Showtime



"Early Morning Shadows on the Rio Grande Gorge

Taos, NM

14" x 19" Watercolor

$300 (unframed)

 

 

The Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society (SCVWS) will be having a summer show, "Shades of Summer" in Saratoga. I called upon some photos and memories of early morning at the eighth highest bridge in the USA to create a painting for entry in the show. A hot air balloon was suspended over the landscape and the bridge shone in the early morning light.

 

I used a lot of imagination for the colors. My challenge was to subdue enough of the painting to put the focus on the center part of the gorge, bridge, and balloon. I just finished the work so I may yet make the some changes. I have to walk by it for a few days so it can tell me if it is done.

Painting in the Diablo Mountain Range

"Mountain Peonies"
14" x 19" Watercolor
$175

Another great day painting with the Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society. We are so fortunate to live in an area with many beautiful gardens, so that is the focus for Spring outings. We visited the Chateau CharMarron Peony Gardens high above the Valley in the Diablo Mountain Range. I had been here once before with the group, in 2013, and knew I didn't want to miss this event. The owners are so welcoming. The place is also open to the public during Peony prime time.

It was sunny and hot, with temps predicted in the 90s. I had planned to find a favorite clump of flowers and paint them close focused, but I decided I needed shade. Thus I did a floral landscape, along the idea of last week's Irises in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

My models

 You can see that I had some lovely models, though I did not choose to paint all of them nor all their leaves. I liked the mountain backdrop with deep, richly colored evergreens.

Some of the day's production

After a few hours of painting we gathered under the covered structure where I had painted to appreciate the day's work. You can read more about our adventure on the SCVWS paintsites blog.

Another beautiful day of being inspired by my fellow artists.

Rainy Day Paintings

"Fall Rains in the Vineyards"

22" x 15" watercolor

 

"Artists at Work"
11.5" x 5.5" watercolor

Thursday I joined the plein air group at Clos La Chance Winery, a gorgeous winery about 15 miles south of my home. Many paint sites are north of me, so I grab at the chance to go south, away from traffic. Weather predictions were very iffy, with rain predicted for about 1 pm. We had a great turnout of hardy artists.

The vineyards, though past their peak color, were still very beautiful shades of gold, rust, and red backed by colorful mountains with clouds and fog over them. I began the top painting with a watercolor wash. Contrary to my saying I would paint over acrylic, I felt I couldn't prime the paper ahead of time because I was unsure of the colors,  and I did not want to do it in the field. I had laid in the wash and started the painting when it began to rain, three hours ahead of schedule. My painting shows the sprinkles on it. I took refuge under a winery patio umbrella and continued to work the painting. I decided to embrace the pointillist look as part of the atmosphere. I felt a bit like George Seurat painting "Picnic in the Park."

We are all thrilled to have some rain in drought-stricken California, so no one uttered a complaint, just went on painting. At one point I strolled up above my paint site and caught a photo of three of the artists painting with a brush in one hand and an umbrella in the other. They very nicely wore jackets of primary colors -- yellow, blue, and red. I had to paint them. For this little sketch, I selected my panoramic Arches pad, so I could show the colorful landscape.

Three hours of painting was followed by lunch. The winery folks very nicely allowed us to use tables set up for an event inside. The place is like a French Riviera villa, so we enjoyed really fine digs for our picnic lunches. Check out the photos on the paintsites blog and enjoy co-leader Brad's playful description. He is one terrific writer.

I headed home in quite a downpour -- LOVELY!

Experimenting with Acrylic Underpaintings

"Rocky Mountains"
10" x 13" Watercolor

During art group Thursday evening, I decided to try using an acrylic underpainting as Gwen Fox suggested. I also saw Stephen Quiller demo this method on Sunday for SCVWS. He toned his paper with cadmium yellow light and medium, then drew his image on top and painted in watercolor. You can see his work midway through the demo. The nice thing is you can easily lift back to the yellow, which he did on the tree trunks and then used a brilliant orange on them.

 

 

Stephen Quiller mid-demo

I had a half-done painting that was not pleasing me, so I gessoed over it. I could still see shadows of shapes underneath. I decided to just go with those shapes and create my own scene using blues, yellows, orange, and green. Though I don't consider this painting highly successful, I can see that I might like to do more mixing of watermedia.
 

Entry for the 49th Annual SCVWS Membership Show

"Hoping We Get Some Wind"

16" x 23" Watercolordd caption

 

Framed and ready to go



It seems I am never satisfied with my first pass on paintings I want to enter in shows. So I painted this one over. You can read about my inspiration in my earlier post.

