed cushion is disappearing at a frightening rate, but the good chair remains untouched! I can't imagine how large the squirrel's nest is by now though.
On July 31st we were painting at Gamble Gardens. The gardens were full of gorgeous blooms - all so beautiful it was hard to know where to start. In fact everything looked so good that when you looked down at your painting it was a big disappointment in comparison. Nature can be intimidating stuff!

Guadalupe Oak Grove

2008-07-30T07:22:00.000-07:00

Last week's paint site was the Guadalupe Oak Grove Park. This is one of the last stands of original old oaks in San Jose. Some of the trees are alleged to be 300 years old! The trees in the car park were populated by loads of Acorn Woodpeckers flitting about and calling to each other. Red tailed Hawks were riding the thermals, and from the top of the hill we had a hazy view of the Diablo mountains. Unfortunately, when I got to the top of the hill and set up my paints I realised I'd left my glasses in the car! So don't expect too much from this week's paintings! I did a pen sketch - but I won't be posting that as it looks like something last week's chickens created!

Emma Prusch Farm

2008-07-17T13:43:00.000-07:00

Today's plein air painting went smoother than last week's (which was canceled due to a pot farm raid!). Emma Prusch Farm is a great place to go painting. The farm house is interesting, there are farm machines, loads of different plants and trees, a rose garden and lots of chickens running around. The weather was perfect - sunny, but with a cool breeze. Normally I do a pen drawing and then add paint, but this week I decided to be brave and launched straight into painting without thinking about it at all. My paintings turned out better than I thought they would! The one of the house I started by imagining the roof line of the house on my paper, then painted the sky around it, then I put the background foliage at the sides. Amazingly, the house (which was just an empty space at this point) turned out fairly well proportioned. 'Twas a miracle! I think the secret was letting the brush do the work and not thinking consciously about it. The muse took over!
On the right side of the house was an enormous prickly pear cactus, which I was tempted to paint, but right in front of it was the much smaller, but more fascinating plant which I sketched above. I think this is a Castor Bean plant (seeds of which are very poisonous). It had gorgeous purple/green leaves and these odd spiky purple seed pods - very alien looking!
Lastly, of course, I had to sketch the chickens. They were strutting all around the place and one kept trying to peck at my paints so that I had to shoo it away. I was fairly pleased with these quick gesture paintings and I was planning on doing a lot more chicken poses - but a darling little boy came along and chased them away. Bless him!!

Carl

2008-07-12T21:23:00.000-07:00

The plein air painting was bit of a failure this week. I drove all the way to Saratoga and when I got to the park, it was closed and police were swarming all over it. The weather has been too hot for painting outside anyway, so I wasn't upset (apart from the wasted gas, ugh!). I went home and painted a little picture of Carl the chameleon instead. I quite enjoyed painting his face. Lizards are very cool - I might attempt a gecko next. I also think I'll attempt some of the tropical fish I saw while snorkelling. Watch this space...

Hawaii trip

2008-07-05T16:33:00.000-07:00

Just had the most amazing week on Big Island Hawai'i. We met up with friends from New Zealand whom we hadn't seen for 8 years, so there was a whole lot of talking going on for a week! We stayed in Kona, (which I expected would be crowded and very touristy, but it was surprisingly pleasant) and Volcano, near the Volcanoes National Park. The sketch above is the view from our Lanai over Kahalu'u beach park where I learned to snorkel.
We toured a Kona coffee plantation (even though I'm a tea drinker!) and discovered that the trees there were full of chameleons. They are beautiful creatures, very bizarre looking with their horns and cone shaped eyes! The plantation guide told us a story about Carl, a large chameleon, who was apparently born from his mothers mouth as she was run over by a delivery truck. Poor thing! Carl is named after the delivery driver! The coffee tour was interesting - but the highlight for me was definitely the chameleons.

I learned to snorkel - an amazing feat considering my fear of water and dislike of swimming in the sea! Thank you Julie for your patience and sympathy!! I was astounded by the beautiful fish and coral you can see. Looking at the ocean from the beach you have no idea what an amazing world is right there just below the surface. We swam with sea turtles (being careful not to get too close or touch them - they're a protected species) and saw all sorts of butterfly fish, Wrasse, Surgeonfish, Puffer fish, Trigger fish (including the famous "Humuhumu-nukunuku-a-pua'a" state fish of Hawai'i), and even Moray eels. One little Cleaner Wrasse had itself a very nice setup - a hollow in the coral with a small ledge above. The larger fish swim into the hollow and the Cleaner Wrasse darts out from under the ledge, gives them the quick once over to remove any parasites and clean them up, then off they go!

Above is the view from the pool at the Kona Seaspray where we stayed.
The current eruption on Big Island was a huge draw for us. We had a helicopter ride over the erupting volcano and saw the lava flowing from the Pu'u-O'o vent into the sea, which was totally incredible. I loved the helicopter and now want one of my own! When we stayed in Volcano, we drove to Kalapana, on the south east coast, where there is a viewing area to watch the lava entering the sea. There is a parking area (free) and a marked path over the lava to a viewing spot(free). These are watched over by the park people so you don't get into trouble. (This and the snorkeling were the best value ever - just the cost of gas and whatever drinks and snacks we needed! Thank you Hawai'i!) Watching the clouds of steam rise over the sea was pretty amazing during the day.

Periodically lumps of molten lava (splatter) would explode into the air and create even bigger steam clouds. There was a line of steam stretching out into the sea and the water there is hot enough to scald - in fact the brochure tells of 2 people who got too close and were scalded to death by a freak wave. Yuk! The scene changes dramatically though as night falls. The steam takes on an orangey red glow and the exploding splatter looks like red fireworks. You can also see a line of fires along the crest of the mountain as the lava flows out and then an impressive flow of lava coming down the mountain - all of which is there during the day, just invisible!

21st century diary

2008-06-15T13:52:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the 21st century! I finally made the move from hand written diaries to blogging! This blog will be mostly about plein air painting adventures and the animals in my back yard, but I might also find room for the occasional rant or political musing. We shall see what develops!

To start here are two of my plein air sketches. The first was done at Mclellan Ranch Park, Cupertino. I wasn't particularly looking forward drawing at this site, but I found a very quiet spot by the stream and started drawing. After a few minutes three ducks paddled up the river and joined me. Ten minutes later the peace was broken by some crashing noises in the undergrowth and a doe tentatively poked her head out of the bushes just upstream on the opposite bank. I kept sketching, but otherwise remained still as she came down the bank and drank from the stream. After drinking her fill she wandered along the bank in my direction. She kept stopping and looking at me, and I tried to think invisible! Eventually, when she was about 10 feet away from me she decided that something wasn't right and she made her way back up the bank and disappeared into the undergrowth. On the way back to the car I bumped into a doe and her 2 spotty fawns just off the path. Amazing what you see when you move quietly through the world.
My second sketch is from Thursday - done in a lovely private garden.