Big House, Little Painting

The LGAA, Los Gatos Art Association, Plein Air painters group meet on Monday mornings. We have a pretty consistent group showing up - whether we meet in town or down the coast in Monterey or up at Davenport. A good solid 11-15 painters I think. Unless it is the Monday of the year when we meet at a spectacular home of one of our members. 

The home belongs to David. I'll leave it at that. It's amazing, a stunning hacienda on many acres with a pond, many fountains, a carriage house, an adorable shed, plants and flowering trees... the works. It's like a trip to Tuscany. So, it's no surprise that on this particular Monday.... we had over 25 artists.

I love when OTHER painters paint street scenes and corner stores, storybook cottages and barns. I love it and I struggle to do it. Architecture is not my thing. I have painted David's home before and although I like that painting, it shows more of a slowly sinking, aged and wobbly adobe cottage in my rendering ;)

This time I really spent a lot of time on the drawing. Getting the angles, the windows right, the roof top... I think it paid off. I am much happier with this painting and can see a lot of areas where I improved in the paint application as well. Having the 'good bones' of a good drawing underneath the paint worked out very well. There's hope for me!

Not Quite Spring Cleaning

Sometimes you just have to do a bit of wrangling or organizing before you start on something new. I think I'll tackle that drafting table next!

Demos

After a very stormy night, the day relaxed just enoki ugh for a morning painting demo by Doug Braithwaite. 

Our esthetic, approach and styles are vastly different, but I learned a lot. He almost draws in the beginning of his piece, removing paint with qtips and paper towels similar to Burt Silverman.

Interestingly, he works on MDF board that he primes 10x. He also works pretty wet and uses water color brushes.

He's able then to start with dark washes and block in major shapes and then pull out secondary shapes by lifting out pigment.

Color comes next, again in thin layers with liquid so he's able to retain brush strokes and layer colors.

He built his own pochade system and uses a strange soap he found called. 'Man Size' to goop onto dirty brushes and then just wipe that all clean the next time he paints.

Festival

It's today! Great start with a demo by J Brad Holt. He did a painting of this really cool brick heritage building. 

Voting took place for. 'Artists choice' and 'people's choice' - this we'll find out results tomorrow. This morning the official judges selected award winners, we'll find out more about those tomorrow too.

I've heard different numbers, but it sounds like 130 artists, 90 of which are oil painters. I worked the art booth for a couple hours today, a great way to meet other artists and chat about their art and paint festival experiences.

Last Painting Day

This was it. Last day to paint and also the day to submit your final selection for judging.

I started the day nice and relaxed: made coffee in my AeroPress and also made oatmeal with peanut butter and a banana with the extra water I boiled in my JetBoil.

I hadn't driven down the famous Hole-in-the-Rock Road yet, so I bumped along that dirt and rock road some 13.5 miles (!) until the Devil's Garden. Fantastic spires and fists and orbs of red and yellow sandstone, some 40ft above the desert floor.

After that I knew I needed to find just the right location for my final painting of the festival. I narrowed it down by wanting to paint red striped rocks again... So I knew I needed to head East on Hwy 12 between Kiva Koffeehouse and the a Escalante River. 

I made a uturn when the rocks turned more sand color and less red and was now back heading West. SUCCESS!

In a deep S curve by the River trail was a pull out big enough for my car and my painting set up... And SHADE!!

I had a glorious view if two towers of striped rock and they just inspired me to paint bold and convey their playful spirit. I love these.

Official Paint Out Day

Over 100 artists painted today along Hell's Backbone Rd. It's a loop actually and connects with Hwy 12 between Escalante and Boulder.

I'd driven the washboard road section of HBR and decided I'd rather go for a vista piece off the paved Hwy. 

I usually choose scenes that have a central or close subject, so to stand up overlooking an entire canyon just as daylight hits the upper peaks was a huge shift for me! 

From the start I was taken with these subtle colors on the light sandstone; lemon and melon and a beautiful salmon pink and violet! Gorgeous! Plus, all along the furthest range, called the Straights, were these ribbons of pale cool green and lavender. Yes! I can paint here!