You can see that I changed the lighting and the angle of the lighting which I felt made for a stronger design. Of course, I had to imagine it, so I hope I was fairly accurate.  I decided to use 300 lb. Arches Hot Press paper which gives quite a painterly look with it's resistant surface. I used a different approach, not doing an under painting as I did before. I changed the color on the fence and Martin's shirt. I also went for more modeling on the clothing. I had to capture the photo of the framed piece at an angle due to all kinds of reflections on the glass.

The Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society's 49th Membership Show promises to be a good one with slightly over 100 entries. There are 400 people in the society and all are welcome to enter a piece of art. The show is not juried, but it is judged. This year, Robert Semans, a fine oil and pastel painter who happens to teach my Monday morning drawing class, will be the juror who selects the award winners.

Yesterday I spent a wonderful day at the beach with fellow SCVWS artists at the Santa Cruz Paintout. To be precise, we were painting that day in Capitola, a gem of a beach town. I will post once I have completed my 3 pieces, which are almost done.

Exhibit entry inspired by Vietnam visit

"Fast Food, Vietnam Style"
19" x 14" Watercolor

One of the members of Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society owns a chain of restaurants in the area by the name of Hobee's. Peter introduced healthy food to us long before it became trendy. He is hosting a society exhibition in July at one of the restaurants. Hobee's motto is "Fast, Fresh, and Friendly" and it's the theme of our show, to be loosely interpreted.

 

I have a lot of wonderful market scenes from my travels in Vietnam. One photo from Hoi An captured my imagination. I like the design element of the conical hats in a diagonal row. So with lots of artistic license and editing, I focused the painting on the three women. I like a painterly approach, so I muted anything I chose to include in the background. I painted the entire piece in the compliments of blue/purple, yellow/orange, with a bit of red in the center of interest.

 

People in Vietnam believe in fresh food and go to open markets daily. They usually arrive on foot, bicycle, or scooter. Many of the sellers do the same. It's a fascinating scene.

The Friends Meeting House -- California's Oldest

"Friends Meeting House"

11" x 14" Ink and Watercolor on Paper

 

 

The SCVWS paintsites group met at this sweet little spot, tucked away on a quiet residential street in San Jose.  This small building is the oldest Friend's house in California, dating back into the 1800s. It was moved a couple hundred feet when 880 was built.  The day was sunny and warm, and we had a small, but productive group painting. I was delighted to see my host for the Croatian Art Retreat, Marion Podolski.

 

Because I am working on a commissioned ink and watercolor sketch, I wanted to experiment with the medium.  I would like my commission to be a bit more sketchy than this, which I am finding a challenge. Knowing I am doing it for a client makes me immediately more careful.

Monday Morning Pastel Drawing and a Great Party

"Pitcher with Fruit"

12" x 14" Pastel

 

I was quite pleased as I worked on this that Bob  just gave me one little suggestion and moved on. He often will sit down and work a bit on a trouble spot to point us in the right direction. I think I learned a little more about rendering with last week's work with black on white on a single apple. Bob often takes us back to the basics. The tricky part is the transition areas between the core shadows and the areas receiving more direct light. Get it right and the subject will look three dimensional.

 

 

Green-yellow apple

Black conte

 

 

Red apple

Black conte

 

I attended the Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society holiday party, which is always mid-January. This is an all volunteer effort and I can't say enough about how well they organized the event. Everyone is expected to help, so I joined the setup crew. 

 

SCVWS setup crew

 

The theme was "Breathing Plein Air." Hence the wonderful suns and clouds and the very creative center pieces. You see the beginning of the plein air display in the background. That includes paintings done plein air and many travel/plein air journals. I displayed two works from Croatia and one done with our paintsites group.

 

 

Centerpieces: Sit down and paint the beautiful California landscape!



 

 

We rent space, so bulletin boards needed some work. Friend and fellow critique group member Linda  did these wonderful paintings featuring artists  outdoors. The left one is a David Hockney-esque approach using an I-Pad. (Many of us have seen the terrific Hockney exhibit at the DeYoung in San Francisco.) The right one honored our 49ers. The area is used for a painting exchange, a voluntary activity.

 



 

Artists at work on the community painting.

 

Friend Brad organized the community painting and was most creative. One featured many fish to paint. The other was circular forms. These are auctioned off along with donated paintings and other items. Friend Valerie did an amazing job of raising $1100 on the raffle to benefit a local school for disadvantaged children.

 

I chatted with friend Myrna Wacknov who just received her signature membership in AWS! 

Plein Air at Neale's Hollow

 

"Winter's Glory"

10" x 13" Watercolor

 

Finally, I am back in the studio and doing art. Yesterday morning the Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society Painsites group met at Neale's Hollow, a strip of "Wild West" retail establishments trimmed with scraps from old Victoria homes. Located in tony Saratoga, this small enclave of businesses had escaped my attention. One of the things I love about Paintsites is discovering new places in my locale. Our drought has not ended, so we had lovely sunshine with later day temperatures in the 70s.

