Many thanks to paintsite regular Edward Rooks who led our Hike and Sketch at Rancho Cañada del Oro Open Space Preserve. He selected the location, hiking trail, and paint sites which he carefully chose for both beauty and shade. Edward says that Rancho Cañada del Oro is his favorite Open Space Preserve, and you could tell that he loves it and knows it well as he led us on the hike and told about all the flora and fauna along the way. He led us along Longwall Canyon Trail which follows Baldy Ryan Canyon into Calero County Park and back into the Preserve. The trail is either flat or has a gentle grade, has lots of wildflowers along the trail, lots of butterflies in the fields, beautiful trees including valley oaks and sycamores, and views of grassland, chaparral, woods, and the creek. The weather was perfect for a hike with pleasant temperature and light overcast skies.
For more information about this Open Space Preserve see:
https://www.openspaceauthority.org/visitors/preserves/rancho.html
Upcoming Paintsites. See the SCVWS
website or the April/May Newsletters for details.
- Thursday, Apr 18, Hakone Garden, Saratoga
- Thursday, Apr 25, San Mateo County Museum, Redwood City
- Thursday, May 2, Paintsite or Hike & Sketch at Skyline Ridge
- Saturday, May 4, San Jose Municipal Rose Garden
- Thursday, May 9, Nola's Iris Garden, San Jose, note change of date
- Thursday, May 16, San Jose Municipal Rose Garden
- Saturday, May 18, Calero County Park, new entrance at Rancho San Vicente
- Thursday, May 23, Hidden Villa, Los Altos Hills
- Thursday, May 30, Duc Vien Buddhist Pagoda, San Jose
SCVWS Annual Exhibit
- Exhibit Runs from February 28 - May 1, 2019 at the Addison-Penzak JCC, 14855 Oka Road, Los Gatos
- Open Mon - Fri 5AM -10PM, Sat-Sun 7AM-7AM,
- Closed after 5PM on April 19 and all day April 20
For more photos from our hike and sketch, see Edward's Flickr photo album:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/edwardrooks/sets/72157677678985507
The hike, artists and their artwork:
We started off on a short bypass trail so we could cross Baldy Ryan Creek on a sturdy bridge, then we continued hiking on Longwall Canyon Trail enjoying lots of wildflowers and butterflies which Edward identified for us.
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The hikers admire the field of miniature lupine
along the narrow bypass trail.
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Edward is leading the hikers along the main
Longwall Canyon Trail through Baldy Ryan Canyon
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After our gentle hike with much admiration of wildflowers and scenic vistas, we stopped for our first painting at a shaded location with views of valley oaks, wildflowers growing on serpentine rock, and many birds to serenade us. We spent 30 minutes at our artwork.
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Artists at our first painting location
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| Lora's watercolor sketch |
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| Srivani's watercolor sketch |
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| Edward brought his easel on the trail |
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| Edward's finished painting |
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| Matt's watercolor sketch |
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| Marilyn's watercolor sketch |
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| Toni's pencil sketch |
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| Broncha's sketch made with value pens |
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| Helen's watercolor sketch of California poppies |
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| Annie's sketch of wildflowers |
After painting for only 30 minutes we packed up our gear and headed down the trail again.
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| We are back on the trail again and admiring lupines growing by the trail |
Our second painting location was by the bridge across Baldy Ryan Creek. We are now on the Mayfair Ranch Trail as Longwall Canyon Trail branched off into Longwall Canyon. Here our disciplined artists had one hour to eat lunch and do more artwork.
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Artists at the bridge across Baldy Ryan Creek
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| Broncha |
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| Helen and Salinda |
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| Helen's sketch of Baldy Ryan Creek |
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| Salinda's finished painting of Baldy Ryan Creek |
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| Srivani |
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| Srivani's sketch of Baldy Ryan Creek |
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| Marilyn and Lora |
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| Marilyn's sketch of Baldy Ryan Creek |
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| Matt's sketch of Baldy Ryan Creek |
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| Toni's sketch of Baldy Ryan Creek |
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| Joe's sketch of Baldy Ryan Creek |
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Edward's finished painting of the bridge over
Baldy Ryan Creek with Toni sketching by the creek
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| Annie's sketch of Baldy Ryan Creek |
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Marilyn led the sharing of our artwork while we
were still near the bridge.
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Some artists stayed by the parking lot and meadow which had lupine and fiddleneck wildflowers and also a pleasant view of Loma Prieta, which at 3,790 feet high is the highest peak in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
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Dick's painting of the wildflower meadow with
Loma Prieta in the background
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| Sham's painting of the meadow and Loma Prieta |
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| Indira's painting of the meadow and Loma Prieta |
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| Indira's painting of lupine |
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| A few of the many wildflowers we saw on our hike |
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| Painted lady butterfly |
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Many of our artists gathered for a group photo before we headed off on our hike.
Loma Prieta is clearly visible in the background.
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