Our finished piece had to be turned in between 3 & 5pm, I glued mine down to the floater frame, told them leave it flat on a table until the glue dries (!) at 3:30pm.

Aspens above Boulder

I'm loving Boulder! The combination of red rocks, yellow rocks, juniper, mountains, views and ASPEN!

Tried my first aspen painting this afternoon, fun! The really do shake- quake... Rustle! Noise makers!

I kept turning my head to see if someone was behind me. Took a dirt road with a sign "deer lake road " I was rewarded!

Up before the day

Made it out to the parking area at Kiva Koffee at 7am. THE PLAN had been to paint until about 9, go in for a coffee and breakfast, then set back out to finish my piece.

Well, they are CLOSED on Tuesdays! Oh no! So I painted, sans coffee, banana for breakfast, and painted until 11:30.

The cropping of rocks was something I saw on my 'scouting' day earlier in the week. But arriving at 7, just as the sun was coming up I got the chance to see the colors deepen then lighten, the shadows lift and go from purples to blues  and then fade. It was a lovely show!

Kicking Things Off at Kodachrome

Had heard so many lovely things about Kodachrome State Park I knew I'd paint here this week eventually... But since it was looking like rain this morning I thought maybe it's not a good day for a 5 mile drive down a rough dirt road to do a painting! (Smart girl.)

Set up on the return from Chimney Rock, looking out towards Kodachrome Flat. I was so happy to be painting! 

Scouts honor

I've spent the day scouting out locations to paint this week. A very helpful guide at Excurssions of Escalante, Jim, drew me a little map to a dirt road I should check out. Score! Loads of beautiful vistas and rocks. 

I've spent the rest of my 'free' day exploring Hwy 12. I may have to trek out this way to paint as well, the aspen are stunning in their yellows, golds and lime. It's a "Scenic Byway" for good reason!

Preparation

And so it begins.
The packing! It's always a tiny bit of a challenge to pack for a single trip with a variety of events.

We have the Road trip: endless drives across deserts and sierras. This means a cooler,  jugs of water and snacks: (apples, celery with almond butter, oranges and tomatoes from the garden, mixed unsalted nuts.) My CD player doesn't work so I have my iPod and portable speaker that plugs into the cig lighter. I downloaded a new Louise Penny book to listen to while I drive. I have my iphone and charger, flares for an emergency and loads of maps in case the wifi doesn't work on the phone which I'm pretty certain 9/10ths of my trip it may not. 

We have the sleeping: Tents. Yes. I am bringing 2 tents. Crazy? I think not. There is about a weeks worth of single night or 2 night stays, so for those I have my 2 person REI Dome tent. My go-to tent. Easy up, small and packs really small. The other tent is a 4 person tent. A Grand Trunk tent. SO easy. Love this thing. I'll have a long extended stay in one location while I'm painting so I'm 'settling' in and I suppose - Glamping!  There's room for a tri-fold 4" japanese futon in both tents so I will be comfy. I adore my Big Agnes sleeping bag, called the Ethel. She's WARM and I'll be fine on those 48° degree nights and mornings. (Fingers crossed!) A pillow is coming with as well as a thick wool blanket JUST IN CASE Ethel isn't enough. I'm also bringing a throw rug and extra footprint and good rain fly. Apparently a nice rain storm blows through the valley just about every day. Thunder too!

Then there is the actual camping. Tents and sleeping bags are a given, but then there is a chair, my AeroPress and hand grinder and pound of whole bean coffee. (I know the requirements for camping right!) My JetBoil and fuel. Tuna and Beans and Oatmeal. The basics. Spork. Cutting board and knife. (Yes, also, 2 bottles of red wine.) (I do know how to camp right.)

Next up: The essentials. Toiletries and Clothing and Camera and Reading material.
Clothing for hiking and canyoneering.
Clothing for painting.
Clothing for everyday.
Something a little bit nice for the Art Reception and Shows.
Rain jacket. Fleece for cold painting days. Down jacket for nights.
Camera. Charger. Extra battery. Waterproof case (remember the canyoneering!)
Books. Book on Bryce and Zion. Book on Grand Canyon. A new Lee Child/Jack Reacher novel (!!) and an old Sunset magazine I found, still sealed from last year, all on the Grand Canyon!

Lastly, the painting stuff.
My OpenBoxM pochade, tripod, BestBrella, turp, extra turp, paints (not really a limited palette but still less than my normal palette, panels and panels galore. Then there are the boxes of frames! 4 9x12 floaters and 4 6x8 floaters as well as a bonus 6x8 frame that is just super cool and will look great with a colorful desert painting in it. Brushes and a big hat and wet panel carriers... that pile adds up quickly.

Now to fit it all into the car.

Frames, frames, frames

Took a chance on a new framing business and I am glad I did. I needed floater frames for my Plein air paintings which are for the most part, all on panels.  This company has a lot of options and free shipping and best of all outstanding customer service!! (Thank you Roger!) The finished frames are completely ready to hang, just add your painting. Find them at  dailypaintersframes.com  (part of Franken Frames.)

California Art Club - paint out!

Every now and again the NorCal/San Francisco chapter of the California Art Club plans a paint-out for its members. I love running into painting friends, past teachers and artists who I admire... and we all meet up for a painting day. This time, there was a promise of wine tasting too ;)  Yes please.

The location was up north in the wine country, in Kenwood, at Chateau St. Jean Winery. Beautiful! it was challenging, I don't often paint buildings and then of course there were the rows and rows and rows of vineyard.

I opted for the "Chateau" because it was very special with little orb lanterns strewn across the main lawn. Lovely...

There was however, no wine. It was madness there, lots of people picnic-ing and stopping by to wine taste. I never found the CAC wine tasting area and when I went into the actual tasting room... I felt like the step-sister in my grubby painting clothes with all the fancy wine enthusiasts.

I'll just open a bottle at home, thanks.

Morgan Hill Morning

One of the great things about being a part of a painting group is that you learn about new painting spots! and someone else is planning the day!

Plein Air Mondays with the LGAA (Los Gatos Art Association) met in Morgan Hill, down a side street at the end of dead end road... yes, exactly the kind of place you would not find on your own ;)

"Paint Burlingame"

My first plein air 'event!'

"Paint Burlingame" is a one day plein air painting event. Artists find their own location within a given radius and spend the day painting. I loved it! I went up to the town a few days before hand to 'scout' locations. I fell in love with an original old Library, a tiny little arts and craft style adobe with huge eucalyptus trees all around it.

I set up on a corner and between the neighbors stopping by to check out the progress or the falling of branches and leaves that were keeping me on alert... plus the wonderful smell of the eucalyptus - well, I had fun ;)

At the end of the day we were to submit our finished painting, in a frame and ready to hang... for the Auction!

A nice family that lives near the library and visit often with their young son purchased the painting too, so that was the perfect ending to a great day.

American Treasure: Gregory Kondos

Everyone should know his name, recognize his paintings. Gregory Kondos.

I took a week long Plein Air painting workshop from him last summer. I was blown away at his work and he was a very good constructive teacher.

Today I made a pilgrimage to Sacramento's Crocker Museum. (Which is a fantastic museum! HELLO?! San Jose! Come on, we can do better!)

Ok. The Crocker's current special exhibition is a Kondos retrospective. From across the room many of his paintings look like photos, realistic. Up close they are alive, dancing, juicy and expressive. Color, design, energy; each landscape is breathtaking.

GO! Show ends May 19.

Plein Fierce

Check us out! 700+ Plein Air painters all along the coast near Asilomar. Later, we became "Extreme Painters" when the wind picked up something fierce!

I always wonder if I've chosen the right view, the right spot to paint. Well not today! I arrived to the location a little early, walked around until something caught my eye, set up my gear and started in.

When I was nearly finished and took a look around me for the first time, I saw Randy Sexton, Camille Przewodek, Brian Blood and Jeremy Lipking were painting right next to me. I guess I picked an OK spot!