Weekend Paintsites Ardenwood Historic Farm--Fremont, CA October 15, 2016

We had a great weekend paintsite October 15th. Alison, Iva, Srivani, and I painted all morning and then had lunch together. We all are experienced outdoor artists and painted at least 3 paintings apiece. There are so many painting opportunities at Ardenwood. Alison greeted Jamie who she said was a weekend painter and we expected her to join us, but we did not see her again. (Plein-air painters often find a perfect location and focus only on painting.) The paintsite featured lots of happy children selecting pumpkins in the pumpkin patch and helping to make apple cider. The park staff provided samples of the apple cider, and it was delicious. Marilyn (paraphrased by blogger DZ)

Alison

Alison's painting of the station

Alison's pumpkin patch

Alison's Watertower

Iva and Srivani

Iva's cow painting

Iva's hay barn

Iva's field vista

Marilyn

Marilyn's train station

Marilyn's pumpkin house with the hand stamp

Marilyn's field vista

Srivani's Ardenwood Farm shelter

Srivani's Ardenwood country road

Srivani's haybarn

Srivani's portrait of Marilyn

Gilroy Gardens October 19, 2013

What a treat!  We were one of the attractions of Gilroy Gardens theme park, "Artists Day."  The weather could not have been more cooperative. The balmy October sun and turning leaves make for a perfect day to paint. More than a dozen of our plein air artists made the trip. Special thanks to Sylvia and Jenny for arranging this special day with the staff at Gilroy Gardens. www.gilroygardens.org

The "Critique"

A closer look

Jane Saltman

Marilyn Perry

I am very grateful to Gilroy Gardens to give us this opportunity to explore the park for an hour before the families arrived and to paint in such a beautiful garden setting.  Even though everyone has to walk past Claudia's Garden to enter the park, I sat in quite a secluded spot, and only three families asked to see what I was doing.  I was very happy to show the children my painting in progress and to encourage them in their own artistic pursuits.  It wasn't until I got home that I read the back of my name tag that said that the purpose of "Art in the Park" is "so that children can be exposed to art in this environment.    Marilyn

Sylvia Waddell

This was a great place to visit.  Jenny and I were captivated by a glimpse of the balloon ride through the trees.  It proved rather difficult to capture as the ride was in constant motion, but I had fun trying! Thanks to the Gilroy Gardens docents who provided a tour and a wonderful opportunity for us to enjoy the park. Sylvia

Jenny Tero

I did better tackling something that remained still, and this peaceful view across the central lake was from a spot that was a lot quieter and less busy - we could only faintly hear the repeating tape of Halloween music.   Jenny

From another quiet location we could see the same rocks but this time with enormous ducks and swans floating by.  We were too busy with capturing the rides on paper to ask if our free artists entry for the day included rides!  Jenny

Uma Kelkar

Thank you the paint-sites coordinators and the park. By opening an hour earlier, by keeping the name tags ready, we all felt important stepping inside the garden gates! With ego all puffed up, I sat in an idyllic spot by a waterfall besides Holly Garden. The water bubbling sound eradicated all the thoughts of work and pending chores from my mind - only to fill it with confusion from the many values I saw and constantly moving water of a waterfall!  

Then, I saw the gigantic ducks that floated up close to the waterfall and obviously their incongruousness felt very attractive! 

At lunch, Sylvia showed her painting of the hot air balloon ride - the viewpoint was so intriguing, I had to give it a quick attempt and so I did!   Uma

Mary Paquet

Our gracious hosts made us feel so welcome. The gardens are incredibly beautiful and filled with happy families. As we toured the park I was drawn to a water feature with a colorful bridge, beautiful rocks, and stately Redwoods.  Mary

Brad Santos

This a wonderful site for painting almost anything:  the hallmark trees, the backdrop of the Park's undeveloped hills, bright colored rides (next time I think I'll do the race cars), water features, and lots of people enjoying themselves.   It's a happy place that positively welcomes artists.    Brad

