Monday, October 22, 2012

Plein Air Adventures Feed the Spirit

"Autumn's Bounty"
 14" x 12" Watercolor
Triton Museum, Santa Clara, CA
 
 
"Pau-Hoa Buddist Temple"
San Jose, CA
 
 
Temporarily interrupting regularly scheduled programming...I bring you some plein air  pieces. Yesterday I joined my Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society in a plein air competition at the Museum in Santa Clara. This event was part of the month-long Member's Annual Show at the Rose Shenson Gallery. We painted on the grounds for a little over two hours. I loved this little Radio Flyer wagon with autumn goodies on the porch of one of the houses on the property. The artists got to vote for the three top places and visitors got to vote for the Honorable Mention. You can see show winners here and soon the winners of the plein air competition. We have some awesome artists.
 
It seems that since returning from Europe, art has taken a back seat, so doing some plein air painting makes time for art. This past Thursday we were welcomed at the Pau-Hoa Buddist Temple on McKee Road. The temple is very active and as we painted among the beautiful buildings, monks, volunteers, and worshipers came and went.
 
I have no in-depth knowledge of Buddhism, in spite of having friends who are Buddhists, so I hope I do not offend with my terminology or explanation.
 
 
 
The main temple building
Backlighting made it challenging to photograph and paint
 
 
A worshipper at the main alter
 
The alter contains many types of food

 A smaller place of worship where incense sticks burned in the urn;
People frequently prayed at the alter while holding burning incense sticks
 
Artists take a lunch break and admire the paintings
 
Show time
 

2 comments:

Autumn Leaves said...

It sure looks like it was a wonderful day, Mary. I also like seeing a similar ribbon of color through most of the paintings. Your pieces are fabulous!

hw (hallie) farber said...

Regularly scheduled programming should be interrupted for something like this. I like your temple--you always get just the right parts into your paintings.