New Almaden, San Jose. Thursday, July 21, 2106

There's a lot of history (well documented with informative signage) compressed into a small area in New Almaden.   And, considering there's nothing truly grand in the small town, it's amazing to think that the mines here were once the largest in the Western Hemisphere and played an important role in the Gold Rush and subsequent California history.   So altho', the buildings are small (many of the old miner's cottages are being remodeled and restored under the watchful eye of a Historical Commission), it's not any trivial history in which we found ourselves immersed today.

For additional information about New Almaden, the County Park and Casa Grande, see:
http://www.newalmaden.org/index.html

Upcoming Paintsites:

• Thursday, July 28, 2016:   Downtown Los Altos with potluck lunch to follow at a member's nearby home.  (See the Members Only / Paintsites Detail webpage and the Sunday, July 24th e-notification for directions to the potluck.) 
• 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

Details can be found on the SCVWS website and in the July & August Newsletters.

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.)

And keep checking the "Members Blogs" links in the right sidebar for updates -- Sylvia and Mary both have recent postings.     (At the next Paintsite there will be a test to make sure everybody is checking out their blogs.)   Also,  Anna Jacke's website has been added to the "Links" sidebar -- see what she's been doing in Oregon since she left the Bay Area.


The historic site signage was very informative and saved me the effort of describing the site.

 

Rich

Rich's painting of St. Anthony's apse(?).   Note the handsome lancet (pointed) windows which make a statement in this otherwise modest structure.

Candy

Candy's 1st painting - this one of St. Anthony's.

Joy

Joy's painting of St. Anthony's.

At the opposite end of St. Anthony's, painting the entrance, were ...

Dick

Dicks' unfinished painting of the entrance to St. Anthony's.

Left to right:  Marilyn, Lisha, Kathy W., and Lois in St. Anthony's parking lot.

Kathy's painting of the entrance.  The sign popped up when it was time to stop ---- something most all watercolorists need.

Lisha's painting of the entrance.    One more brushstroke and the 'Stop' sign would have appeared here too.

Lois' journal entry for St. Antony's.

Marilyn is experimenting with incorporating some "journaling" techniques into her paintings with happy results.

Salinda painted St. Anthony's from curbside for a different viewpoint.

Salinda's unfinished painting of St. Anthony's.

Next most popular subject was the current La Foret restaurant which has gone thru many lives   .....

 

Annie

Annie's painting of the entrance to La Foret.

Ji-eun set-up a little further down Bertram Rd. ... 

... from where she caught just a corner of the restaurant and the Community Center in the background.

Joe set-up on Almaden Way where it crosses Alamitos Creek for his take on La Foret.

Joe's painting of La Foret.

Candy's second painting - this one of La Foret.

Marilyn found a very informative map showing 32 historical buildings in New Almaden so there are many interesting little buildings to paint on both Almaden Rd. and Bertram Rd.  between St. Anthony's and Casa Grande.

 

Broncha's painting of the historic Carson-Perham Adobe.

Bobbi's painting of another of the historic adobes.

There were a number of very large (and presumably old) eucalyptus in New Almaden which merited our attention ....

Candy's 3rd painting - this of a eucalyptus.

Lois's journal entry of a very stringy barked eucalyptus.

 

Not a rugged eucalyptus!   A dainty, delicate lily by Mary P.

 
 Lunch by Alamitos Creek couldn't have been more pleasant.... 

Lunch (photo by Rich)