Lighthouse Field State Beach, Santa Cruz. Thursday, December 18, 2014

After days of rain, the forecast called for a partly cloudy day with only a slight chance of rain for the much anticipated Annual December Santa Cruz Paintout & Dessert Potluck.    We were (to use the local lingo) "stoked" for a day of painting by the sea.    We didn't get the hoped for nice day (even the surfers were complaining about the rain) but we still had a great time painting and then sharing desserts.   And what's really wonderful about this group is that there was nary a complaint about the weather.

For additional info about the Lighthouse Field State Beach, check out:
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=550
and:
http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=87

Upcoming Paintsites

•  Thursday, January 8, 2015:  Villa Montalvo, Saratoga
•  Thursday, January 22, 2015:  NEW - Sikh Gurdwara Temple, San Jose
•  Thursday, January 29, 2015:  NEW - Sunnyvale Baylands Park, Sunnyvale:  "easy" Hike & Sketch

 Special Event:

• Saturday, January 10, 2015:  SCVWS Annual Holiday Party, Saratoga.    RSVP on the SCVWS website by January 5, 2015

(Remember to bring your 2014 plein air work for display on the Paintsites Stage.  This is not restricted to work done at Paintsites events.)

For complete details see the Watercolor Society website or the January Newsletter.

Once again, special thanks to Marilyn Perry, our weather forecaster extraordinaire who's up late on Wednesdays and then up early on Paintsites Thursdays to make sure everybody gets the "go / no-go" word. 

And thanks to everybody who made the long drive and brought treats to share.

Some hot coffee helped Dick, Yan, Brad & John warm up. (photo by Liz)

John reconnoiters the lighthouse from all sides before heading back to our favored vantage point. (photo by Liz)

Before the rain came, Liz, Dick, Broncha (behind Dick), Yan, Helen, John, & Lisha set up and get to work. 

And then the rain came down -- and the umbrellas came out.

And so did the smiles.  Left to right: Liz, Broncha, Dick, Yan, Helen, Lisha (photo by Candy)

Both Marilyn and her painting are well protected from the rain.  (photo by Candy)

Brad wasn't as well prepared - but didn't mind.  (photo by Candy)

We caught a break for lunch & dessert, lots of dessert - enough to make passersby envious.

Then a quick group photo before heading home: Marilyn, Sylvia, Liz, Broncha, Helen, Lisha, Yan & Dick.

And of course every blog posting needs photos of pretty gals and their paintings - this is Candy

And this is Helen.

Here are some finished paintings.   Visit again to see additional paintings.

Sylvia's painting of  Lighthouse from the West

Sylvia's sketch of bluffs and high surf looking West

Dick's painting of Lighthouse

There's nothing like painting in the rain to get wet on wet effects. I painted mostly sky during our outing and finished the work in studio.     Dick

Liz's painting of the Lighthouse

No I didn't cut off the bottom of the picture...this is exactly as I painted it...kind of an unusual perspective.    Liz

Brad's painting of the Lighthouse

Marilyn's finished painting of the lighthouse

Historic Murphy Ave., Sunnyvale, Thursday, December 4, 2014

Paintsites has visited Murphy Ave. before and again our mission was, as the saying goes, to "Paint the Town Red".    Which we did.   And also, pink, orange, blue, green, etc.  The Historic District is only a block long, with nothing too grand, but is very pedestrian and artist friendly and has lots of "small" things (small buildings, planters, an old clock, ...)  to paint.     And lots of restaurants -- including several coffee shops with sidewalk tables, chairs and benches where we could sit and paint and from which we purchased lattes to sip while we painted.    (Also a reputed excellent Chocolatier which Leslie went to reconnoiter --- she never came back so we assume it must have been very good --- another reason to go back to Murphy Ave.)

For more information about Murphy Ave. merchants, see  http://www.murphysv.com:/

Upcoming Paintsites:

• Thursday,  December 18, 2014:  Lighthouse Field State Beach, Santa Cruz - Paintsites Holiday Pot-Luck
• Thursday, January 8, 2015:  Villa Montalvo, Saratoga
• Thursday, January 22, 2015:  NEW - Sikh Gurdwara Temple, San Jose
• Thursday, January 29, 2015:  NEW - Sunnyvale Baylands Park, Sunnyvale

 Special Event:

• Saturday, January 10, 2015:  SCVWS Annual Holiday Party, Saratoga.    RSVP by January 5, 2015

(Remember to bring your 2014 plein air work for display on the Paintsites Stage.)

For complete details see the Watercolor Society website or the December Newsletter.

Again, special thanks to Marilyn Perry, who is becoming, out of necessity, quite a weather forecaster, and who monitored the weather and handled the "go / no-go"  website and e-mail notifications.   And thanks to all who showed up in spite of the uncertain weather and resultant horrific traffic!   (At least the parking is free.)

