Downtown Los Altos was selected as a convenient Paintsite, (almost an afterthought), mainly because it offered quick access to Karen's Los Altos Hills home where the post-Paintsite pot-luck (The Main Event) would be held. It turned out that Downtown Los Altos is a first rate paintsite in its own right. Low-key, relaxed and friendly compared to other Valley downtowns, we found it a great place to paint. (Even the teenage girls were polite and interested in what we were doing.) While there's not any particularly historic, dramatic or grand structures to paint; the scale of the town, the bright umbrellas, the sidewalk planters, the street trees and the people all fit together so well that it was easy to find interesting and fun things to paint. It was probably just a coincidence that, with the pot-luck coming up and food on our minds, that restaurants, especially Satura Cakes, were favorite subjects.
At 12:30 we packed up and headed for Karen's and were greeted by a very welcome cup of cold gazpacho as soon as we came in the door. And it kept getting better and better as the afternoon wore on. The kitchen island and sideboards groaning under all of the savories and sweets which everybody contributed and which Marilyn and Karen organized, there was a distinct possibility that the afternoon could turn into a marathon fine dining session.
But after our fill, it was back to our real reason for coming together: 'Art'. Karen explained her 'critique' methodology for new members who hadn't experienced one of her 'Gentle Critiques' and we were off and running.
And we all went home well fed and happy.
Upcoming Paintsites:
- Thursday, August 4, 2016: Uvas Canyon County Park Hike & Sketch (Waterfall Trail) or Sit & Paint, Morgan Hill
- Thursday, August 11, 2016: Moffett Field Historical Society Museum, Mt. View
- Thursday, August 18, 2016: Harris-Lass House, Santa Clara
Ongoing events of interest involving Paintsites regulars:
- Rich Bloechl's show at the Campbell Library in downtown Campbell (77 Harrison Ave., adjacent to the Ainsley House. Open Mon. - Tue. 1:00 - 9:00 PM; Wed. 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM and Thu. - Sat. 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM) has been held over thru the end of July. (There are new paintings in the show.)
- John Ediger will be gallery-sitting at the AZ Gallery (1213 Lincoln Ave., Suite #106, San Jose) on Friday, August 5th, from 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM. In addition to John, several other SCVWS members have paintings in the gallery.
- Candy Yu's one-woman show runs thru August 6th in the Cupertino Library, 10800 Torre Ave., in the Cupertino Civic Center Plaza. Hours are: Mon. - Thu. 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM; Fri. - Sat. 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM; and Sun. noon - 6:00 PM.
- Mary Raftery and Laurie Barna are in the Haggin Art Museum's 59th Annual Juried National Exhibition. Located in Stockton, the Haggin is famous for its outstanding fine art collection. The show runs July 7 - September 11, 2016.
- The SCVWS Summer Palette exhibit continues its run (thru August 26th) at the Hobee's restaurant at 680 River Oaks Parkway in San Jose. Hours of operation are: Mon. - Fri. 7:00 AM - 2:30 PM; Sat. 8:00 AM - 2:30 PM; Sun. 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM. (This Hobee's serves breakfast & lunch only.)
- Karen Druker has been accepted into the The 8th Annual 50/50 Exhibition at the Sachez Art Center in Pacifica. (1220-B Linda Mar Blvd.) There will be a Preview Fundraiser on August 26th from 6:00 - 8:00 PM. Tickets can be purchased thru the link on the Sanchez website: http://www.sanchezartcenter.org/calendar.htm . A free Public Opening Reception follows from 8:00 - 9:30 PM. Gallery hours are Fri. - Sun. 1:oo - 5:0o PM. The show runs until Sunday, September 18th.
Downtown Los Altos
We met under the big clock on the corner of Main and State Streets and spread out from there.
Several of us didn't get far from the old clock ....
 |
| Marilyn put herself on a strict schedule for the day: 30 minutes each for 3 small paintings. The first was of the clock (here you can see she's on schedule as the clock shows 10:25 --- 5 minutes until it's on to the next subject); the second, the flower cart; and the third, a Bar & Grill on Main St. |
 |
| Jane P. working on her clock painting. |
 |
| Joy set-up across Main Street from the plaza for her longer take on the clock . |
 |
| Joy's clock and street plantings painting. |
A favorite place to set up was the shady little plaza in front of the Chase Bank on the corner of 3rd and Main Streets. Kitty-corner was the Satura Cakes bakery. They claim it was the umbrellas in front of the store which attracted them but I suspect it was the idea of Satura Cakes which was the real attraction...
 | ||
Candy and Dick on the corner of 3rd and Main Streets.
|
 |
| .... and Dick's. |
 | ||
Joe in the same little plaza looking across the intersection.
|
 |
| Painting on a hot day like this can be hard work. Here John (left) takes a well deserved break while Liz does the heavy lifting. |
 | ||
John's Satura Cakes ...
|
 |
| New SCVWS member Mike and Mary P. in the Chase Plaza. This was Mike's first Paintsite but it's obvious he's no beginner ... |
 |
| Mike's painting of the cafe tables in front of Satura Cakes. |
 |
| Mary P. used one of the clever little travel palettes which Nancy received from the manufacturer and shared with Paintsites artists, to paint her Satura Cakes. |
Setting up on the corner across Main St. from the Chase plaza were ....
 |
| Iris |
 |
| The sidewalk and umbrellas in front of Satura Cakes by Iris. |
 |
| And Lisha. |
 |
| Lisha's unfinished painting of the same scene. |
More restaurant portraits ....
 |
| Kaaren at 2nd & Main Streets painting Le Boulanger. |
 |
| Kaaren's Le Boulanger painting. |
 |
| Leslie's Le Boulanger painting from across the street. |
 |
| Lois in front of Casa Lupe Mexican Restaurant on Main St. |
 |
| Lois' painting of Casa Lupe's festive little courtyard. (This painting is a change of pace for Lois as she normally paints in a journal format.) |
 |
| Kaaren's painting of the Casa Lupe courtyard and Lisa Lisa Hair Salon in which some of her paintings are displayed. |
 |
| Brad's painting of Casa Lupe - a favorite restaurant of his and Janice's when they lived in Los Altos. |
Meanwhile, one block over, on State St. ...
 |
| Elaine painted in front of a knitting and yarn craft store. |
 | ||
Helen
|
 | ||
Ji-eun
|
 | ||
Mary R.
|
 |
| Salinda |
 |
| Candy's street planter vignette. |
 |
| Candy's unfinished sketch of artists at work. |
 |
| Broncha's painting of sculpture in the Library patio. |
Los Altos Hills Post-Paintsite Pot-Luck and Critique:
From downtown Los Altos it's but a short drive to Karen's beautiful home in Los Altos Hills where we had lunch ...
 |
| ... in Karen's formal dining room ... |
 | ||
| ... and on the balcony (left to right: Mary R., Lisha, Ji-eun (standing), John, and Annie) ... | . |
... and in the informal kitchen dining table (not shown).
After eating for over an hour (though you couldn't tell anybody had eaten anything -- there was so much food left over) it was time for one of Karen's 'Gentle Critiques' where ...
 |
| ... this painting got everybody's attention ..... |
 |
| ... while John's brought a smile to everyone's face. |
