Hidden Villa, Los Altos Hills. Thursday, November 19, 2015.

Marilyn (Thursday Paintsites co-coordinator) and Uma (Saturday Paintsites coordinator) arranged with Maggie at Hidden Villa for the Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society plein air groups to paint and interact with school and family groups for two special paintouts.    We were rewarded for their efforts with a particularly fine turnout on a particularly fine November day during which we did the following:  Welcomed three new members of the Watercolor Society and two guests to their first Thursday Paintsites paintout; Painted the White Barn (as opposed to the Tin Barn), the White House, the Duveneck House, the greenhouse, the blacksmith shed and various bits of farm equipment; Entertained and were entertained by the many delightful school groups; Listened attentively when the docents were introducing the children to the various farm animals; Had a long & sociable lunch before our show-and-share critique; Got a guided tour of the Duveneck House; and finally Effected a group rescue of a small bird that was trapped in some bird netting --- not only are we good artists, we (at least Jane, Laurie and Katherine) are good people as well.

For more information about Hidden Villa, see:
http://www.hiddenvilla.org/
For information about Josephine and Frank Duveneck and their remarkable lives and contributions to the Santa Clara Valley, see:
http://www.losaltoshillshistory.org/Resources/DuveneckHouse/Duveneck-family-Part1.html 
http://www.losaltoshillshistory.org/Resources/DuveneckHouse/Duveneck-family-Part2.html

 Upcoming Paintsites:

• Saturday, November 21, 2015:  Hidden Villa, Los Altos Hills.    Special Event.
• Thursday, December 3, 2015:  Santa Cruz.  Mission Santa Cruz and Holy Cross Church.  Annual Holiday Plein Air Pot-Luck.
• Thursday, December 10, 2015:   Willow Glen (San Jose) - Residential Holiday Decorations.
• Thursday, December 17, 2015:  Stanford Quad and Sculpture Tour (Sit & Paint or Hike & Sketch).
• Saturday, December 19, 2015:  Stanford Quad.

For details, see the SCVWS website or the November and December Newsletters.
Note:   Save Saturday, January 16, 2016, on your calendars for the Annual Holiday Party.   Details and the sign-up form will soon be posted on the SCVWS website.   Everyone is welcome to display their 2015 plein air paintings (not just those done at Paintsites events) on the stage.  
 
The Children:

Children getting ready to hit the trail.    There were many such groups of children at Hidden Villa on Thursday.   The programs are very well organized, the docents knowledgeable, and the children enthusiastic, inquisitive and well behaved.   And they all seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely.  (Sounds like the Paintsites group doesn't it?)

The White Barn:   Hands down the most popular subject...
  

Artists painting the White Barn with the White House in the background. (photo by Jane)

Artists (photo by Jane)

Jenny

Jenny's painting of the White Barn (left) and the White House across the organic garden fields.

Kathy's finished painting of the White Barn across the garden fields.

Front to back:   Susan, Jenny and Katherine

Susan's unfinished painting of the White Barn across the fields 

New member Gretchen's painting

New member Dana and her unfinished painting

Jane

Jane's painting

Broncha

Broncha's painting

John

John's

Liz

Liz's finished painting

Dick's painting

Betty

Betty's painting

Candy

Candy's painting

Lucila (standing) and Lois

Lois'  journal entry painting.

Rich

Rich's painting

Tom's painting

New member Nikki's first plein air painting.

Kaaren's painting

 

Elaine's unfinished painting

The White House (1860s):
 

Helen

Helen's painting

Lisha

Lisha's unfinished painting

Melanie fulfilled the mission of the day -- she had lots of playful interaction with large groups of children -- to the delight of both parties.

Melanie's finished painting

The Duveneck House (1929):

Christine's painting

Marilyn

Marilyn's painting of the Duvenck House (from under Liz's dogwood tree).

Kathy

Kathy's unfinished painting of a Duveneck House window

The Greenhouse:   Not in the best of repair, it was still an interesting subject with an added bonus of some attractive fall foliage framing it.
 

Laurie

Laurie's painting of the greenhouse and an unusual "planter" in the foreground.

Nancy went after the fall foliage in the little glade near the greenhouse.

Brad's painting of the greenhouse.

I thought this would be quick and easy until I realized the glass walls and roof made the interior structure and trees on the opposite side of the building important elements of the painting.   At which time it became neither quick nor easy.    Brad


Miscellaneous Farm Stuff: 

 

 Docent, kids and a cow.  (photo by Melanie)

June 2014:  Leslie did this sketch of wagon wheels and was thinking of visiting them again and doing a proper painting this time ...

...but this is what she found at "The End of the Road" --- both literally and figuratively! 

Rich didn't have to go very far to paint this old farm implement ....

... and he just turned around to paint the blacksmith shed - his 3rd painting of the day.

Lunch:
 

A chicken eyes Rich's lunch while Broncha eyes the chicken.

The rest of us eat lunch.    Hopefully only our own.

 Tour of Duveneck House:

Dan, our host for the Duveneck House tour, and Marilyn, our Paintsites coordinator.

Wildlife rescue:

This poor sparrow's feet were tangled in a net.   Katherine and Laurie expertly cut away the net and the bird happily flew away.   (photo by Jane)

Post net-removal.  (photo by Jane)