Discovered by Liz (well done - her third "find" in the past 12 months!), this was a new Paintsite and one to which we'll definitely return. We were lucky in that the recent heat wave had abated but, unfortunately, the associated humidity hadn't and bamboo, which doesn't provide much shade to begin with, offered no relief from the humidity. But that comes with the territory so no big deal. There was, however, one major disappointment. When you think Bamboo forest and you watch Nature on PBS, what immediately comes to mind? That's right - Pandas! But there were none --- I know, I looked. I admit that the Foothill College website never promised there would be pandas in the Bamboo forest but then again, they never said that there weren't any. Maybe next time. But there were lots of fine artists in the garden and at least we didn't eat any of the bamboo leaves --- I know, I looked, I checked.
For information about Foothill College, specifically the parking, see:
http://www.foothill.edu/news/maps.php
For some interesting botanical information and photos, check out:
http://www.succulentsandmore.com/2012/05/foothill-college-bamboo-garden-part-1.html
Upcoming Paintsites:
- Thursday, July 9, 2015: Emma Prusch Farm Park, San Jose.
- Thursday, July 16, 2015: Picchetti Ranch Preserve, Cupertino. Either Sit & Paint or Hike & Sketch.
- Saturday,
July 18, 2015: Esther Clark Park, Palo Alto - Special start and end
times - 8:00 - 9:30 AM to accommodate artists who plan to attend "1
Model, 3 Fabulous Artists, 3 Points of View" paintout at the nearby Los
Altos Hills Town Hall.
- Thursday, July 23, 2015: Japanese Friendship Garden, San Jose.
- Thursday,
July 30, 2015: Moss Landing - since this is such a long drive, plan to make a day of it: paint in the morning; lunch with the group; paint some more in the afternoon.
For additional information and details, see the SCVWS website or the July Newsletter.
We had two first time Paintsites attendees (you wouldn't know they were new to plein air painting from their paintings) and two who hadn't painted with us for quite some time but hadn't lost their touch: Welcome and Welcome Back.
Here are some of the artists who participated in today's paintout:
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| Liz |
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| Marilyn - Paintsites co-coordinator |
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| Nancy - SCVWS President taking a morning off to actually paint instead of taking care of SCVWS business. |
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| Broncha |
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| Kathy |
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| Helen |
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| Alan |
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| Leslie, perhaps not at her sartorial best, but making one of her best paintings! |
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| Caroline - first time with the Paintsites group |
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| Sonia - another first time Paintsite participant |
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| Tom, back with the group after a number of years away. |
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| Una, first Paintsite in a year and resolved to make more paintouts. |
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| Candy and husband Roger - Candy paints, Roger approves. |
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| Long-time (8 years!) former Paintsites co-Coordinator Jenny and husband John. In this case Jenny paints and John, who started with an occasionally sketch, now puts pigment on paper as well. Only a matter of time before he becomes addicted to plein air painting. |
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| Current Paintsites co-coordinator (along with Marilyn & Jane) Brad |
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| Cathy |
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| Iris puts the finishing strokes on her first painting. |
And here's what we did:
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| Marilyn's painting of a single branch shows a bamboo's graceful lines. | | | |
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| Caroline added just a bit of supporting cast to the main stem. |
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| Candy's two stems worked equally well. |
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| Iris worked three stems into this charming sketch. |
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| Tom's unfinished painting of 5 stems - there are more to come. |
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| Liz's unfinished painting --- yes, there are blue stemmed bamboos in the garden. |
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| Jenny's finished painting of a few more stems. |
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| Leslie's finished painting of very large stemmed bamboo. |
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| Iris framed the campus building with a small bunch of bamboo. |
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| Mary R. painted some small, delicate bamboos and contrasted them with some large rocks. |
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| Kathy's finished painting of "Robert Young" bamboo. |
Although only two acres total in size, dense stands of bamboo along many of the paths effectively screened different sections from each other and made the sections seem both closer and more isolated.
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| Helen's sketch of a descending path. |
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| Helen's finished painting of the path. |
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| Sonia's painting of a rail lined path. |
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| Tom's painting of the stairway leading into the garden. |
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| Una's take on the stairway leading into the garden. |
Bamboo Gardens - 4 colors only. Una.
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| Cathy's bench invites us to pause for a quiet moment. |
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| Nancy painted the path leading up out of the garden back onto the main campus. |
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| Broncha painted the garden downslope and some of the very small bamboos which serve as a ground cover. |
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| Brad's almost finished painting looking down into the Bamboo Garden from the Meditation Pavilion. |
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| Rich's finished painting of the Meditation Pavilion where we ate lunch and held our critique. |
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| Lunch in the Meditation Pavilion. |
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