Alviso Marina, Saturday May 18th 2013

A perfect day to paint. A light breeze off the bay at Alviso Marina made it comfortable, but also forced our Saturday artists to lay down their washes quickly before they dried before their eyes.  A good turnout bodes well for the continuation of week-end paint-outs. Dick

Dick Zunkel

Uma Kelkar

As always, many thanks to the organizers and volunteers - for weekend paint warriors like me, the weekend paintsites is a lifeline. So, to have Dick and others step up while Rajit is away gives me immense pleasure! Thank you. Now, turning to the subject of painting. Alviso - an unknown jewel! I had worked off Great America Parkway for years and had never turned left after exiting 237! Without much tree cover, the exalting views at Alviso were also exasperating. The wind, the relentless sun(and we are only in spring) wrapped up each of my watercolor sketches under 40 minutes. Whether I liked it or not. While the other courageous artists turned to paint the marshes, the strong sun made me turn my back to it. I have painted a spot that captures an abandoned cannery, a newly constructed, 49ers stadium, the abandoned mercury mines atop the blue hills afar, the parking in Alviso, a place that is still sinking - all around Silicon Valley the place where most number of startups reside. I couldn't help but be amused by the juxtapositioning of these contrasting elements. Uma

Bonnie Sandler

What a wonderful discovery it has been to go to these paintsites and find so many places I never new existed before! My husband and I returned to Alviso the next day for a long walk. Fabulous! And of course its exciting to see what everyone else chose to paint. What a lot of creativity in this group! Bonnie.

Anna Jacke

This was my first time in Alviso. I never knew much about South Bay history until driving along Elizabeth and Hope Streets.  The Bayside Cannery first caught my attention as did the several unique house fronts dotting the baylands and trails at the Alviso Marina County Park.  I enjoyed the views and was able to complete 4 small paintings by mid-afternoon. Anna

Jean Massey

My niece said "Only an artist sees beauty in decay."  Stained cement walls and falling wood provide a bird refuge. Jean

Brad Santos

I'm always intrigued by the rolling, folded, golden & creased East Bay hills as seen from popular paintsites in the Palo Alto Baylands, Mt. View's Shoreline Park and, best of all, from Alviso; more so than by the nearly uniformly verdant West Bay hills.     It was a perfect day to paint them.     Brad

Linda Vista Park, Cupertino. Saturday, April 27, 2013

The Weekend Paintsites group had a special two-for-one day at Linda Vista Park in Cupertino.    Dedicated Paintsite organizers Jenny Tero & Sylvia Waddell gave an encore performance of their "Introduction to Plein Air Painting" demo.    They covered all of the little, mundane, not-specifically art related things that can be so frustrating for the plein air painter, experienced and beginner alike.     We discussed how to deal with problems never encountered in the studio:  paint and paper drying too fast, not drying at all, no shadows and then shadows shifting 180 degrees --- and that's in just one painting session!     Sylvia led us in some exercises searching for focus where there was so much to see in every direction.     After the Intro, we spread out and painted trees, distant mountains, people, playground equipment, bridges --- anything and everything.   After lunch and a brief critique, everybody went home having learned something, shared something and made some new friends.

For additional information about Linda Vista and other Cupertino parks, see:

http://www.cupertino.org/index.aspx?page=591

photo by Rajit Chandra

Jenny & Sylvia discussing the finer points of successful plein air painting before an attentive audience.

Bonnie Sandler

The weather was gorgeous today! It was so much fun to see everybody's different travel palettes and other equipment.   I loved the sweep of the land at the park.  That's what I tried to show in my painting.  A big thank you to Jenny and Sylvia for their informative talk about pleine air painting.  I'm enjoying getting to know the different members of this organization. You're a lively group!   Bonnie

Caroline Garbarino

Thanks for the excellent introduction to plein air painting.   I knew there would be some information I could use. I'm glad you encouraged us to put figures in our paintings--this creates a real challenge with a wonderful result. In an attempt to "break out of my box," I tried a loose style, using your 5-5-30 rule. Together,you two are both informative and entertaining teachers!

