Kirk-Farrington House, San Jose Thursday March 23, 2017

We were fortunate to have permission to paint at the Kirk-Farrington House in San Jose. The house is a beautiful Italianate-style Victorian built in 1878 by Theophilus Kirk. Luckily, the rain took a break and the garden presented  itself in its splendor. Many of the peonies were still in fine form and the wisteria draping over the gazebo was irresistible. Recent rains caused damage to the grounds but many flowers survived the storms and were blooming brightly. One unfortunate casualty was a fully mature lemon tree. It could not be saved, so the staff graciously offered us the opportunity to pick lemons to take home.   Link

Jane P’s painting of the Kirk-Farrington House

Marilyn’s single point perspective sketch of the house 

Bob’s pen and ink of the house and redwood

Jane S’s vignette of a front window

Iris’s painting of the peony Garden

Helen's painting of a peony

Candy’s pen and ink sketch 

Liz’s painting of a peony escaping through the fence

Lisha’s painting 

Jenny’s painting of the garden

Loraine’s view of the garden and house

Annie's painting

Leslie’s painting of the gazebo and birdhouse

Jenny’s painting of the gazebo

Cindy’s first painting of the wisteria

Cindy’s second painting

Kaaren’s view of the peony garden

Dick's painting of the gazebo and orange tree

Salinda's painting of the Gazebo

Candy’s pen and ink of Annie 

Candy’s monochrome painting

Entrance to the Kirk-Farrington House

Annie and Candy in the early morning coolness

The unfortunate lemon tree

The gazebo with wisteria

Group lunch and discussion on the lawn

Weekend Paint-out Elizabeth Gamble Garden, Palo Alto, CA March 18, 2017

Oh what winter rains have brought! Our stalwart cadre of weekend painters gathered at Elizabeth Gamble Garden for a special treat, a rainbow of color. The beautifully tended garden featured a wide variety of flowers and plants that were a plein air artist's paradise. The photos below can only give you a taste of the exceptional day our artists enjoyed.

Bob's painting of the rock fountain

Our youngest artist shows his work

Jayne, Cindy and Martha painting

Jane P. at work

Our weekend painters with their work

End of the day display

So many varieties, so little time

Saratoga Heritage Orchard Thursday, March 16, 2017

It started as a gray day at the Saratoga Heritage Orchard, but the clouds gradually lifted, revealing the tops of the coastal hills and sunny skies. Once again we were too late for prime apricot bloom, but the Saratoga Heritage Orchard has an extended blooming season due to its variety of flowering trees.  The small cherry orchard and the flowering crabapples near the Saratoga library were in peak bloom.  For those artists who really wanted to paint apricot blossoms, there were some individual apricot blossoms to paint close-up.

This redtail hawk is keeping his eye on us

Helen, Candy, and Lisha have finished their paintings

Helen's painting of apricot blossoms

Lisha's painting of apricot blossoms

Candy's sketch of an apricot tree

Candy's painting of an artist

Candy's sketch of Lisha

Liz and Kathy relaxing by the library

Liz focused on the blossoms

Kathy's painting of an apricot tree

Katherine was intrigued by the sky

Katherine painted the tree pruner who was enjoying mariachi music while he worked

Broncha is painting the library and flowering crabapple trees

Cindy's painting of a tree and worker

Srivani's first painting of the orchard

Srivani's second painting of the orchard

Joy's painting of the orchard with blooming trees, orchard equipment, large trees, and the Coastal Range

Srivanis' friend Bob painted orchard equipment that had sunken into the dirt

Leslie's painting of the sunken orchard equipment

Leslie's close-focus sketch of an apricot blossoms

Joe's painting of the library and cherry orchard

Marilyn's painting of the cherry orchard

Marilyn's sketch of cherry blossoms

Lorraine's painting of a cherry tree