Palo Alto Baylands, Palo Alto. Thursday, September 29, 2016.

We had hoped to paint at the beautiful Loma Prieta Winery today but the terrible Loma Fire precluded visiting that site.  (Thankfully, the winery escaped the inferno and we hope to visit in the near future.)    But our second choice, the Palo Alto Baylands wasn't too shabby a choice.   We painted on a flood tide so, in addition to the usual challenges of dealing with changing shadows and sun angles, we had to anticipate how the tide would change our composition -- but we know that when something is obscured, something else is revealed.    So we coped just fine. 

For additional information about the Palo Alto Baylands, see the City's official website:
http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/gov/depts/csd/parks/preserves/baylands.asp

Upcoming Paintsites:

• Thursday, October 6, 2016:  Ardenwood Historic Farm, Fremont
• Thursday, October 13, 2016:  Clos LaChance Winery, San Martin. Brown-bag lunch at member's home in Morgan Hill.
• Saturday, October 15, 2016:  Ardenwood Historic Farm, Fremont
• Thursday, October 20, 2016:  Cowell Redwoods SP, Felton.  Lunch at member's home in Ben Lomond
• Thursday, October 27, 2016:  Senior Safari Walkabout - Happy Hollow Zoo, San Jose.  Note: 9:00 start time.

Details can be found on the SCVWS website and in the October Newsletter.

Ongoing activities of interest involving Paintsites regulars:

• John Ediger will be gallery-sitting at the Az Gallery (1213 Lincoln Ave., San Jose) on Friday, September 30th from 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM.  Stop by and say 'hello'.
• Candy Yu is currently showing 18 watercolor pet portraits at the VCA Crocker Animal Hospital, 475 N. Jackson Ave., San Jose.  Most of her artwork is in the reception area and hallways and can viewed by the public.    The Hospital is open Mon. - Fri. 7:00 AM - 8:00 PM; Sat. & Sun. 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM.    The exhibit runs thru the end of October.
• SCVWS  members Annie Haines, Mary Raftery, and Uma Kelkar were accepted into Fioli's "The Valley of Heart’s Delight: A Multiple–media Exhibit"  which runs thru October 23rd in the Visitor & Education Center.    A  'Closing Reception' will be held Thursday, October 20th from 5:00 - 7:00 PM.    This event is free but reservations are required by October 14th and can be obtained at:  http://www.filoli.org/art-exhibits/  or 650-364-8300, x 508.
• Jane Ferguson and Nancy Calhoun are currently presenting 'Line & Shape' (mixed water media & encaustic) at Viewpoints Gallery, 315 State St. in Los Altos  http://www.viewpointsgallery.com/ .  Hours are Mon. - Sat. 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM; Sun. 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM.   The show runs thru October 1st.  
• Jane Ferguson is participating in the Santa Cruz County Open Studios Art Tour on Saturday  & Sunday, October 1 -2 with an encore weekend on October 15 - 16.   Hours are 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM.   Jane is Artist #86 -  3540 Marilyn St., Santa Cruz.
• Mike Granger has two paintings in the Fremont Art Association's 50th Annual Art Show.  The Association Gallery is located at 37697 Niles Boulevard, Fremont.   Normal hours are: Tue. 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM; Wed. 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM; Thu. 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM; and Fri. - Sun. 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM.    The show opens Tuesday, September 27th and runs thru Sunday, October 30th.   The Opening Reception is Sunday, October 2nd from 1:30 - 4:00 PM.

In past paintouts here the EcoCenter, the Ranger Station, and the Duck Pond were the most popular subjects.   Today the sloughs and tidal marshes, colorful, in a subdued way, captured the most attention.
   
The Bay and the Harriet Mundy Marsh:

Lisha on the bank of the Harriet Mundy Marsh.

Lisha's painting of the Harriet Mundy Marsh with the PG & E maintenance boardwalk and the Dumbarton Bridge in the distance.

 

Helen

Helen's painting of the same marsh and a sliver of the Bay -- but looking more easterly than Lisha's.

 

Jane P.'s painting of the Harriet Mundy Marsh with a flock of wading birds.

Brad's painting of the small boat dock and the slough winding into the old harbor from the Bay.

The sloughs where the old Palo Alto Yacht Harbor used to be:

Joe.   (The sun protection flaps on his cap gives some idea of just how breezy it became about noontime.)

Joe's painting of the slough with the EcoCenter in the distance.

Elaine' painting of the slough.

Elaine's (maybe finished, maybe unfinished) painting of an interesting roadside eucalyptus.

Leslie found the same eucalyptus with its mottled bark and twisted shape fascinating.  (Leslie got an early start and was rewarded with some vibrant green vegetation on the mud flat.   By the time the rest of us got to work the tide had come in and covered it.)

Jane S. rejoined the group after her summer in Canada.   (Note the tiny pinkish blossoms on the shrub behind Jane.  We were all struck by their subtle color but none of us knew the name of the plant.)

Jane S.'s painting of the pinkish roadside vegetation.   That's Katherine in the distance.

 

A slough and EcoCenter sketch by Jane S.

Jane S.'s painting of the slough and the EcoCenter.

 

Katherine.

Katherine's painting of the slough and the cattails (?) framing her view.

 

Mary R.'s slough painting.

Ji-eun's harbor slough painting with the multi-hued salt-marsh vegetation.

 

The Duck Harbor was always a popular subject at past Paintsites.  Today only Martha tackled it and what she was really after was the palm trees along the shoreline.

 
 

What to do when there's only a few minutes between completing a painting and lunch?  Answer:  Paint a charming little wildflower as Helen did here.

 

Lunch.

Post-critique close examination of Ji-eun's painting.