Moss Landing Harbor, May 17th 2012

What an enjoyable trip to the coast!  Our group painted foggy views in the morning, gathered together for a fish and chip lunch at Phil's, then painted in the breezy sun in the afternoon. We were all so prolific that we've included 2 paintings where possible.

Chris Edwards

Chris Edwards

I really enjoyed the trip to Moss Landing.  We ended up in Capitola, much less wind and painted until the traffic was over.  Great day. Chris

Janice Faulstich

Janice Faulstich

Here 2 of the 3 pieces I did on our wonderful day at the ocean. The seascape was a huge challenge, as the wind was blowing so hard that even holding onto the block was a challenge, much less painting something on it. Working en plein air is not an activity for those who are easily discouraged! I drew the boat and got started on the piece on site, but had to finish it at home. I used Arches cold-pressed blocks for both, and did the initial drawings with a tan watercolor pencil. Janice

Anna Jacke

Mary Paquet - "Powerful"

Our small group had a wonderful time Thursday. I titled this half-sheet painting, "Powerful."   I like the various forms of energy -- wind, gasoline, and electric. Even the trees are important in consuming carbon dioxide. Mary

Brad Santos - Moss Landing Habor

Brad Santos - Moss Landing Cafe

The paint-out session in Moss Landing was not only the longest I've attended but also one of the best. In the morning we had a heavy overcast with a slight but chilling breeze which made for a cold, grey world. Several of us painted the imposing power plant which consists of two tall, simple, truncated cones (smokestacks) and a bewildering array of pipes, girders, and who knows what other structural elements. When the overcast lifted the fishing fleet in the harbor came alive with activity, color & shadows. All the gear on a fishing boat (I have no idea what I was painting) makes for as much visual confusion and clutter as the power plant but in a friendlier way. We lunched at Phil's Fish Market (Chris reassuringly said that there hadn't been any shootings there for a week). But, altho' we felt pretty safe in Phil's, the afternoon's session on the dunes next to the sea proved that (as Janice Faulstich said) plein air painting isn't for sissies: under now completely blue skies a very strong breeze had kicked up and was blowing sand, salt spray, palettes and paper all over the place. We hung in there for awhile before retreating to 'downtown' Moss Landing and painting some of the old buildings and boats. My final painting of an old beached sloop reflected pretty much my day --- retired and in need of propping up. (But at least I don't have any pelicans roosting on my 'stern'.) Brad

Sylvia Waddell - Salinas River on watercolor canvas

Sylvia Waddell - Sketch of Jenny painting

I had a fabulous day! So much to paint. My paint palette blew into the sand while I was painting the watercolor canvas so I had to do some brush pen sketches instead. All great fun, I can't wait to go again. Sylvia

Jenny Tero

Jenny Tero

This day is a distant memory having only just added them to the blog at the end of August.  Must be time to go down there again.  It was a great site, and we were there til after 5:00pm!!

Menlo Park Rail Station, May 3rd, 2012

Sitting right on the platform, we were mostly ignored by the passing commuters at this busy station.  Surprising how big and noisy the trains are when you're up so close! It was a chilly, dull day, but the rain held off until we were eating lunch in the station waiting area, undercover. 

Jenny Tero



Leslie Grimm

I couldn't decide whether to paint the clock tower or the Victorian station, so I decided to do both.  However, as I struggled to sketch the many angles and lines I realized it was far too complicated for my drawing ability, so I erased the pencil lines and used a pen to sketch my impressions of the buildings.  It's pretty skewed, but it was fun to do and captured most of what I liked about the station. Leslie

Dick Zunkel

Sylvia Waddell



Laurie Barna

I finished this just in the nick of time (before the rain came down!)