Guadalupe Oak Grove Park Hike & Sketch, San Jose. Thursday, May 28, 2015

After spending most of our Spring '15 paintouts in lovely tree peony, herbaceous peony, iris, rose, cactus & succulent, wildflower, and formal gardens, we were ready for something a little on the wild side.   Hence our visit to Guadalupe Oak Grove Park.    Not a large park, it's undeveloped with enough steep hills to appreciate that this wasn't just another walk-in-the-park Paintsite.    Venerable Blue, Live and Valley oaks, interesting rock outcroppings, truly golden grasses swaying in the breeze (for which we were grateful), and distant Almaden Valley, Santa Clara Valley, Coast and Diablo Range views provided plenty of subject matter.   And a lunch spot with a huge hole in the ground provided lots of speculation as to what lived down the hole --- we never did find out so we'll probably go back again to check it out.    And of course to paint.

For more information about Guadalupe Oak Grove Park, the official city website is:
http://sanjoseca.gov/facilities/Facility/Details/41

Upcoming Paintsites:

• Thursday, June 4, 2015:  Santa Teresa County Park  - Sit & Paint or Special Hike & Sketch led by Jenny & Sylvia.   Meet for lunch.
• Thursday, June 11, 2015:  Los Altos Redwood Grove, Los Altos - we'll paint in the morning, eat lunch then drive to the Los Altos Hills Town Hall to view the current  "No Limits - Freedom to Create" exhibit where we'll see the "studio" work of many Paintsites regulars.
• Thursday, June 18, 2015:  Agnews Historic Park, Santa Clara
• Saturday, June 20, 2015:  Santa Teresa County Park - no Hike & Sketch this time, just a Sit & Paint in the Pueblo Day Use Area.
• Thursday, June 25, 2015:  San Juan Bautista Mission, San Juan Bautista

For additional information and details, see the SCVWS website or the June Newsletter.

Note 1:  The June 4th Hike & Sketch will be led by Jenny & Sylvia --- it won't be for sissies but is guaranteed to be exciting and fun.    Wear good hiking shoes and carry extra water if you plan to do the Hike & Sketch.  (Not required for the Sit & Paint participants --- they'll just need to be prepared to listen to our tales of extreme hardship on the trail when we meet for lunch.)

Note 2:   Many of the March, April, and May blog postings have been updated with additional and "finished"  painting images.   I think our floral paintings this year were exceptionally fine so please revisit to see the updates.  


The Sandstone Quarry was a very popular spot to start the day for many of us.   All trails seem to meet there and we did indeed arrive from every direction.   Bonnie, however, found a perfect spot on one of the trails leading up to the Quarry and decided she didn't need to go any further ... 

Bonnie's painting of Marilyn on the trail (and maybe that's us at the Sandstone Quarry in the upper right corner).

A group of us clustered around the little observation area which offered great views down the valley and up towards the Quarry.    Depending on where we sat, we all saw different colors and shapes in the rocks.    ( A city boy, I saw a place where I imagined snakes lived -- lots of snakes!)

John, Jane, Helen and Mitsi painting the Quarry, Candy painting the valley below, Roger just admiring the landscape.  (Photo by Rich)

Rich's painting of the Sandstone Quarry

John' painting of the same rocks

Helen's painting of the big rocks plus a bit of the colorful foliage above them.

Liz's take on the same rocks plus just a bit more foliage.  (But no fence.)

Sylvia captured the rocks and the entire hillside.  (But again, no fence.)

Marilyn painting the Sandstone Quarry

Marilyn painted the whole tableau: the rocks, the hillside, and the fence.

Looking down the valley ... 

Looking over Candy's shoulder to where Bonnie was painting just off the trail.  (You can just barely see Bonnie down there.)

Candy's painting of the valley.

Jane also painted the valley.   (That's Mt. Hamilton in the distance.)

Looking down from the steps leading past the Quarry....

is where Melanie painted this view of the valley.

Meanwhile, a bit further up the hillside, Leslie hacked her way thru the underbrush and got up close to the rocks ...

Leslie, (unafraid of the snakes I'm certain were there), paints fearlessly on. (Photo by Rich)

After a morning painting in the quarry, we split into smaller groups and went our separate ways ...

On the trail with Sylvia, Liz & Melanie.

Marilyn leads Mitsi, Melanie and Liz down some treacherous steps. 

 We broke off and painted when something struck our fancy....

Rich's painting of a fallen oak on the ridge crest.

Candy's painting of the trail as it emerges from the ridge top oaks.

Sylvia's painting of an artist on the trail.

Helen's painting looking south toward Mt. Umunhum.

