Maison Du Lac, Santa Cruz Mts. Thursday, July 12, 2018

I've read that "paradise" was, originally, millennia ago, a Persian word for a "garden".    The private estate we visited comes pretty close to satisfying that definition of a garden!    (Or maybe it should be the other way around?)   We visited two years ago and, while much was familiar, much has changed which is to be expected as "gardens" are always growing and changing, to say nothing of the changes brought by the seasons.  And, by next year, a new garden section (the "bones" of which have been established) will have been created.

July/August paintsites:  See the SCVWS website or the July & August Newsletters for details.

• Thursday, July 19, 2018:  Niles Train Depot Museum, Fremont
• Saturday, July 21, 2018:   Murphy Street, Sunnyvale
• Thursday, July 26, 2018: Senior Safari Walkabout, Happy Hollow Zoo, San Jose.  (Note: early start time and free admission for "Seniors" -- those over 50 years of age.)

•  Thursday, Aug 2, 2018:  Downtown Los Altos followed by potluck at member’s home
• Thursday, Aug 9, 2018:  New Almaden Historic District, San Jose
• Thursday, Aug 16, 2018:  Quail Hollow Ranch CP, Felton
• Thursday, Aug 23, 2018:  San Jose History Park, San Jose
• Thursday, Aug 30, 2018:  Quarry Lakes Recreation Area, Fremont

Shows & Exhibits by Paintsites Regulars:

• Edward Rooks will present a lecture - "Filoli Through an Artist's Eye Time" - at Filoli on Thursday, July 19, 2018 as part of Filoli's Thursday "Summer Night: Summer Blooms" program which run through August.  Doors open at 5:00 PM (there is an entrance fee) and Edward's presentation (free, once you're in) is at 5:45 PM. (Official website: https://filoli.org/event/summer-nights-7-19/?instance_id=6836 )
• Candy Yu's  "Pet Paintings" Show continues its run at the VCA Crocker Animal Hospital, 475 N. Jackson Ave., San Jose through July 31, 2018.  Just let them know at the front desk and staff will point out where the 18 fabulous paintings are hung.
• John Ediger's award-winning painting, "The Old Adobe", is included in the current California Watercolor Association's "The Color of Summer" Exhibit at St. Mary's College of Art in Moraga.  The show runs thru August 26, 2018. (Official website:  https://www.stmarys-ca.edu/california-watercolor-association)      
• Jane Saltman's and Tanvi Buch's watercolors are featured in the Los Altos History Museum's "Paint the Town ll: Echoes of the Past " show which runs from July 5 to October 7, 2018.  Check the website for some plein air related lectures and events during July and August.   The Los Altos History Museum is located at 51 S. San Antonio Rd, Los Altos.  Hours are Thursday - Sunday, noon - 4 PM and admission is free. (Official website:  https://www.losaltoshistory.org/2018/06/los-altos-history-museums-exhibit-paint-the-town-features-artwork-of-historic-landmarks/ )
• Elaine Goldstone will be exhibiting her botanical artwork and cards for sale at the Los Gatos Birdwatcher Annual Artist Exhibition on Sunday, July 22 from noon - 4:00 PM. The artwork will be a variety of mediums: pastels, watercolors, pen & ink, oils and more. Local artists will be there to discuss their work and their passion.   Some artwork will be for sale.   There will also be an hourly drawing for a piece of artwork. Los Gatos Birdwatcher is located at 792 Blossom Hill Road, Los Gatos 408-358-9453.  (Official website:  http://losgatosbirdwatcher.com/index.html )
• Annie Haines and John Ediger (yes, that same John Ediger) each had two paintings accepted in the California Watercolor Association's "Explore Color / Discover Color" exhibit in the Science Dept. at Dominican University, 50 Acacia Ave, San Rafael.   The show opens August 5, 2018 and runs thru January 31, 2019.   (Open days/hours not yet specified.)  The Reception and Awards Presentation is Saturday, August 18, 2018 from 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM.  (Official website: http://www.californiawatercolor.org/gallery.php?cat=95)

Special Link:

Edward Rooks, expert naturalist, fabulous photographer and accomplished artist, has created a Flickr photo album for this Paintsite.  (Note, no snakes were photographed in this particular posting so it's safe to view.) 
See Edward's photo album at:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/edwardrooks/sets/72157693195861980

Edward taking a time-out to actually spend a few minutes at his easel - between time spent taking photos, explaining some of the natural phenomena, flora and fauna, we see at Paintsites, and everything else he does to make our Paintsites special!

Last Word before you check out our artwork: 
If you haven't recently, take a moment to check out the latest blog postings from members Tanvi, Mary P., Sylvia (now living in Auburn) and Anna (in Oregon).   You'll be glad you did.


Also, note that Tiangong Liu's website has been added to the list of Member's Websites.

Artists and their artwork:

The really rusty, really old truck in front of the (perhaps) equally old red barn has been a favorite subject each time we've visited this site.   Here four artists try to capture the old truck's "best" side.   Fortunately, the old truck has only "best" sides so, no matter where we set-up, a fine painting was the result.

Benay

Benay's painting of the rusty old truck

Gretchen

Gretchen's old truck painting from a slightly different angle

Liz

Liz's old truck painting

Jayne S.

Jayne usually works in a "journal" format - here's another fine example in that genre.

Ling set-up on the slope above the old truck and the fenced flower garden next to the old barn

Mary R. set-up on the bank of the small pond.

Nina 'midst the daisies by the small pond.

Pay attention, this gets Tricky:
The water in the large pond has a greenish tinge - almost the same hue as some of the grassy areas around the pond -- which is very convenient as, if the artist wasn't happy with his/her painting of the pond, he/she could always say the painting was of a grassy areas.   Or vice-versa.   In other words, defining the major horizontal features in the landscape took some serious effort.  Which we accomplished.

WeiWei

WeiWei's painting of Patti's home, the lawn and just a finger of the pond.

Edward's painting of the pond and house.   The large koi are a dead giveaway that this is a pond-scape.

   

Broncha's painting, from the far end of the pond, of Patti's home

Kaaren

Kaaren's painting of the pond and one of the huge old oaks.

SCVWS President Lisa

Lisa's painting of pond, lawn and house.   She limited herself to simple triad in this painting.   During the Show & Share she explained how she created the exciting foliage in the left foreground.  So simple yet so effective.

New member Tiangong, an experienced artist, as you'll see, at his first Paintsite

Tiangong positioned himself on the slope above the pond for this exceptional painting of the pond, a slice of lawn, and Patti's home.

Cindy (left) and Elaine.   (Tiangong was on the up-slope behind them.)

The last few paintouts we've discussed the merits of red vs. green plastic film to help determine "values".    Some were leaning towards "green" for landscapes, "red" for still lives, others said it didn't matter.   Cindy, to help settle this debate, very generously brought in a large sheet of green plastic which she cut up and passed to interested artists.   Now, armed with Cindy's plastic, no excuses for weak value contrasts will be accepted.    Unless you're in the "red" camp - then you'll have an excuse.

Cindy "borrowed" the bifurcated trunk of a pond-side tree to create this interesting composition.

Elaine's painting of Patti's home, the lawn and the pond.  

Lisha was able to rejoin the group after months away caring for her mom.

Lisha's painting of a small corner of the pond with the dock across the way.

Leslie on the lawn in front of the house.   It takes a brave and determined plein air painter to set  up next to a heavy-duty lawn sprinkler which could go 'off'' at any time.    A resourceful watercolorist  like Leslie, however, would undoubtedly take full advantage of a blast from such a sprinkler.

So many things to paint from which to choose - Leslie's sketch has it all: pond, artist (Lisha), plants, garden features.

Leslie's sketch of a garden sculpture and the far bank with artist at work.

Sherrie, a friend of Lois, paints with the group whenever we venture into the Santa Cruz Mts. for a paintout

Small things:

Patti is a marvelous artist in her own right - but her medium is plants ---- of all hues, textures, sizes, shapes, all worked into a harmonious composition.  And consider this: as watercolorists, we pretty much know when a painting is finished (actually we realize it should have been finished some minutes earlier) but for the artist working in her garden, her work of art is never finished!  Where our paintings may beg for us to put down our brush, a garden keeps demanding more: pick up that trowel, give me water, pull up those nasty weeds, and on and on. 

Anyway, for those who eschewed the "big" picture there were plenty of "small" objects of equal interest whether a single stem or a small vignette.

Lois, another mountain resident, coordinated our visit with Patti

Lois' painting from the Redwood Grove

Lois' painting of the "young children reading" sculpture.

Carol

Carol's sketch

Leslie's small painting of a very interesting and bright flower.

Lunch then Show & Share:
Patti had set up regular outdoor patio tables and patio chairs under the redwoods for us to take our lunch at leisure in a more civilized and comfortable manner than we usually do.  Of course we took full advantage of this.  Then, after lunch we had our Show & Share and Patti related more of the history of her property and the area.
 

Gretchen (left) shares a moment with Patti, our hostess

Patti's neighbor Marvin, left, helped save Patti's home (as well as his own) during the devastating 1985 Lexington Fire.   Here he and Edward step back and observe the Show & Share.

After lunch:  a chance to meet new members, make new friends, share the day's experiences.

Not a feeding frenzy (lunch was over) - here we examine, close-up, the fine artwork we produced.