Peonies in the Mountains

"Sierra Road Sorbet"

14 x 22" watercolor

 

Last week the Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society continued the theme of painting in gardens, many of them private and new sites for our plein air painters. Chateau CharMarron is so unique. It's at the top of the dry Eastern Mountains north of San Jose. I set out on a cool, drizzly morning and thought I had lost my way more than once. I arrived at the locked gates, the only one there two minutes before the advertised time. I called a leader who said no, they had not canceled, and she was enroute. Another brave soul showed up, so we buzzed for entrance.

The property has fabulous views, a herd of doe-eyed llamas graze the lower fields, and the peonies are up on top of the property. They were in full bloom. We would have two hours to paint before the public started arriving at noon. We could stay as long as we wanted, but we indeed had many people purchasing plants and flowers around us at the official opening time.

 

I was ambitious, selecting a close cropped view of three peonies on a half sheet of watercolor paper. Teetering on my 3-legged stool in lots of moisture and a few raindrops falling, I painted "Sierra Road Sorbet." The peonies had a white inner section and delicate rose outer petals.

 

 

 

 By the time we had lunch, I had a wimpy rendition. I spent several hours over the next few days achieving a broader value range, especially in the background.

 

About 1 p.m. we gathered for lunch and shared our work.  I was pleased to see that about a dozen artists braved the elements. By then, the sun was peeking through. One of the artists had painted the view across the mountains and a body of water below the house. The owner of the property bought it from her on the spot. I believe that was a first for the paintsites group, though not for the artist who is very accomplished. I loved the sketches people did of the llamas.

 

We have the most amazing scenery in the Bay Area. I was awed by the views and my surroundings.

 

 

 

 

You can see works of some of the other artists on the paintsites blog.

Plein Air at Cummins Iris Garden in Scotts Valley

"Cummins Iris Garden"

Scotts Valley

11" x 14" Watercolor

 

 

The models await 

 

 

Colorful hat among the Irises

 

The paintsite Chairs, Jenny and Sylvia, keep surprising us with new locations to paint. Jenny found Jim and Irene Cummins' Iris Garden on a tour of the gardens in Scotts Valley, a town in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The link will take you to an article about the garden. The couple grows Irises for love, not profit. About 20 artists carpooled to the location on a gorgeous, hot early May morning. The place is a treasure chest of historical farm implements.

 

 

An Iris bed

 

 Healthy riding lawnmower

 

The sign reads "Welcome to the Garden of Weedin"

 

I could paint for a year here

 

The gardens are large and filled with a riot of Iris hybrids. I liked the contrasting colors of  the gold and purple Irises and used three of them as my models. I like to zoom in on my subject. My paper was drying really fast, making it harder to mix color on the paper. At times I got some blooms which suggested the shapes of Irises in the background. I used negative painting around the happy accidents. The first pass appears on the paintsites blog. At my Friday critique, my group suggested I pull some purple down into the leaves and I wasn't happy with the middle Iris. I reworked these areas this morning.

 

The Cummins were so very friendly, spending time with us, serving us ice water, and educating us on the various hybrids. They were so delighted that we wanted to paint their garden. What a welcome!  We gathered for lunch and viewed the morning's work.

 

 



Dick painted the barn with an imaginary

antique motorcycle

 

A touch of Japan in the Santa Cruz Mountains

 

"Kotani En"

11" x 14" Watercolor

 

 

My view

 

"The Shapes of Kotani En"

Mid-day view

 

Sylvia received permission to paint in a private garden in the mountains above Los Gatos and Saratoga. She knows the person helping to restore the old property, a California Landmark, Kotani En, said to be one of the most authentic Japanese gardens in the US. We drove up a single lane mountain road -- I am always amazed at the properties hidden up in the coastal mountains. We used three of our cars to ferry 23 people to the site from the main road.

The property served as a wealthy man's country place beginning in the 1920s. Unknown to the owner, the cook he hired was an architect from Japan, unable to practice his profession with the discriminatory California laws at that time . When he saw Mr. Takashima sketching a Japanese garden for the property in his spare time, he sent him off to Japan to hire artisans and to meet with the big wigs. The Emperor of Japan and the folks at Kyoto donated many of the rocks and trees, including that 300 year-old evergreen in the left of my first painting.

The current owner has had the place since the 80s. Unfortunately, a gorgeous koi pond and waterfalls took a huge hit in the 7.1 earthquake centered just miles away. It has never held water since. The part of the property we saw had the owners home, a tea house, a temple, and another small building, plus these lovely plantings and rocks.

I loved the shapes and honored them with simplicity. I was especially taken with the evergreen against the flaming red of the old Copper Beech tree. Later I moved to paint a red maple amidst the rocks and ornamentals.

This was indeed a very special paintsite. We gathered after lunch to view paintings that people cared to share -- it's always the artist's choice.

