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