Los Altos Redwood Grove Nature Preserve, Los Altos and Belgatos Park, Los Gatos. Thursday, February 4, 2016

This is a tale of  two cities, two iconic species of native trees (redwoods and oaks), and twenty artists:  With traffic horrors never before experienced in the Bay Area anticipated due to the Super Bowl, we decided to split our Paintsite into a South County site (Belgatos Park in Los Gatos - a new site for us) and a North County site (Los Altos Redwood Grove Nature Preserve - a long-time favorite site) in Los Altos so that nobody would have too far too drive. Both parks are small neighborhood parks and a bit hard to find but well worth the effort.

For information about the Redwood Grove in Los Altos, see:
http://www.losaltosca.gov/recreation/page/redwood-grove-nature-preserve

For information about Belgatos Park in Los Gatos, see:
http://www.losgatosca.gov/900/Belgatos-Park

Upcoming Paintsites: 

• Thursday, February 11, 2016:  McClellan Ranch Preserve, Cupertino 
• Thursday, February 18, 2016:  Palace of Fine Arts and CWA Exhibition, San Francisco.  Carpooling definitely recommended!
• Thursday, February 25, 2016:  Still to be determined / announced - but there will be a paintout (unless it's raining). 

For details, see the SCVWS website or the February Newsletter.
Remember, if the weather looks 'iffy', check your e-mail or the SCVWS website Home Page for cancellation notices.    Also, since we often visit sites where mobile service may be absent and the coordinators unreachable or GPS inaccurate -- if attending an unfamiliar location, best check the instructions sent by Paintsites before heading out.

Remember to check the "Members Blogs" section as Sylvia, Anna, Mary P. and Dick routinely update their blogs with their recent work and interesting comments.

Los Altos Redwood Grove Nature Preserve:  (photos by Jane)
     Groovin' in the Grove ...

2016 CWA Award Winner Cathy B.!

(For the exhibition award winners, see: http://www.californiawatercolor.org/gallery.php?cat=48 )

Cathy's sketches.  Not award winners (yet) but pretty good.

Helen (left) and Lisha

Lisha's painting thru the trees of sunlight on the meadow.

Iris

Iris' painting of redwoods and Adobe Creek winding thru the park.

Joe

Joe's painting of trees, one of the rustic bridges, and the creek.

Jane's painting of trees, the creek and welcome rays of sunlight.

It was a beautiful day and lots of great shadows.   Easy painting with just one little hill to get in and out!    Jane    (This last bit a reference to Brad whining about about the steep hill we had to climb at Belgatos Park.)

If a tree falls in the forest does an artist capture it?  Linda did in this interesting composition.

Marilyn

Marilyn's painting of redwoods and the creek.

There was enough water in the creek to make reflections and be very attractive.  The water was moving slowly, no rapids.  I walked around by the creek in the heart of the redwood grove, and got very cold.  So I found a view that was an attractive view of the creek and redwood trees, but I was sitting in the full sunshine.  The temperature was delightful, and my paints dried nicely in full sun.  A brown creeper (a bird) crept up the tree only a few feet in front of me.  The artists who set up to paint in the deep shade reported at lunch time that they were cold and their paints did not dry very well.     Marilyn

It wasn't all about trees ...

at least not big trees --- Joe's second painting - this one of  redwood needles.

Liz's unfinished painting of yellow flowers which flourish in the Grove.

Melanie's painting of a bird nesting box waiting for Spring occupants.

 Belgatos Park, Los Gatos:

 

Elizabeth 

Elizabeth's painting of the very impressive heavy timber bridge built by an Eagle Scout.   Not as much water in the creek as at Redwood Grove but there were some pools teeming with water insects.

Jenny working on her second painting --this time from near the tot-lot and lunch area --- no way she was going to climb the hill again for a second painting from the top.  (You can see the pitch of the trail in this photo - and it only got steeper!)

Jenny's first painting from the ridge top after a brisk hike.

Mary also set-up on the sunny ridge top. 

Mary's unfinished painting of one of the contorted old oaks (Blue? White?) on the ridge top.

Rich

Rich's painting from the ridge.   That's downtown San Jose in the distance and the Diablo Range in the far distance.

Dick's after-lunch painting of one of the steep trails leading up to the ridge top.

Brad's painting of one of the fine old oaks near the ridge top.   Rich, Jenny and Mary went just a bit farther and crested the ridge.

Lunch in the sunniest spot we could find.  (photo by Rich)

Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch, Santa Teresa CP, San Jose. Thursday, January 28, 2016

The weather forecast for record highs for the date didn't materialize and it was actually a bit on the cool side --- but nothing our group of hardened Paintsite artists couldn't handle.  Most of us stayed in the immediate vicinity of the old ranch house and barns (the historic part of the park) and found plenty to paint without even leaving the parking lot.  The great thing about old places like this is that when we go back the next time, and we certainly will, the buildings will look even more weathered and the rusty stuff even rustier.

