Martins Beach, Half Moon Bay. Thursday, September 10, 2015

Last week we posited that it felt like Summer was winding down --- couldn't have been more wrong.   But, with temperatures in the 100+ range in the Valley, we outsmarted Ol' Man Summer and headed for the coast where SCVWS members Judy and Steve Puthuff opened their beach cottages and their hearts to us for a very special day painting at Martins Beach.     How special was it you wonder?   Are their little cottages cute and friendly beyond description?  Yes they are!   Are they filled with wonderful artwork (mostly Judy's but also one by Steve, a couple by their nationally renown artist daughter, as well as many by noted watercolorists who have painted with them at the beach)?    Yes they are!   Was the fog which drifted in and out over the beach both refreshing physically and perplexing artistically (Leslie expressed it accurately:  "hard to see any line between sea and fog, and certainly no line between fog and sky!")?      Yes it was!   Sitting on their decks overlooking the beach for lunch and our critique, did we have a great time and were some of us tempted to "stow away" on their deck?  Yes and yes!     Will we be invited back?    We certainly hope so!

Welcome to Martins Beach

Judy and Steve and a typical Martins Beach lobster caught by Steve

If you'd like more information about Martins Beach but don't want to wade through lots of legal stuff, and don't mind while ads load, you can't do much better than the following:
http://www.mercurynews.com/san-mateo-county-times/ci_28424773/martins-beach-reopens-summer

 Upcoming Paintsites:

• Thursday, September 17, 2015:  Martial Cottle Park, San Jose.  First time Paintsite.
• Saturday, September 19, 2015:  Saratoga Farmers Market at West Valley College
• Thursday, September 24, 2015:  Santa Cruz Yacht Harbor, Santa Cruz.  Followed by post-paintout pot-luck at member's home.  Reservations required for pot-luck - see September Newsletter and the Members Only section on the website.
• Friday, September 24, 2015:  Natural Bridges State Beach, Santa Cruz.   Followed by post-paintout pot-luck at Natural Bridges State Beach.    Reservations required for pot-luck - see the SCVWS September Newsletter and website. 

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

Just to give you a feel for the mysterious fog which enveloped us most of the day - here Mitsi and Laurie head off to explore Shark Tooth Rock.   (photo by Mary R.)

Here are some of the artists who participated in this paintsite with a bonus - look closely and you'll get a peek of Judy's & Steve's beach cottages .....

Broncha and Sylvia

Broncha's painting looking north - from here, the fog completely obscured Shark Tooth Rock

Candy

Candy's painting of some of Judy's & Steve's fun collection of beach-y objets d'art stuck in a corner of their deck.

Chris' wonderful drawing of some of the cottages.   She's debating whether or not to add color.   A slight majority thought best leave well enough alone.

Chris' breaking wave.

Liz

Liz's painting of Shark Tooth Rock and the resident cormorants.

Jayne and Jane

Jane's painting of Shark Tooth Rock and gulls on the shore.

(Unfortunately, we didn't get a photo of Jayne's journal entry for Martins Beach - trust me, it was excellent.)

Kaaren focused on her work.

Kaaren's painting of the old store and cottages perched on the hillside above the beach.

Kaaren's painting of a fisherman and Shark Tooth Rock.

Kaaren - happy with what she's accomplished.

Cathy

Cathy's sketchbook

Cathy's sketchbook entry #1 - looking down from the cottage deck.

Cathy's sketchbook entry #2 - surfers walking past the old store  back to their vehicles.

Cathy's sketchbook entry #3 - a surf fisherman - the same or different from Kaaren's?

Laurie painting in the fog.

Laurie's painting of Shark Tooth Rock in the fog.

Laurie's painting of the old store with cottages above.

Laurie looking happier as the sun comes out.

Lisha peering thru the fog toward Shark Tooth Rock.

Lisha - her sunny smile reflecting the clearing fog.

Brad and Elaine

Elaine's painting of the headland (which used to connect to Shark Tooth Rock).

Nora

Nora's painting of Shark Tooth Rock.

Mary R.

Mary's painting of Shark Tooth Rock.

Sylvia working on the upper deck.

Sylvia's painting of the view from the deck.    Is that just the faintest image of Shark Tooth Rock in the right background or is it my imagination?   Fog does that to you.

Tom and Judy

Judy's painting of a wave breaking on an offshore rock.

We didn't get a photo of Karen but here is her first (unfortunately truncated in this photo) painting of Chris and Broncha on the old road leading back to the cottages.

And here is Karen's abstract painting of the same scene.

Mitsi and Alan working in the fog on the balcony.

Mitsi painted down coast - in the opposite direction from Shark Tooth Rock.

Alan also painted  down coast.

After the morning's painting, Alan and Mitsi --- don't some people just look like they were born to sit in comfortable chairs on an ocean front deck?

Iris

Iris' painting of Shark Tooth Rock and some fellow artists.

Yan and Dick

Dick's painting of another surf fisherman.

The morning fog allowed a but of blue to shine through. I tried to capture it with a pale cobalt blue wash grading through grey into violet. Dick

Teresa - apply a little sunscreen ...

... then get down to business.

Marilyn's painting of Shark Tooth Rock.

I kept my painting simple so I also had plenty to time to explore this beautiful place.   Marilyn

Leslie working on her cliff sketch

Pencil sketch of cliff and waves at south end of beach.   Leslie

Painting done with sepia and neutral tint, reflecting the fog-shrouded view of the cliff.   Leslie

Brad's sketch of the same cliff from a lower perspective.    Leslie gave me some tips about how to depict spray which helped complete the sketch. 

Leslie:  Her painting completed, she made the big mistake of listening to me when I asked if she'd like to pose near the cliff while I tried to capture an image of a wave breaking against the rocks -- just to get a sense of scale and how mighty the waves were.   She kindly accommodated me.   Just moments after this photo was taken (I snapped it prematurely), the big wave to the right crashed against the cliff and sent spray all over.   Then, a second after the impact, the wave came up the beach and soaked Leslie up to her knees.    Pretty dramatic.

Leslie's painting (done while her pants were drying) of a whimsical Pelican and floats in front of one of the cottages.

Note:  The following paintings were done by participating artists whose work isn't shown above with their photograph (Lisha, Tom and Teresa) because I forgot who painted which.  Enjoy them all and visit this posting again and I may have them attributed correctly.

Lunch

Critique