The Watercolor Society hosts Paintsites every week. And it hosts several parties and receptions every year. And then, rarely, it hosts a Paintsite that's a Party. (Or maybe it's a Party that's a Paintsite.) Either way, that's what we had on Thursday in Anna Cook's fun-filled garden. Altho' there is a strong Mexican theme, to say Anna has an eclectic collection of "stuff", all arranged in such a harmoniously appealing manner, would be an understatement. Composing wasn't such an issue here - Anna already did that; deciding what to paint and then "editing" is the real challenge -- but one we're all happy to tackle.
Upcoming Paintsites:
- Thursday, August 13, 2015: Westwind Community Barn, Los Altos Hills.
- Saturday, August 15, 2015: Sunnyvale Baylands Park, Sunnyvale.
- Thursday,
August 20, 2015: Warner Hutton House, Saratoga, and, after lunch, the
Saratoga Library where we'll take in the "Shades of Summer" exhibit (which runs thru August 29th).
- Thursday, August 27, 2015: Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve, Palo Alto.
For additional information and details, see the SCVWS website or the August Newsletter.
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| Our wonderful hostess: Anna and her welcome SCVWS sign. |
Even before we found our way into the backyard, some of us found plenty of interest to paint -- even on the driveway...
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| Candy |
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| Candy's painting of the entry courtyard gate. |
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| Helen painting in the entry courtyard. |
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| Helen's sketch of some interesting pots in the entry courtyard. |
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| Helen's finished painting of same. |
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| Sylvia |
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| Sylvia's painting of the side yard entrance .... |
... which led to the backyard where most of us congregated ...
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| Note: the "building" in the background in the above two photos is actually a Caltrans sound-wall on which Anna painted a Mexican village street scene. |
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| Note: the buildings in the background in this photo are actual buildings - including Anna's Studio. |
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| Doug |
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| Doug's painting of the always popular Blue Door and Sun - every artist who has visited Anna's Garden has painted this scene. It's not mandatory - it only seems that way. |
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| Nora |
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| Nora's painting of the Blue Door from a slightly different angle than Doug's. |
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| Susan |
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| Susan caught just a bit of the Blue Door in this unfinished painting from a more oblique angle than either Doug or Nora. |
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| Lois |
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| Lois' annotated painting of the Blue Door. |
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| Kathy |
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| Kathy's painting of the Blue Door (looks like the Sun is checking out the lizard out of the corner of its eye in this one.) |
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| Leslie |
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| Leslie's finished painting captured the exuberance of Anna's garden. |
"Anna has turned a freeway retaining wall that forms the back “fence” of
her huge yard into a Mexican street scene. A wonderful assortment of
pots, statues and plants sits in front of it. This time my new painting
style with black outlines on hot press paper was perfect for capturing
the whimsy of the scene. " Leslie
Getting away from the architectural theme (which is difficult to do here) was ...
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| Jenny |
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| Jenny's painting of primary colored chairs (I think the one on the right is close enough to "red" to count as a primary color). |
“Selecting something to paint was the hardest part
here, but these broken chairs grabbed my attention – once brightly colored
chairs that have seen better days, already arranged in a perfect
composition” Jenny
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| Dick |
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| Dick's painting. |
"Always a treat to paint there." Dick
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| Melanie |
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| Melanie's painting |
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| Elaine |
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| Elaine's unfinished painting. |
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| Lisha |
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| Lisha's painting of the "Owl and the Pussycat". |
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| Liz |
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| Liz's watercolor pencil painting of a box of Coke bottles (and other stuff). |
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| Jayne captured three subjects which caught her eye. |
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| New member Lena's first Paintsite - wow! |
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| Broncha's painting of a collection of pots and pitchers. |
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| Caroline's painting of one of Anna's many statues. |
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| Marilyn painting a burro. (Photo by Liz) |
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| I wondered: "How difficult can it be to paint two welded red wire spheres?" Now I know. Brad |
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| Helen and Brad orchestrate the critique. (photo by Yan) |
Goodbye, until the next time, from ...
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