Saturday, May 26, 2018

Cooper-Garrod Vineyards, Saratoga, Thursday, May 24, 2018

Garrod Farms Stables and Cooper-Garrod Vineyards have vineyards, barns, farm equipment, stables, horse riding arenas, many horses, access to riding trails on the Fremont Older OSP, and a fabulous view of the Santa Clara Valley.  The ranch has remained in family ownership and operation since 1893.  Jane, the granddaughter of the couple who immigrated from Southern England and first bought the property, was an avid watercolor artist and was very active in the Saratoga Community of Painters.  Her son Jan currently runs the winery, and he talked to some of us about the vineyards and the fun he had laying out the vineyards 30 years ago.  We are very grateful to the Garrod family for being gracious hosts and allowing us to paint on their beautiful property.

There was such an assortment of wonderful subject material that it was just a delight to paint here.  Painting at the vista point was a special treat because there were so many birds, especially bluebird parents feeding their young ones. The day was mostly cloudy with the sun only popping out for a few moments.  The temperature was pleasant except for a few times when the wind made it a little cool.

For more information on Cooper-Garrod Vineyards, please visit:  www.cgv.com
For more information on Garrod Farms Stables, please visit: http://garrodfarms.com/

May and June paintsites:  See the SCVWS website or the May and June newsletters for details.
  • Thursday, May 31: Holbrook-Palmer Park, Atherton
  • Thursday, June 7: Oak Meadow Park, Los Gatos
  • Saturday, June 9: Weekend Paintsite: Frederick’s Field, Almaden Valley, must sign up in advance
  • Thursday,  June 14: Frederick’s Field, Almaden Valley, must sign up in advance 
  • Thursday, June 21: Gamble Garden, Palo Alto
  • Thursday, June 28: Hike and Sketch or Sit & Paint  - Uvas Canyon CP, Morgan Hill 

Not to be missed Shows & Exhibits by Paintsites Regulars:
  • Tanvi Buch currently has a one woman show at the Red Berry Coffee Bar, 145 Main St., Los Altos.   In May she'll have 16 watercolors displayed on the ground floor.  In June, the exhibit will move to the second floor.    Do go see Tanvi's artwork and buy a cup of coffee to support a local business that supports local artists.
  • Annie Haines was awarded an Associate Artist Award by the San Francisco Bay Chapter of the California Art Club for her "Point Reyes Lighthouse" watercolor.   The painting is currently on exhibit in the CAC "Art Between the Lines" show at the Peninsula Museum of Art.   The Museum is located at 1777 California Dr., Burlingame.   The show runs thru July 8, 2018.   Annie's painting is also featured in the May-June issue of Fine Art Connoisseur.

Edward Rooks, a knowledgeable naturalist, a fabulous photographer as well as accomplished artist,  has created a Flicker photo album for all to enjoy.  Thank you, Edward, for providing many photos for this blog.  For more of today's Paintsite photos see:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/edwardrooks/40526211480/in/photostream/

The majority of artists painted near the barns and farm equipment.

Rich's painting of the barn with vineyards on the hillside 

Rich just starting to paint his barn painting

Rich's painting of farm equipment

Annie's painting of barn

Helen's painting of barn

Joe's painting of barn demonstrating his mastery of techniques
learned at Joyce Hicks workshop

Joe's monotone sketch of the barn

Joe's wash and ink sketch of the barn

Liz's painting of the barn 

Tanvi's painting of the barn also features the vineyards on the hillside

Suzie

Suzie's painting of bright orange tractor shows the she learned
a lot about use of brush strokes and sunny colors in Joyce Hicks's class

Jane's sketch of farm building

Dick and Salinda

Salinda's painting of horse and trainer


Dick's painting of fence with clouds pouring over distant hills


A smaller group of artists walked up the hill for a closer look at the horses and to get an expansive view of the vineyards, Santa Clara Valley, and the Diablo range in the distance.

Lora brought a carrot for her friend, Atlas

Cindy had not planned to paint a horse, but Grace demanded to be painted.

Cindy

Cindy's painting of the vista

Edward is ready to put down his camera and start painting.

Edward's painting of the vista with vineyards, horses, the valley and mountains beyond

Edward's painting of the clouds pouring over the Santa Cruz Mtns

Jan Garrod, great grandson of Garrod Farms founder,
 is telling Matt and Marilyn how he laid out the vineyards 30 years ago.