 

Artists at work







 

 

 

The unveiling at 1:15

 

Some of the artists taking a break

You can read about the day from other perspectives and see some of the art on our SCVWS paintsites blog.





Plein Air in a Private Garden

"Spring in the Garden"

11" x 14" watercolor

 

 

My model

 

Artists in the garden

 

 

Lovingly capturing nature in all it's glory

 

Artists at work in the front garden

 

Artist rendering a beautiful piece of work

 

The unveiling -- the garden and artist captured on paper

The Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society (SCVWS) has over 400 artists representing all levels in their art journey from novice to professionals. Join this watermedia organization and you automatically get 400 teachers, as you can learn from all of them. We are blessed with many generous members. Jane Kwant invited our paintsites group to paint in her garden. Jane herself is an award-winning watermedia artist who largely paints florals from her garden. Take time to check our her beautiful art.

We live in an area where water is very precious, so Jane redesigned her yard with plants that need very modest amounts of water. She has done this in a very natural way, sometimes describe as an English garden approach. There is no formality here. Many volunteer perennials grow where they sprouted.  Jane removed the grass from the yard totally, and even received reimbursement for many of her front yard plantings from the water district.  The effect is both calming and beautiful. Jane has gotten me thinking about my front landscaping.

We had a picture-perfect spring day, a blessing I count as my sons in Vermont endure sleet and snow. This paintsite was announced just this past week, but about 20 artists participated, a great turnout. Jane served us tea, coffee, fresh oranges, and brownies. The warmth of the spring sun and the smells of the garden made for a perfect setting.

I settled myself in front of a lovely section filled with deep burgundy Irises and  contrasting yellow/orange California poppies. Both of these florals are high on my favorites list. I like to focus in on my subject, rather than paint the broader landscape. Though most people do sketches, I like to come away with a frameable piece -- as you can imagine, I am often not  successful -- I tell myself, "And that's okay." This piece was about half done when I left and I knew it needed more contrast in values.

I used an Annelein Beaukenkamp approach, doing lots of negative painting for the greenery. Annelein taught a very popular workshop for us, though I studied with her in Vermont in a one-day class during a visit to my family in 2009. I was heading in the evening for my weekly session with my Southside Art Club, so I gave parts of my work a real scrub with a sponge under running water and set it in the sun to dry. Counter to what people often say, you can change your mind in watercolor as long as you've used mostly non-staining colors and really good paper. I then worked a couple hours doing the push and pull with my values. This morning, I softened a few edges to complete "Spring in the Garden."

When we gathered at lunch, those of us who wanted displayed their pieces. I had photographed an artist because I thought that would make a great painting. Guess what, someone beat me to it! I may still create my own version. I took time to tour Jane's gallery of works in her home. She was recently very inspired by Ken Hosmer in an SCVWS workshop. He has some interesting teaching materials on his website. Ken does value sketches with markers and paints his darks first -- a method I want to try.

Here are a few floral photos from the garden.

 

California Poppies

 

Clematis (I think)

 

Tulips

 

Check our the SCVWS paintsites blog for finished pieces by some of the artists.

Plein Air at Santa Teresa County Park

"Spring in Santa Teresa County Park"

14" x 11" watercolor

 

"Ancient Rocks"

Santa Teresa County Park

9" x 7" watercolor

 

The real rocks

 

 

Santa Teresa County Park

April 4, 2013

 

Plein Air was a special treat for me because I live at the base of Santa Teresa County Park, a new location for the watercolor society Painsites group. The weather was damp, cool, and windy, so just four hardy souls showed up to paint. Two of us live in the neighborhood. We usually have to travel to the sites which tend to be north of us. We are on the southeast end of San Jose where country begins. I love the location because we live in a large city, but we are snuggled up to open country. The Park is a treasure with a golf course at the base, two blocks from the house.

 

Three of us took cover in the group picnic shelter and sat at a table to paint. The photo shows what I painted first -- you don't see it here because I tried a wet-in-wet approach and it simply would not dry. Thus, I turned 90 degrees to my left and painted the Santa Teresa Hills  using much less water. I like the simplicity of the piece. By now it was lunchtime and we were chilled. We were ready to pack it in for the day when the sun began to shine. We decided to linger, so I turned another 90 degrees and painted the old rocks. I think at some point that morning, all four of us painted the rocks. Eventually you can view some of our work on the paint sites blog.

 

We got to talking about the wildlife. On the way up the hill, we saw a large flock of turkeys. There were many birds around. We also have deer, wild boar, coyotes, and bobcats, none of which we saw yesterday. Today, though, my gym buddy and I were walking around the area near the gym and our heart rate went up when we met up with a large coyote sauntering through the parking lot of a high tech building and crossing the street. He stopped and looked at us in a pretty unconcerned way and we gracefully retreated.