 

I had intended to do an ink drawing and drop in color, but I left the ink at home. Plan two, do a small piece of part of one of the buildings. I wasn't happy with the results. I looked around and decided this stately old Sycamore made a fitting subject. Without rain to strip the trees bare, many still have fall foliage clinging to their branches.

 

I wasn't quite sure how to tackle the subject, but I jumped in, sketching the wonderful bones of the tree. I know that good design says never to place the subject in the center of the picture, but I felt the need to break that rule. I then laid in the shadow sides of trunk and branches with Cerulean Blue, Burnt Sienna, and Permanent Rose mixed on the paper. I added some of the dark textural markings using Burnt Sienna and Ultramarine Blue. Next I noted the colors of the leave clusters that were in shadow or light, and dabbed them in shades of orange and brown. Next, mixing color on the paper, I did the lower background, ignoring a fence.  Using the background evergreens and sky as my muse, I did negative painting around the clusters of leaves.  That dark green is Pthalo Blue and Burnt Sienna, and the sky is Cobalt Blue, perfect for our local sky.

 

I evaluated the painting, which really needed to be pulled together. The tree leaves were looking like patchwork and there were lots of little white spaces. I glazed over clusters of leaves and elimnated the white. I continued the texture to the center of interest and declared victory. At 1 pm we gathered for our bag lunches and show and tell. It was such a pleasure to enjoy the outdoors while painting.

 

 

 

Family Fun

"Faster, Daddy"

15" x 14" watercolor

Gilroy Gardens Family Park

The day our Paintsites group created art at Gilroy Gardens, I did a landscape, begun before the park opened. An hour later the families began to arrive for their Saturday outing. Just below the deck where we were painting were the paddle boats, lovely large swans and ducks with two people on board, usually one parent and one child. I grabbed my I-Pad and took a couple photos. I loved this particular scene with the wake linking the two boats.

I began the painting last Thursday night with my South Side Art Club, laying in the washes over the entire page. I saved the white of the bubbly wake using friskit. There was a row of green and white umbrellas on the hill over the pond. I wanted to suggest the background without drawing attention away from the subject, so I toned down the whites of the umbrella, leaving the pure white for the boats and wake. I also suggested foliage and flowers, without defining them too much.

You can read about our group adventure on the Santa Clara Valley Paintsites Blog.

Rengstorf House Art Exhibit

 

 

"City Girl" on display at the

Rengstorff House Art Exhibit

 

Rengstorff House

Part of the history of Santa Clara Valley

 

 

The Artist Reception for the Art Exhibit at Rengstorff House in Mountain View was very well attended. Several of my friends that paint with me on Thursday evenings were there sharing the fun. Several artists from Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society also had work on display.

 

 



Long-Distance Plein Air All Day Event

 

"Heaven's Gate 2"

20" x 14" watercolor

 

"Mission San Juan Bautista"

9" x 5" watercolor

 

 

Once a year the Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society makes a longer trek to paint all day on location.  This year's choice was the small Spanish town of San Juan Bautista. If you haven't been there, it should make your bucket list. We had around 15 artists show up, very good considering the distance for some. I live more south than many, so it's not a bad drive, The mission is the first I every visited, way back in 1976, and remains my favorite. San Juan Bautista has the only original Spanish Plaza remaining in California. I've painted here more than once and sold both paintings. I wrote of one such experience on my blog here.

 

We were treated to a beautiful day with comfortable temperatures. I stood at my easel under a tree and painted from a new perspective. After a few hours, I stopped and vowed to reconsider the work after I got home. We had a picnic lunch, viewed all the work people cared to share, and then selected a new spot to paint. The mission has a long low building with arches attached to the church. When we first arrived, I was taken by the view down the long outdoor hallway. So this afternoon, somewhat fatigued, we settled across the street at shaded picnic tables. I didn't have a great view of  the hallway, but I could see a nice vista. I settled on small and used my new Arches block that is perfect for small sweeping landscapes. I've seen other artists use that block and had to have one.  I removed some distant trees to add the expansiveness that I felt when sitting there.

 

The wind began to really blow, as it can in this area close to the Pacific Ocean. That's why San Francisco Bay is a great venue for the America's Cup. Friend Janice and I left about 3 p.m., having completed a couple paintings each, and Janice had done a wonderful ink drawing of an old adobe to which she will add color.

 

For a fun read, check out the paintsites blog: http://scvwspaintsites.blogspot.com/ , Brad is a very charming writer and he keeps the blog updated. He always asks for people to send in their work, but only a few do. So this time he told us he was taking photos for the blog. We can tell him if we want to be named with our work. There were many nice pieces.

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.

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.