Los Gatos Creek Trail Hike and Sketch, Thursday, March 5, 2020

We enjoyed another beautiful, sunny day along the Los Gatos Creek Trail starting out at the corner of Lark and Charter Oaks Drive and hiking south along the creek towards Lake Vasona. Our first stop on the hike was at the pedestrian bridge where we took in the wonderful reflections along the banks and quickly tried to simplify and capture the complex beauty of the scene. The Los Gatos Creek offers an important habitat for wildlife. We saw many varieties of plants and birds which proved excellent subjects. All along the creek banks spring was beginning to burst forth with California poppies and yellow oxalis. We made a stop at the magnificent Vasona dam which was originally built in 1935 with new gates installed in 1997. At our last stop we gathered at the north end of Vasona Lake at the top of the dam where we ate lunch after which many of us made one last sketch of the lake before sharing our paintings.

For more information about the Los Gatos Creek Trail see:
https://www.losgatosca.gov/907/Los-Gatos-Creek-Trail

This Hike and Sketch Paintsite was planned to coincide with the SCVWS Annual Exhibit at the Addison-Penzak Jewish Community Center. After hiking back to our cars, most of us headed over to enjoy the exhibit which is on until April 19, 2020.

Upcoming paintsites:  See the SCVWS website or the March Newsletter for details.

• March12, Los Altos Heritage Orchard, Los Altos (Note that this is a new date superseding the date in the newsletter)
• March 19, Santa Clara Central Park. Santa Clara
• March 26, Kirk-Farrington House, San Jose

Other News
The Paintsite Paintings Online Show registration opened February 18 and closes Tuesday, April 14, 2020. The exhibit will be published online April 27, 2020. See SCVWS.org or the March Newsletter for details.

SCVWS Member’s Show at the Addison-Penzak Jewish Community Center 14855 Oka Road, Los Gatos; members’ reception was cancelled due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) threat. We urge all of our members to view the 52nd Annual Show on the second floor of the Addison-Penzak JCC at their own convenience before the show goes down on the 19th of April.  To see the winners and read the comments by the Juror, Iretta Hunter, please click on the following link:  http://www.scvws.org/gallery.php?cat=73

May Silicon Valley Open Studio listings for Paintsites members including Edward Rooks, Annie Haines, Elaine Goldstone, Kathy Kleinsteiber and John Ediger: SVOS.org

Tanvi Buch is exhibiting her watercolors at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts at 500 Castro Street, Mountain View, from February 11 - April 6, 2020. Hours are: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays 12 noon-1 pm; and one hour prior to all performances. All paintings are for sale.

Interested in entering a Sketching Challenge? Check out the following for more info:
https://citizensketcher.com/oneweek100people/

Artists and their Artwork

Alison's journal pages of the dam and creek

Alison enjoying the wildflowers

Annie's painting of the pedestrian bridge

Annie deciding on the next paint stroke

Tanvi's painting of the trail going under the highway

Candy doing one of many of her sketches

Lauren's painting of creek wildlife

Liz making color choices

Toni's lovely painting of a mighty tree

Helen's colorful painting of trees

Salinda sporting her glowing turquoise hat

Salinda's elegant tree painting

Kathy watching and sketching birds

Kathy's careful bird observations

Jane taking it all in

Tanvi digging in her heals

Candy has captured the power of the dam

Mike's fabulous rocks and water painting

Helen painting the dam

Jane's lovely painting of the mountains and Vasona Lake

Elaine's loose and spirited painting of Vasona Lake

Lunch and sketching on top of the dam