Allied Arts Guild, Menlo Park. Thursday, June 9, 2016

The Allied Arts Guild was designed and built by artists, for artists, starting in 1929 and still attracts and enchants artists seeking some serene tranquility in frantic Silicon Valley.  (In addition to serving as an arts & crafts oasis, Allied Arts has a significant philanthropic association with the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital which makes visiting doubly satisfying.)   And even if one doesn't know the history of the place, every artist who visits or works in the gardens has that special feeling that here is a place just for him or her.

For additional information about the Allied Arts Guild see:
http://www.alliedartsguild.org/  
Upcoming Paintsites:

• Thursday, June 16, 2016:   Vasona County Park, Los Gatos
• Thursday, June 23, 2016:   Sierra Azul Nursery & Garden, Watsonville (new Paintsite)
• Thursday, June 30, 2016:   Duc Vien Buddhist Pagoda, San Jose

Check the SCVWS website and the  June Newsletter for details.

Other ongoing  local events of interest: 

• Registration extended to June 12, 2016  for the SCVWS "Summer Palette" show which runs from Sunday, June 26, until Friday, August 26, at the Hobee's Restaurant in north San Jose.   See the SCVWS website for registration details.
• Through Sunday, June 12, 2016:  18th Annual Botanical Art Exhibition at Filoli.   See the particulars at  http://www.filoli.org/art-exhibits/#botanicalart
• Month of June, 2016:   An exhibit of Paintsites regular Richard Bloechl's watercolors will be on display at the Campbell Library in downtown Campbell (77 Harrison Ave., adjacent to the Ainsley House).   Open Mon.-Tue. 1-9pm; Wed. 10am-9pm and Thu.-Sat. 10am-6pm.  (See Rich's website link in the right sidebar for images of his paintings.) 

The Court of Abundance:  There are many, many delightful scenes to paint at Allied Arts  but this is the favorite for the majority of artists.   And not just the first time one visits but over and over, in fact every time one visits.

Alan

Dan

Don

Don's unfinished painting of the Court of Abundance.

 

Elizabeth

Elizabeth's painting of the Court of Abundance and its impressive fountain.

Joy and Grace (seated).

 

Grace's Courtyard of Abundance painting focused on the large central fountain.

Jane S. (Thursday Paintsites co-coordinator)

Jane S.'s painting of the chimneys in the Court of Abundance.

 

Left to right:   Elizabeth, Candy and Jane P. paint in the Court of Abundance.

 

Candy's first painting in the Court of Abundance.

Candy's unfinished 2nd painting of the same subject.

Jane P.'s painting of the Court of Abundance highlights the central fountain.

John:  nothing to smile about here -- no rust in sight ...

 

but he's no one-trick-pony as he demonstrates with this fine painting.

Joy (left) and Sharon just back from a workshop in Italy.

 

Joy's painting in the Court of Abundance.

Liz

Liz's painting of the unique chimneys (or maybe it was once a bell tower used to summon artists and artisan craftsmen/women  to their midday lunch or, better yet, maybe cocktail hour?)

Helen's painting in the Court of Abundance captured the landscaper working unobtrusively and diligently as we did the same.

Iris' Court of Abundance chimneys.

And Lisha's.

Martha

Martha's sketch in the Court of Abundance.

Martha's completed painting.

 

Joe on the steps leading to the 2nd story of the Archway Building ...

Joe's painting of spiky plants and a large, old pottery jar in a corner of the Court of Abundance.

 

Kathy's 2nd painting of the same jar.

While above it all, the balcony of the Archway Building provided Leslie both a unique vantage point  (albeit a shaded and breezy one) from which to paint the Court of Abundance and also to keep an eye on everybody ---- she reported exemplary behavior by all.

 

Leslie's overview of the Court of Abundance.

A few of us escaped the pull of the Court of Abundance to find other things to paint.  In fact, even if there was no Court of Abundance, this would be a very special site with much to paint and to which we'd return time and again.

Broncha set-up in the little courtyard in front of  the Murray Barn ...

