Edgewood Park & Natural Preserve, Redwood City. Thursday, April 7, 2016

The normal "Hike & Sketch" format is hike for 20 minutes, sketch for 20 minutes and repeat for perhaps 3-4 hours --- all as a group and usually herded along by Jenny & Sylvia.   That didn't work too well in this venue as the trails are very narrow and fringed with poison oak and on the majority of trails there wasn't enough space to congregate and paint together.   So we adapted and scattered along the trail and painted individually or in small groups.  It was a complete break-down in discipline (deplorable I confess) but "all's well that ends well" as happily we managed to all come together for lunch and one last painting before heading for home.

Here's the official Edgewood Park info:
http://parks.smcgov.org/edgewood-park-natural-preserve

Upcoming Paintsites:

•  Thursday, April 14, 2016:  Nola's Iris Garden, San Jose.
•  Thursday, April 21, 2016:  Gamble Garden, Palo Alto
•  Thursday, April 28, 2016:  San Jose Heritage Rose Garden (not the Municipal Rose Garden), San Jose

Peruse the SCVWS website and the April Newsletter for details about these popular paint sites.   And please remember, continue to check your e-mail or the SCVWS website Home Page for cancellation notices and the Sunday e-notification for specific driving and parking directions.


Artists on the Trail:   We started out in a group and then stretched out over a couple of miles, stopping whenever something (usually a wildflower) struck our fancy.

Starting out on the Edgewood Trail

Early "sketch" stop on the Franciscan Trail.

Left to right, Candy, Helen, Marilyn & Carole focus on a "Donkey's Ear" wildflower. 

Liz went off-road to find something special to paint.

Artists painting on the Old Stage Road.  (Photo by Marilyn)

Still smiling after hiking for over two hours with occasional stops to sketch, Lisha, Helen and Marilyn on the Old Stage Road heading for the lunch rendezvous.

Lunch:    Amazingly, as dispersed as we'd been, we found each other (thanks to some cleverly and strategically place twigs on the trail posts pointing the way by the vanguard - Annie, Kaaren and Katherine) for lunch and one more sketch or painting on the Old Stage Road.

Last stop --- the Old Stage Road looking north towards the Bay.

Note:  We did lots of small sketches at this paintsite -- best get a cup of coffee or glass of wine and take your time looking thru all of them --- there's lots to see.    Also, finished paintings have been added to several of the more recent Paintsites postings --- go back and see what you've missed.    You won't be sorry you did.

Artists & their work:

Annie and her painting of the rock to her right.

Roger and Candy

Candy's painting of  "Artists on the Trail".

Candy's painting of the Port of Redwood City, the Bay, and the Diablo Range in the distance.

Candy's painting of a bunch of California Poppies.

Carole

Jenny - one of the developers (along with Sylvia) of the Hike & Sketch paintout concept.

Jenny's painting of the Edgewood Trail.

Jenny's painting of the Port of Redwood City in the hazy distance.

Jenny's wildflower sketches.

Helen and her sketchbook.

Katherine and her sketchbook.

Katherine's painting of a rock and some poppies along the Old Stage Road.

Lisha

Lisha's unfinished painting of the trail.

Lisha's unfinished painting of Helen on the trail.

Kaaren

Two of Kaaren's sketches.

Another of Kaaren's sketches.

Liz is very knowledgeable about native flora and fauna and was able to identify the wide variety of wildflowers we encountered.     

Wildflowers (identified by their popular names) by Liz.

While the rest of us were sketching wildflowers, Mary was photographing them and then settled down to paint some serious landscapes.   This is the first of three.

Mary's second painting - this one facing west towards the hills beyond the Crystal Springs Reservoir.

Mary's third painting - this one facing north towards the Bay from the Old Stage Road.

Paintsites co-coordinator Marilyn stopped a record (for her) 8 times to sketch --- many more than the usual 3 stops.  Here are a few of them ...

Sketches by Marilyn

Some more wildflower sketches by Marilyn

A vista by Marilyn.

One more by Marilyn.

Jane, the other Paintsites co-coordinator, was equally busy.    Here are three sketches and a wildflower bouquet ...

A Sun Cup by Jane.

Mallow by Jane.

Dichelostemma capitatum (allegedly) by Jane

Jane's fourth painting

Tidy Tips at the top of the hill with some Owls Clover and Poppy buds.  Jane


And one more 'big' vista painting....

Brad's painting of one of the few places where the wildflowers formed a bit of a carpet of color --- this is one such place on the Old Stage Road.

Meanwhile, back in the parking lot, John and Alan, who chose to "Sit & Paint" rather than "Hike & Sketch", both sold their paintings to another park visitor!  (And not to each other as we initially suspected.)

Alan (left) and John.    Is that a "Franklin" John is holding in his right hand?