For additional information about this interesting and scenic old ranch, right across the street from a residential section, see:
https://www.sccgov.org/sites/parks/Activities/Cultural-Venues/Pages/Bernal-Gulnac-Joice-Ranch.aspx

 Upcoming Paintsites: 

• We will have two Paintsites on Thursday, February 4th -- one in the North County and one in the South County.   Pick which is most convenient in order to avoid projected Super Bowl traffic:
• Thursday, February 4, 2016:  North County Paintout:   Los Altos Redwood Grove Nature Preserve, Los Altos
• Thursday, February 4, 2016:  South County Paintout:   Belgatos Park, Los Gatos
• Thursday, February 11, 2016:  McClellan Ranch Preserve, Cupertino 
• Thursday, February 18, 2016:  Palace of Fine Arts and CWA Exhibition, San Francisco

For details, see the SCVWS website or the January and February Newsletters.

Remember, if the weather looks 'iffy', check your e-mail or the SCVWS website Home Page for cancellation notices.    Also, since we often visit sites where mobile service may be absent and the coordinators unreachable or GPS inaccurate -- if attending an unfamiliar location, best check the instructions sent by Paintsites before heading out.
Finally, since you're reading this, you're obviously just wandering around on the Web --- to see more plein air art by SCVWS members, periodically check out the "Members Blogs" as Sylvia, Anna, Mary P. and Dick routinely update their blogs with their latest work.

The Ranch House ...  isn't as large or as ornate as some in the area but it does have an old date palm in front --- it seems all old ranches in the Santa Clara Valley have at least one palm tree in the front yard.   And it seems like the larger and more prosperous ranches had one on either side of the entry.   Perhaps the Bernals, the Gulnacs and the Joices weren't as well to do as they only had one palm.  Or at least there's only one now --- but it's a nice one...

Anna, left, and Elizabeth.    Altho' Anna and Elizabeth are long-time workshop and plein air painting companions, this was Elizabeth's first SCVWS Paintsite.

Elizabeth's almost finished painting of the Ranch House.

Dick and Salinda were able to set up right next to the parking lot for a good view of the west elevation of the Ranch House.

Dick's painting.

Salinda's painting.

  Working on the opposite side of the house were:

Joe

Joe's first painting of the day

Jenny's first painting of the Ranch House.

Jenny (left) and Sylvia - our long-time Paintsites Co-coordinators.

Jenny's painting of the back of the Ranch House.

Brad set up a little farther from the Ranch House so he could include the still dormant oak in front of the building.

The Old Barn.   This building underwent structural and cosmetic renovation several years ago but the exterior thankfully once again looks old and weathered.  (Has anyone ever done or even seen a painting of a new barn?  I think not - which is why this is such a popular subject.)

Helen

Helen's preliminary sketch of the barn with Dan in the foreground.

Helen's finished painting of the barn and Dan.

Dan, his work wrapped up for the day, heading home.

Jane isn't nodding off for a nap here - she's focused on her drawing of the Old Barn ....

... which resulted in this fine painting of the Old Barn in the background and a corner of a newer barn to the left.   That's Dan working on his painting in the foreground.

Kaaren

Kaaren's sketch of the Old and newer (left) barns.

John E.

John's sketchbook

John's painting of the Old Barn.

Rich set up a little closer to the Old Barn for his painting.

Rich's painting of the Old Barn

Joe's second painting - this one of the Old Barn from in front of the new barn opposite from where Rich painted.

Mary set up on the opposite side of the barn at some distance from it in order to get this perspective of the east elevation and the hills beyond .... 

Mary's painting of the back side of the Old Barn.

Buildings -- but not a Barn or an old Ranch House:    Artists, when they look hard enough, can find interesting patterns and textures everywhere --- witness these paintings:
 

John T.'s pen & wash painting of some of the outbuildings behind the Ranch House.

Iris set up in the parking lot but looked in the opposite direction from the 19th Century Ranch House towards a late 20th Century "ranch" house on the edge of suburbia which abuts Santa Teresa CP.

Iris' painting of an adjacent modern home.

Old Farm Equipment:  Locally, where there are old ranches and farms, there's always a wealth of rusty equipment --- if we knew what these implements were they probably wouldn't be half as fascinating. 

Leslie didn't have far to go from the parking lot to find some interesting old wheels and part of a wagon that's certainly seen better days.

Leslie's painting.

Marilyn got up close to the Old Barn --- but she didn't paint it, instead she painted ... 

... this wonderful composition of parts of a rusty plow

Landscapes.   While most of us focused on subjects associated with the old ranch, several of us took advantage of the lovely landscapes just a short distance from the ranch proper.
 

Kaaren's first painting wasn't too far from the ranch, but it was quite a steep climb to this vantage point.

Lisha also went further afield, to the edge of the historical ranch section of  the park, to find her perfect spot.

Lisha's painting of the trail heading into the less developed parkland toward the historic Santa Teresa Spring.

Show and Share 'Critique':   I was too busy eating lunch to take any photos of our lunch break but, don't worry, we did have one before our Critique.   It had started sprinkling so we leaned our paintings up against the walls and doors of the restrooms.  Probably we should have checked to make sure no one was trapped  inside before we did that.   Next time we will.

'Critiquing'