Plein Air at Shoup Park in Los Altos

"Cradle of Liberty"
10" x 14"

Shoup Park is a small redword preserve with children's play area, picnic tables, and this lovely Veteran's sculpture placed in the park 11 years ago. The soldier represents the protectors of our country, and the baby repesents liberty.

About a dozen of us turned out for plein air with a promised potluck luncheon at the home of one of our very active leaders. Karen's home is lovely in the hills overlooking the bay. We sat out and had a delicious feast, and some shared comraderie. After lunch we quickly displayed our work. There were some beautiful pieces done of this sculpture and many of the redwood tree grove. I especially liked a gnarled old tree on which the artist used watercolor crayon to add some energetic line work. I am fortunate to paint with so many wonderful artists.

Creating prototypes

Prototypes for "Arabesque Brides"

In March, Bob and I went to a concert at the John F Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington, DC, while there for a conference. There was a gorgeous display of over 40 elaborate bridal gowns worn in the 22 countries of the Arab world as part of an upcoming show, "Arabesque." The mannequins were artfully arranged in the lobby. I took some photos intending sometime to use them in my art.

I am working towards a piece for "Linear Perspectives," the Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society show in October. I must complete it before the end of the month if I intend to show this piece. (I have a backup plan, not to worry). So last night I painted a quarter sheet. I decided to invent a background that suggests mountains in a dry land, but very linear in keeping with the theme of the show. I know I want to show the beauty of the gowns, so they will be brightly colored and detailed, but the overall plane is flattened. I'm not great at Photoshop (I'd rather paint), so I printed out the three brides in a size that would work for an 8 x 10 prototype, and I cut out the three brides. By now I was recalling the paper dolls I so loved as a child.

I took two failed paintings and cut them into several smaller pieces. I drew the background on the back of each piece and experimented with color, tints, tones, shades, and value patterns. This process took little time and I could then put my three ladies on the background to check results. At one point, I looked at the blog of Peggy Stermer-Cox, one of my favorite artists. Peggy does non-representational work and has some knockout series on her blog. She spends lots of time experimenting with value patterns, design, and color. I checked out Kitty, Kitty, because I love her use of blue and orange, which is very soft. (Do check out her work -- her name is an active link .) I'm also being influenced by Myrna Wacknov's recent experiments with color on her blog.

I knew I would be using Cad Red for the bridal dresses, so I took some license with the color combination. The second picture shows my use of Cad Red Light and Windsor Blue (green shade) for the mountains and foreground. I loved how they neutralized each other. I did introduce one other color, Raw Sienna, into the sky, and dropped in the red. I decided that I am quite taken with the neutralized background. My next step is to do a half-sheet painting.

Fun with public art

"Public art and friend"

Morgan Hill Library

I just returned from church services in Morgan Hill, about 10 miles south of where I live. We are next door to the open spaces here, so it's a nice drive. I'm featuring a piece I painted a couple months ago after a tandem bicycle ride one Saturday to the very lovely new library in Morgan Hill. The library grounds feature several pieces of public art done in bronze. When we drove up on the bike, the bronze mother reading a book to her son was enjoying the company of a gentleman on his red cell phone. The scene tickled my fancy and I took a picture from the back as we parked the tandem. Because the person remains anonymous, I was comfortable including the man in a painting. I am hoping that derivitive works that include the public art are not a copyright infringement.

There are some other wonderful bronze pieces around Morgan Hill, which is quite a charming small town. I've taken some photographs of one at the train station that features the Morgan Hill family (father, wife, and small child) with their luggage circa 1900. There are small children climbing on the statues, something that small children can't seem to resist as I've seen the same scene many times.