For more information about Wilder Ranch State Park, see:
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=549
Upcoming Paintsites:
- Thursday, January 21, 2016: Cooley Picnic Area, Stevens Creek County Park, Cupertino
- Thursday, January 28, 2016: Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch, Santa Teresa County Park, San Jose
Note: Periodically check out the "Members Blogs" as Sylvia, Anna, Mary P. and Dick routinely update their blogs with their latest work.
Sylvia, our aforementioned leader, gets us organized:
First Stop:
It's a bit of a hike from the parking lot to the Old Cove Viewing Platform and the Bluff Trail but, altho' some may have wondered "are we there yet?", there was no whining and no hint of insurrection.
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| Sylvia had a old map handed down thru many generations of California plein air artists with a 'X' marks the spot for a prime paint site. Here she's pacing off the instructions and, lo-and-behold, her little stool looked enough like an 'X' so that's where we stopped and started painting. |
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| Sylvia's first painting. |
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| Lisha and Salinda settled down on the high creek bank overlooking the "Old Cove" -- the mouth of Wilder Creek where it meets the Pacific at Wilder Beach. |
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| Lisha's painting. |
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| Salinda's painting. |
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| An angry ocean and a happy artist (Tom). |
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| Candy and Helen painted the view across the Old Cove and Wilder Beach. |
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| Candy's painting of the Old Cove and Wilder Beach. |
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| Marilyn set up next to the Viewing Platform with a view across the Old Cove. |
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| Marilyn's first painting - the Old Cove. |
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| Jane, painting on the edge (of the continent). |
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| Jane's first painting. |
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Brad, still looking pretty chipper before we set out for the next leg. (Photo by Lisha)
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Second Stop:
First painting done, we head West. Sharp-eyed Marilyn spotted a pod of porpoises perhaps a hundred yards offshore and we watched them before continuing.
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| We set up on a promontory looking east back toward Wilder Beach and the Old Cove. |
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| Jane's second painting. |
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| Lisha's second painting - bluffs and artists in the distance. |
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| Sylvia's second painting - looking east. |
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| Helen's second painting - also looking east - captured the large flocks of seagulls which congregated on Wilder Beach. |
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| Marilyn's second painting - looking east toward the Wilder Beach. |
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| Salinda's second painting looked east as well but with an emphasize on the ocean. |
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| Brad's second sketch of, (left to right), Marilyn, Jane, Candy, and Sylvia |
Third Stop:
Second painting done, we decide to press on a bit before our scheduled lunch rendezvous back at the ranch. We were rewarded with more porpoises keeping pace with us and a solitary pelican posing on a rock outcropping.
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| Our third and perhaps most dramatic stop. The sign says: "Caution. Artists at Work. Stay Back". (Or something like that.) We all painted pretty much the same vista but with different emphases and in different keys - but all equally interesting and fine. |
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| Sylvia's third painting. |
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| Candy's third painting. |
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| Helen's third painting - a panorama. |
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| Lisha's third painting. |
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| Marilyn's third painting. |
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| Jane's unfinished third painting. |
Meanwhile, back on the ranch, Dick, Larry, and John decided to explore and paint the many interesting buildings (mostly latter 19th Century but at least one notable 1830's structure) and old farm equipment.
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| Dick's painting of the 1830's Bolcroft adobe and the adjacent, (only a little over a century old) equipment shed. |
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| John was equally captivated with the same two buildings. |
Lunch:
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| The famished Bluff Trail hikers met up with the Ranch Crew for lunch and a show-and-share 'critique' before hitting the trail for home. There were signs posted saying "Don't Feed the Animals" but we let John have his lunch anyway since, technically, he was feeding himself. |