Room with a View: Journaling in the Carribean

"The Pitons"

St. Lucia, Caribbean
5.5" x 8" watercolor

 

Recently Bob and I took a 14-day cruise with two other couples on Celebrity Eclipse in the Caribbean. The weather was outstanding -- 80s and sunny everyday.  We visited eight islands, going as far south as Curacao, which is off the coast of Venezuela. I took along a Strathmore 5.5 x 8" visual journal and my tiny Koi watercolor set with brush pen. I found the quality of the paper to be quite inferior to my standard Arches, and should have stayed with known supplies.

 

Our journey started with a flight to Fort Lauderdale, and a couple days later we boarded the ship in Port Everglades, strangely named because it is in Fort Lauderdale, not the Everglades. This was our view from our veranda as we prepared for our 5 p.m. sailing time.

 

 

"A Room with a View: Port Everglades"

 

We spent the next few days at sea, eating at different venues, taking in shows in the evening, doing dance classes, swimming in the pool, reading, and attending culture talks. We thoroughly enjoyed sitting on our veranda, where we often enjoyed room service in the morning.

 

 

"A Room with a View: The Veranda"

A Day at Sea

 

Our first stop was very predictable -- St. Thomas, the US Virgin Islands. There were a half dozen boats in port. This is the view from our veranda at the dock.

 

 

"A Room with a View: The Port at Charlotte Amalie"

St. Thomas

 

Bob and I decided to go our own way and took the local open air bus up over the island to Red Hook where we boarded the ferry to St. John. The Waterfront Bar and Grill is very colorful as you approach the island, so we immediately went and had lunch.

 



 

"Waterfront Bar and Grill"

St. John, Virgin Islands

 

Bob, a fan of locally brewed beers, ordered the Virgin Island beer. He chuckled when he read the label -- brewed in Portland, ME. That's okay. We've enjoyed the microbrews from that lovely small Maine city. We wandered the small town, visited the local Lutheran church, and learned about the native and European cultures and history of the island at the National Park Headquarters. This set the theme for understanding the exploitation of natural resources and people on the islands.

 

The following morning we docked at St. Maarten, a island shared by two nationalities -- the Dutch and the French. We were on the Dutch side of the island. The rest of the group took off to the beach and we went on a bicycle tour. Some of the participants were a bit taken back by the 18% climbs we did on the way to an old fort. I was the oldest woman to make it up the hill on the bicycle without walking. The island is very clean and colorful. The border was decided by a foot race in which the Dutchman drinking Dutch Gin did not make as much headway as the Frenchman drinking French wine. However, the Dutch pride themselves on owning the area with the sea and air ports. The border is completely open and determined by the oldest standing treaty in the world (the Treaty of Concordia in 1648).

"Biking  in Phillipsburg"

Dutch St. Maarten

Now the distances between islands are very modest, about 100 miles, so the next morning we docked in Antiqua. The port was very colorful. This lady was selling jewelry to the tourists.

"The Jewelry Lady"

Antigua









Bob was needing a time out (vacations can be exhausting), so I went off with the other four on a taxi van tour of the island. Bernie, "King of the Road," stuffed a dozen of us into the van and off we went, to the old Nelson Boatyard, the fort, views of homes of the rich and famous (such as Eric Clapton), and banana groves. The King managed to deliver us all back safely on a tire missing a huge chunk of rubber, which I was thankfully not aware of until exiting back at the boat.

 

We sailed on overnight and landed at St. Lucia. The six of us took a private van tour of the island. The sketch at the top of the post features St. Lucia's notable landmark, the Pitons. We passed them enroute to their smoking volcano. The island has lush jungle and treacherous winding roads climbing over the mountains. Everything is so colorful.

 

 

A photo of the Pitons

 

 



A restaurant in the mountains of St. Lucia

 

To be continued.



Plein Air at Kirk Farrington House in San Jose

"Welcome"

11" x 14" Watercolor

Kirk Farrington House

San Jose,CA

 

 The real deal from a different perspective

"Spring Peony"

9" x 7" watercolor

 

The model was in front of me

 

Artists at work

 



The Kirk Farrington House is a beautiful old Italianate-style Victorian house built in 1878. The last surviving Farrington put the home in trust for the use of the Junior League of San Jose, Inc., and it is run by the Farrington Historical Foundation. Today the site is reduced to 3 acres from a thousand acre farm on lovely Dry Creek Road, a meandering road that runs through the middle of San Jose and is an upscale neighborhood.

Our leaders got permission for us to paint there. We did not go inside the house, but we enjoyed the gardens and the beautiful landscaping. I first set up on the edge of the road and did a portion of the house. Two very large trees cover the front of much of the house from that perspective. About a half hour before we would break at 1 for lunch, I grabbed a few supplies and sat down in the peony garden. With so little time, I did a quick painting without drawing any lines.

The weather was gorgeous and the blooms have suddenly appeared all over the valley. We artists had a fine time together. As we sat munching our picnic lunches, we admired our output.

 

 

The paintings from the session are starting to appear on the paintsites blog: http://scvwspaintsites.blogspot.com/