A few of us decided to hike the smaller but steeper northern hill where we caught our breath at the summit and did some sketching and painting before heading back to the flats.

Leslie found more rocks to paint with downtown San Jose in the distance.

Leslie's painting

Liz

Liz's painting of a birdhouse in the big oak.   (We saw a bird enter the birdhouse.)

Marilyn's painting of  rocks and a tree.

Brad's sketch of the oak with the birdhouse

Mitsi perched on a rock overlooking southern San Jose.

Mitsi's sketch of a sad looking group of trees

and the finished painting.  (They still look pretty sad.)

Mitsi's second painting of the day

Melanie looks pretty relaxed after our steep climb ...

at least relaxed enough to do this fine little painting.

Then it was back down to the picnic area for lunch and the critique ...

Sunset's Gardens, Menlo Park. Thursday, May 21, 2015

This was probably Paintsite's last chance to visit Sunset's HQ & Gardens, a truly iconic Peninsula institution and Western voice before it closes its doors in July.    And although it was another unseasonably (and, I might add, unreasonably) cool and grey May day, we found plenty to see and paint.   If you're interested in visiting Sunset's gardens before they're gone forever, their final Celebration Weekend (Open House) is June 6th &7th.

For more information about Sunset, see their website at:
http://www.sunset.com/garden/flowers-plants/sunset-garden-tour
Note, the gardens are closed from late May until the Celebration Weekend.    After that the gardens are free and open to the public - for at least a short time.  

Upcoming Paintsites:

• Thursday, May 28, 2015:  Guadalupe Oak Grove Park, San Jose - short Hike & Sketch or Sit & Paint.
• Thursday, June 4, 2015:  Santa Teresa County Park  - long Sit & Paint or Hike & Sketch.  Meet for lunch.
• Thursday, June 11, 2015:  Los Altos Redwood Grove, Los Altos - we'll paint in the morning, eat lunch then drive to the Los Altos Hills Town Hall to view the current  "No Limits - Freedom to Create" exhibit.
• Thursday, June 18, 2015:  Agnews Historic Park, Santa Clara
• Saturday, June 20, 2015:  Santa Teresa County Park - no Hike & Sketch, just a Sit & Paint
• Thursday, June 25, 2015:  San Juan Bautista Mission, San Juan Bautista

For additional information and details, see the SCVWS website or the June Newsletter.

Many of the paintings shown are unfinished.   Check back again for the completed versions.   Also go back a few postings to see new images from the Stanford Cactus Garden. 

The main garden consists of a large central lawn dotted with a number of handsome old oaks, a perimeter path and interesting and varied border gardens based on the widely used Sunset Climate Zones.   Some of us chose to paint vistas across the lawn at one of  the Regional gardens.

Bonnie

Bonnie's painting looking across the lawn toward the Northern California garden.

Caroline, bundled up, working on her sketch, and looking happy

Caroline's painting of the Sunset Rose Garden

Elaine

Elaine's painting of the Sunset HQ building and some annual beds - up to the point where a Special Event Taco Truck came in and blocked her view.

Marilyn

Marilyn's unfinished painting of two of the grand oaks

Mary R.

Mary's painting

Janice S.

Janice's painting.

Nora - a new SCVWS member.   She braved the cold day at the Stanford Cactus Garden Weekend Paintsite and, undeterred, joined us for her first Thurday Paint Site.

Rich

Rich's painting of one of Sunset's mighty oaks.

While others worked on close-ups in one of the regional or micro  gardens ...

 

Leslie sketching the Central California garden

Leslie's Central California Garden sketch

I think I like my little sketches better, in general, than the  bigger ones....    Leslie

Leslie's painting of an old oak

Laurie spent her morning in the Editorial Test Garden where the chickens (not depicted) kept her company.

Marlene

Marlene didn't have time to finish this container garden before special event preparations required the space.

Candy in the Pacific Northwest Garden

Candy's rhododendrons in the Pacific Northwest Garden

 

Candy's chickens, (used to control snails), in the Test Garden

Cathy

Cathy's grasses looked like fireworks going off  - which they really did.  (Look like that is, not "go off".)

Melanie found a very small, very private, very lovely garden all her own.

Melanie's painting.

 Meanwhile, in the Southwest Desert garden, Matilija poppies in bloom always attract a crowd ...

Alan started out with just Helen (in blue) in his painting.   But then Jane arrived, then Lisha, then Liz, then Alan realized it was a lost cause.

 

Helen

Jane

Jane's painting of a Matilija poppy.

Lisha

Lisha's painting of  Matilija poppy.

Liz

Liz's Matilija poppy.