After three years of scheduling an orchard paintsite when the apricot blossoms were past their peak, we finally scheduled a paintsite at a heritage apricot orchard when the blossoms were just reaching peak. Unfortunately, there was heavy rain at paintsite time. But since we had scheduled the paintsite at Sunnyvale Heritage Park which has both orchard and historical museum, with the kind approval of the Museum Association Director, Laura Babcock, we moved our paintsite later to noon start and sketched inside the museum. Thank you very much, Laura, for letting us sketch inside the museum again this year.
The museum is housed in a replica of the pioneer Murphy family’s Bay View home and contains many artifacts depicting the history of Sunnyvale from the time of the Ohlone Indians through the advent of technology, with emphasis on the Murphy Family. Our artists focused on the furnishings of the parlor, the kitchen, and the guest bedroom, and the portion of the mural room depicting downtown Sunnyvale. As an unexpected treat, a virtuoso pianist delighted the artists by playing classical music on the parlor piano.
Marilyn had visited the trees about every other day for the past week to encourage them to bloom at the right time, so she was determined to capture the orchard. Until the rain stopped she sketched the orchard and hills beyond from the back balcony of the Murphy House. Then she joined Jane for watercolor painting under the roof of the decorative barn adjacent to the Murphy House. By the time the paintsite was over, the rain was completely stopped, the sun was shining, and the museum garden was beautiful.
For more information see:
Sunnyvale Historical Park Museum website
Upcoming paintsites: See the SCVWS website or the March newsletter for details.
- Thursday, March 15, 2018: Gamble Garden, Palo Alto
- Thursday, March 22, 2018: To be determined
- Thursday, March 29, 2018: Hidden Villa, Los Altos Hills
- Saturday, March 31, 2018: Hidden Villa, Los Altos Hills
- Thursday, April 26, 2018: Cummins Iris Garden, Scotts Valley
As part of the Silicon Valley Open Studios "Talk Art" series of community TV programs, Paintsites regular John Ediger discusses his background, a few of his paintings, and demos his painting techniques for depicting the rusty objects for which he is noted.
Link to John Ediger's video on youtube
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Grace drew the part of the mural that includes buildings that
still stand in downtown Sunnyvale
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| Kaaren and Helen sketch in the parlor |
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| Kaaren's sketch of the parlor piano |
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| Kaaren's sketch of the guest bedroom |
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| Helen's sketch of the old locomotive from the hand painted mural |
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| Helen's sketch from the hand painted mural |
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| Annie is in the kitchen drawing on her iPad |
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| Annie's iPad drawing of stove and utensils |
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| Annie's iPad drawing of tea kettle |
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Caroline's painting of the Taate family piano with portrait
of Elizabeth Yuba Murphy Taate. Caroline drew this inside the
museum and painted later.
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Marilyn's painting of the orchard as viewed from the Murphy House balcony
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