Lunch (photo by Liz) 

Showing off our work (photo by Yan)

Still showing off our work (photo by Liz)

With the weight of organizing the Paintsite off their shoulders, Sylvia & Jenny can smile and produce even finer paintings.  (Photo by Liz)

We didn't get photos of individual artwork at the paintsite but here are a few which have been submitted to Paintsites.   Hopefully more will trickle in so you can see just how well we all did.

Leslie - no yawning, just awnings.

Cathy - the Murphy Ave. gateway on Washington St.

Dick's painting of the old clock

The rain held off during our time on Murphy Ave. I started sketching the art-deco theater; then the sun came out and lit up the clock on the other side of the street.  I could not resist! The painting will not hang in my home gallery... it sold on Friday.     Dick

Sylvia's first painting of Murphy Street

Sylvia's second sketch

I painted two sketches of the same scene - one before the shops opened and one after. My second sketch is my favorite.  The first one was sold out of my sketchbook at my open studio!   Sylvia

Caroline's painting

There were so many interesting compositions on Murphy Avenue I couldn't possibly choose and painted this street scene from memory!    Caroline

Iris' painting

Candy's painting #1

Liz's painting

Experimented with the trees and leaves to make them stand out...used mastix to mask out

 the trees and leaves.  Liz

Candy's painting #2 - a quick study before lunch

Clos LaChance Winery, San Martin - Thursday, November 20, 2014

Friends, Artists, Vineyards, Hills, Clouds - what more could a plein air artist ask for? (Photo by Mary P.)

All you really need to know about the Paintsites regulars is that there were more of us painting on Clos LaChance's Grand Terrace overlooking the vineyards than there were (supposedly hardy) golfers on the adjacent CordeValle golf course.   This on a cool, grey, drizzly, and eventually rainy day.    Which makes one wonder, if golfers are often considered unhinged to play in inclement weather, what must we be?     But just to prove that we're not insane, we did appreciate the indoor plumbing and readily accepted an invitation by the Tasting Room staff to have lunch in their tasting room.  (We did debate whether plein air painting required alfresco dining as well - but common sense prevailed.)  

For more information about the spectacularly beautiful Clos LaChance Winery, our wonderful Paintsite host, check out their website at:   http://clos.com/

Upcoming Paintsites:

• Thursday, December 4, 2014:  Historic S. Murphy Ave., Sunnyvale
• Thursday,  December 18, 2014:  Lighthouse Field State Beach, Santa Cruz - Paintsites Holiday Pot-Luck

Special Event:

• Saturday, January 10, 2015:  SCVWS Annual Holiday Party, Saratoga.    RSVP buy January 5, 2015

For complete details see the Watercolor Society website or the December Newsletter.

Special thanks to Marilyn Perry who monitored the weather and handled the "go / no-go"  website and e-mail notifications.

Here we are painting "wet-into-wet-onto-wet" --- whether we wanted to or not:

Jenny, Candy, John, Mitsi, Marilyn & Marion on the Grand Terrace.   The umbrellas helped but by the time they were up it was too late for some paintings - many had distinctive raindrop splatters - a mark of honor on this day.

Jane --- the rain stopped just long enough for her to put down her umbrella.

Lisha, Helen & Iris.   Wasn't there a 1960s movie called "The Umbrellas of Clos LaChance"?

Liz & Melanie found a bit more substantial cover.   But not much more --- no one got too comfortable at this Paintsite.

Sylvia surveys the vineyards. (Photo by Jane S.)

Yan & Dick share an umbrella and a view. (Photo by Jane S.)

Mary and Broncha relied on some trees for shelter.

Cathy & Sylvia share another umbrella.

Left to right: John, Marilyn, Sylvia, Jenny, Yan, Dick, Iris, Candy, Jane, Lisha, Broncha, Helen, Mary, Liz, Cathy, & Marion in the Tasting Room / Banquet Hall where we had a dry lunch and critique.

Our paintings are on the table  --- the oil on the wall is by another artist.   (Some detailed images follow - hopefully we'll post more later.   Check back soon.)

Broncha captured the Autumn colors of the vines and the distant hillside.

Cathy's angry sky  -- no wonder Alwyn stayed in his cozy backpack.

Cathy's view of the vineyards and hills.

John's study in grey of a soggy artist

John's painting of the Grand Terrace and distant vineyards and hills.

Mary's painting #1.

 "Fall Rains in the Vineyards" I had laid down the first washes when rain began to fall. I took refuge under a winery umbrella and continued to paint. Rather than attempt to fix the painting, I decided to embrace the pointillist effect as atmosphere. Mary P.

Mary's painting #2.

"Artists at Work"
I wandered around in the rain and captured this scene of hardy plein air painters at

work with brushes in one hand and umbrellas in another.   Notice how they nicely

wore jackets in the three primary colors.   Mary Paquet 

Marilyn's painting of distant hills and vineyards

Liz went for something small - but beautiful

I was over whelmed with the landscape...too beautiful for words so I painted two grape

 leaves which happened to conveniently fall off the vine.   Liz