Matt

Matt's first painting captures the whole scene

Matt's second painting focuses on the vineyards

Matt had 15 minutes more for a quick sketch of the mountains

Marilyn, Thursday paintsite co-coordinator

Marilyn captured the entire vista including horses

Lunch, admiring our artwork, and announcements:

Uncharacteristically, we spread out quite a bit for our lunch

Jane, Thursday paintsite co-coordinator

Listening intently to the announcements

Sunday, May 20, 2018

Wilder Ranch State Park, Coast Road, Santa Cruz. May 17, 2018



The Wilder Ranch State Park is located a little over 3 miles north of Santa Cruz. Much of the 7,000 acre park was once a successful and innovative dairy farm, and today has many preserved farm buildings, gardens, a Victorian House and actively farmed land. Whether you chose to hike and sketch along the coastal trail or to remain near the entrance and take in the historic Wilder family farmstead,  the views were spectacular. The hike and sketch 2.5 mile route initially followed a ranch road and then took us along the coastal bluffs overlooking the Wilder Beach (a snowy plover wildlife preserve), Old Landing Cove, down a side trail to Fern Grotto Beach and a return overland to the farm. The highlights of the hike included views of surf-swept bluffs, coastal wildflowers, wild rabbits, several bird species, views of basking seals, and to top it all,  lunch near a fern-filled grotto surrounded by cascading seep monkey flowers!
For more information on the Wilder Ranch State Park please refer to the following link:
https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=549

May Paintsites:  See the SCVWS website or the May Newsletter for details: 

  • Thursday, May 24, 2018: Cooper-Garrod Vineyards (& Stables), Saratoga
  • Thursday, May 31, 2018:  Holbrook-Palmer Park, Atherton
  • Thursday, June 7: Oak Meadow Park, Los Gatos 
  • Saturday, June 9: Weekend Paintsite: Frederick’s Field, Almaden Valley 
  • Thursday,  June 14: Frederick’s Field, Almaden Valley  
  • Thursday, June 21: Gamble Garden, Palo Alto 
  • Thursday, June 28: Hike and Sketch or Sit & Paint  - Uvas Canyon CP, Morgan Hill 

Not to be missed Shows & Exhibits by Paintsites Regulars:

  • Tanvi Buch currently has a one woman show at the Red Berry Coffee Bar, 145 Main St., Los Altos.   In May she'll have 16 watercolors displayed on the ground floor.  In June, the exhibit will move to the second floor.    Do go see Tanvi's artwork and buy a cup of coffee to support a local business that supports local artists.
  •  Annie Haines was awarded an Associate Artist Award by the San Francisco Bay Chapter of the California Art Club for her "Point Reyes Lighthouse" watercolor.   The painting is currently on exhibit in the CAC "Art Between the Lines" show at the Peninsula Museum of Art.   The Museum is located at 1777 California Dr., Burlingame.   The show runs thru July 8, 2018.   Annie's painting is also featured in the May-June issue of Fine Art Connoisseur.



Edward Rooks, a knowledgeable naturalist, a fabulous photographer as well as accomplished artist,  has created a Flicker photo album for all to enjoy --- for more of today's Paintsite photos see:


Cindy, Helen, Liz, Edward and Jane sketching at the Wilder Beach overlook

The restored Wilder Ranch house



Wilder Beach and plover preserve

View of bluffs from the coastal trail

View of Fern Grotto Beach from the trail 

Paintsite sketchers at work at the Fern Grotto Beach

Broncha's sketch from the beach 

Brad and Liz at Fern Grotto Beach

Liz sketching seep monkey flowers

Marilyn standing in front of the fern grotto

Marilyn's sketch of Wilder Beach

Tanvi's sketch of the inlet at Fern Grotto Beach

Lora's sketch of the bluffs from the trail overlook 

Helen's sketch of wild mustard and Wilder Beach
in the background



Cindy's sketch of the wildflowers and a view overlooking Monterey Bay


Edward's painting of the fern grotto

Jane's sketch from the Old Cove Landing overlook

Salinda's painting by the Fern Grotto Beach

Dick's painting of cactus above the Wilder ranch house