 

and painted a scene not often depicted as it's somewhat hidden -- but it's tough to ignore the huge stork once you've seen it.

Kathy W. also set up in the same area in order to paint the Barn.

Kathy's painting of the Murray Barn which predates the rest of the structures.

Ji-eun originally set-up in the Garden of Delight on the restaurant patio but had to relocate once patrons started arriving.

Brad also painted in the Garden of Delight.

Marilyn (Thursday Paintsites co-coordinator)

Marilyn's painting of the rose garden path.

Mary R. on the far side of the Archway Building from the Courtyard of Abundance.

Mary painted this iron-barred Archway Building window and flowering geraniums.

 

Jayne's journal entry for the main Entry Arch leading into the Court of Abundance.

 

Susan also painted the Entry Arch through which the Court of Abundance is accessed.

Lunch in the shade provided by an unusual conifer (later identified by Leslie as an Irish Yew) in the Court of Abundance.   

 

Rancho San Antonio County Park & Open Space Preserve, Cupertino. Thursday, June 2, 2016

This was a bittersweet day for Paintsites as it was Sylvia's last paintout with the group as she and her recently retired husband will soon be heading up to the Gold Country to live.    For old time's sake, we asked her and Jenny to lead this Hike & Sketch -- something they've done many times over the past 10 years.  For those not familiar with the Hike & Sketch format, when Sylvia and Jenny joined the Watercolor Society in 2004, most paintouts were in private gardens and public parks where artists would pull up, pull out their gear and paint.    When they took over as Paintsites Coordinators in 2006, their idea was to visit venues where the group would meet in a parking lot; hike for 20-30 minutes; sketch or paint for 20 minutes; hike for another 20-30 minutes; sketch/paint for 20 minutes, and so on for a total of 3 - 4 hours and maybe an equal number of miles.  This demanded great discipline (the sketching/painting part in particular as they timed the stops to the second.   If I recall correctly, they had a whistle to alert us that it was time to wrap up what we were doing) as well as stamina.   (Or, as Jenny says: "You can't escape the fact that there's always some 'pain' in 'painting'.")    They found there are a couple of very positive aspects of Hike & Sketch outings which strictly sedentary paintouts don't provide:  (1) there was always a chance to talk with fellow artists on the trail and (2) there was sometimes an element of adventure that made the outings especially memorable.    The current coordinators hope to keep the spirit of the Hike & Sketch paintouts alive but maybe dial back, just a bit, on the "pain" part.

Sylvia and Jenny lead, we follow.

For additional information about this very popular park, see the official website at:
https://www.sccgov.org/sites/parks/parkfinder/Pages/RanchoSanAntonio.aspx

Upcoming Paintsites:

• Thursday, June 9,  2016:    Allied Arts, Menlo Park
• Thursday, June 16, 2016:   Vasona County Park, Los Gatos
• Thursday, June 23, 2016:   Sierra Azul Nursery & Garden, Watsonville (new Paintsite)
• Thursday, June 30, 2016:   Duc Vien Buddhist Pagoda, San Jose

Check the SCVWS website and the  June Newsletter for details.

Other ongoing  local events of interest: 

•  Midnight, June 9, 2016:  Registration closes for "Summer Palette" show which runs from Sunday, June 26, until Friday, August 26, at the Hobee's Restaurant in north San Jose.   See the Newsletter or SCVWS website for details.
• Through Sunday, June 12, 2016:  18th Annual Botanical Art Exhibition at Filoli.   See the particulars at  http://www.filoli.org/art-exhibits/#botanicalart
• Month of June, 2016:   An exhibit of Paintsites regular Richard Bloechl's watercolors will be on display at the Campbell Library in downtown Campbell (77 Harrison Ave., adjacent to the Ainsley House).   Open Mon.-Tue. 1-9pm; Wed. 10am-9pm and Thu.-Sat. 10am-6pm.  (See Rich's website link in the right sidebar for images of his paintings.) 