For twelve years, I lived near the Cupertino hills and have never been to this park.

Thanks for another grand adventure, Caroline

Marilyn Perry

The plein air lesson had a good turnout, and I hope that many of the new people turn into regulars.  I chose this subject because I felt that my sketchbook was in need of more red.  Marilyn

Brad Santos

It's rare that plein air painters confront such in-your-face primary colors in the average landscape.   So a number of us jumped at the chance to paint the bright blue, red & yellow playground equipment.    Each time Jenny & Sylvia give a demo I learn something new and useful --- I'm working on a wish-list for future demos.    Brad

Jenny Tero

I used the perspex viewer and erasable marker for this, and was surprised how much larger the figure came out than I would have drawn her freehand, probably because I was really focusing on the playground equipment with the figure as incidental.  But this looks in balance, so I was pleased with the result, even though the equipment got a bit wobbly.   Jenny

Rajit Chandra

After a very successful day at the pleinair painting introduction, in Linda Vista Park, by Jenny and Sylvia, I learned to sketch fast and to connect with the landscape and people around me.   Afterwards as we settled down to our various spots around the park, to paint on our own, I decided to sketch my fellow painter Dick Zunkel concentrating on his painting that you see above.   The sketch was not on watercolor paper, so I added some water color lightly on the sketch to complete the painting.   Thank you Jenny and Sylvia for making the art lesson so much fun.   Rajit

Broncha Berger

This plein air outing made my day!     Broncha

Dick Zunkel

The Saturday paintout and introduction to plein air painting was a huge success. Everyone enjoyed the day.The bright spring sunlight enriched the many colors of Linda Vista Park. The serene atmosphere made for very pleasant painting day.    Dick

Weekend Site. Rengstorff House April 20, 2013

It was a beautiful warm spring day, and Mountain View's Shoreline Park was a whirlwind of activity with aquatic lessons, sailing, standup paddleboarding, windsurfing, pedal boating, canoeing, bicycling, hiking, bird watching, and picnicking all taking place at once.  Most of the eleven plein air painters enjoyed painting in the gentility and relative tranquility of the beautiful gardens of the Rengstorff House, one of the finest examples of Victorian Italianate architecture on the West coast. Adding to the ambience were the ladies in Victorian costumes who arrived to prepare the "Spring Melody Tea" to be served in the house that afternoon.

For more information and photos of Rengstoff House and Shoreline Park, see:
http://www.r-house.org/
and
http://www.mountainview.gov/city_hall/comm_services/shoreline_regional_wildlife_area/default.asp

- Marilyn Perry

Rengstoff House Paintsite, April 20, 2013

Marilyn Perry

When I attended a docent-led tour of the Rengstorff House in the past, I was told that the very fancy entrance in the front was mostly for show, and everyone actually used the side entrance which I painted.  With the beautiful garden, gloriously blooming roses on extensive trellis, and red rhododendron about to bloom, I found the side entrance to be very inviting, indeed. - Marilyn

Broncha Berger

Picchetti Winery, Cupertino, March 16, 2013

Above the still fog enshrouded valley floor, the old Picchetti homestead and winery was clear, bright and sunny.   We initially had the picnic area adjacent to the old barns and tasting room to ourselves but by noon were joined by a number of young families with lots of small children.   Running (and falling), climbing (and falling), the children were a delight to observe as they gave such energy to the scene which went from serenely antique to whirlingly alive and youthful.   What's even better is that the children were such appreciative critics of our paintings.

For more information about the Picchetti Winery and the Open Space Preserve, check out:

http://www.picchetti.com/

and

http://www.openspace.org/preserves/pr_picchetti.asp

Saturday Plein Air Painters

  

Laurie Barna

Brad Santos