 The two most recent Rancho San Antonio paintouts (2012 & 2014) were pretty tame affairs with just the 1.5 mile hike (with maybe one stop) to Deer Hollow Farm.    The Farm is a wonderful destination and some of us opted to go there directly.  Others chose to experience a vintage Sylvia and Jenny led Hike & Sketch taking the long way around to Deer Hollow Farm.  The two groups set off in opposite directions - Marilyn leading the Farm contingent, Sylvia & Jenny the Hikers (you can think of this as a well orchestrated military "pincers" movement led by skilled commanders as you follow this narrative).
 
The Hikers - First Stop on  the Trail:    The Hikers traversed the South Meadow until we came to the PG & E Trail and took it up, up, and up until we came to a spot which offered shade and a view overlooking the entire Santa Clara Valley.    Because of the "haze" (in Northern California it's never called "smog") over the valley, the most distinctive landmark was the nearby Maryknoll Residence (formerly associated with St. Joseph's Seminary) where we painted last year.    Feeling charitable, Jenny & Sylvia allowed 30 minutes for these paintings/sketches.
 

Sylvia and Jenny at the first stop.

Jenny's painting of the hazy Valley and Maryknoll (left center).

Sylvia's sketch of the same (except here the haze may be more accurately called smog because of its sepia color).

Left to right: Roger, Candy, Sylvia, Jenny and Pat on a shady spot on the PG&E Trail.

Candy's painting of the valley and Maryknoll.

Pat used an unusual paper palette with very vibrant, concentrated colors and a water brush to paint her Valley / Maryknoll scene.

Kaaren

Kaaren caught more of the North Valley than the other artists - Maryknoll is right of center.

Left to right:  Salinda, Lisha, and Helen.   It doesn't look like they're actually painting or sketching in this photo  (what are they doing?) but they are and they came up with some wonderful paintings.

Salinda's Valley view.

Lisha's ink sketch of the Valley.

Helen took much the same perspective as Salinda and Kaaren.

New SCVWS member Ji-eun, although relatively new to watercolor, is an experienced artist.   This was her first Hike & Sketch.

 

Ji-eun's graphite sketch of a twisted old tree.

The first paintings completed, Sylvia and Jenny lead us onward and upward ... 

 
Second Stop:  Still smiling, still heading uphill (an unlikely combination) on the PG & E Trail, Jenny & Sylvia called a halt where there were some interesting twists and turns on the trail.   (My recollection is that we were allowed 15 minutes for these sketches.)

Helen's sketch of a trail-side gnarly old tree.

Jenny's sketch looking down the trail.

Kaaren's sketch also looked down the trail.

As did Sylvia.

 

While Lisha focused on one of us and relegated the trail to a supporting role.

Brad's sketch on the trail.

A fork in the trail:
 

Do we follow Kaaren down towards Deer Hollow Farm to the right or keep going up on the trail to the left?    Sylvia and Jenny look back at the blog photographer and decide best head for the Farm else they'll have to carry the photographer.

 Third Stop:   On the Wildcat Loop Trail heading downhill towards Deer Hollow Farm.

Left to right:   Helen, Lisha, Kaaren, Sylvia, Jenny,  Ji-eun, Pat, Candy, and Salinda on the Wildcat Loop Trail which trail parallels a small stream at this point.

Candy's sketch of one of the many bridges crossing the small stream.

Kaaren's sketch of the same bridge.

Lisha's bridge sketch.

And Sylvia's.

And Brad's

Meanwhile, the non-Hikers were busy at work too:
 

Dick checked out the very popular model airplane and drone flyers and painted "Flight Instructor".

 Waiting for the Hikers at 160 year old Deer Hollow Farm:
 

Broncha and Nancy painting at Deer Hollow Farm.  (photo by Marilyn)

Broncha's rendering of some of the 19th century farm buildings.

And Nancy's.

John's painting of the old (still in use) White Barn.

Elaine's painting of one of the very old ranch houses and some old outbuildings.

Marilyn's painting of some of the crops in the Farm garden.

 

Some of the Farm contingent - left to right: Nancy, Elaine, Marilyn, and John.

Jenny & Sylvia, in the shade of the White Barn, painting together for perhaps the final time as Paintsites Hike & Sketch leaders: