Ardenwood Historical Farm

Last week we enjoyed a gorgeous day at Ardenwood Historical Farm. This site is full of very paintable views; the farm house, animals, barns, and of course rows of orange pumpkins and the distant hills. We had a lovely gathering at lunch and shared our artwork. It's great to see all the different approaches and how we can learn from each other. (There are lots of you out there who didn't send me your paintings. Don't be shy ...its never too late to send them in!)
Sylvia

Laurie Barna

Green Barns at Ardenwood, Jenny Tero




Mary Raftery

Sylvia Waddell

Ardenwood Historic Farm,  Brad Santos

A beautiful afternoon, thousands of pumpkins, hundreds of happy children (monitored by a handful of frazzled parents and teachers), a dozen artists, and some great paintings!

 

Moffett Field Paintout

On September 17th we took part in the open paintout at Moffett Field. It was a great site with lots of subject matter. Here are some of the paintings done by our members.

Laurie Barna

Anna Jacke

Brad Santos

 Brad: Behind the Historical Society & Museum, an old F-104 Starfighter:  ex-Luftwaffe; ex-NASA; back at Ames where some of it's early development may have occurred.

Sylvia Waddell

Sylvia: I was intrigued by the windows in the sides of the hangar.

Alum Rock Park

Some paintings from our visit to Alum Rock Park in September. Yet another gorgeous summer's day.
Sylvia

Brad Santos

 Brad: While joining up in the parking lot, Janice Faulstich commented that the park was mountain lion territory. After mulling this over,  we decided to stick with Dick Zunkel as offering the best protection against same!  He led us past a number of late-19th Century and early-20th Century stone grottoes (better suited, I think, for trolls than mountain lions) and baths to a wonderful old arched stone bridge. For the day, no mountain lion or troll sightings, only fine paintings.

Dick Zunkel

Sylvia Waddell

Sylvia: This is one of my tiny postcard paintings. It turned out quite well. I think I do better when I'm not thinking about what I'm doing. Painting with the left side of my brain!

Gamble Gardens

Laurie Barna

"Daisy Delights" by Caroline Garbarino

 This site was such a wonderful experience -- a cool day, warm friends, and wise teachers! Caroline Garbarino

Anna Jacke

Brad Santos

Mercifully, the glorious bed of white phlox had finished blooming so I wasn't tempted by its' siren call to "paint me" and was spared yet another failure there.     And the Rouge Vif d'Etampes (Cinderella) pumpkin was still far from carriage size (makes you wonder if people in Cinderella's day were much smaller or the pumpkins much larger) so I passed on that too and went the safe route and painted the house --- not as stately as old buildings at some recent paint outs but very serene.  Brad Santos

Mission San Jose, Fremont

Laurie Barna

Brad Santos

 A very plain but interesting building and something of a challenge as it was difficult to find an unobstructed spot far enough from the building to see more than just a section of it --- I think we had paintings from every direction and angle as we all managed to cope.  Still, it was another very enjoyable summer day painting with the group.   Brad Santos

Lisha Wang

Sylvia Waddell

 

 

 

 

Built in 1797 this Mission is a wonderful part of our history here in California. As Brad said, getting a view of the whole building is a bit tricky. Mine didn't come out as planned, but I enjoyed painting the view from the path in the old burial ground.  Sylvia Waddell

Save The Date for Moffett Field

This news just in - There will be a Paint Out at Hangar One at Moffett Field on Saturday/Sunday September 17-18, 2011. This is being organized by POPs member Robin Chapman, sponsored by the Moffett Field Historical Society and Museum, and is open to all artists. There may be an exhibition of work at the museum at the end of the year. Our plein air group will plan to take part in the paint out and an email with all the information will be sent out to everyone on our paintsites reminders list. This is an opportunity to paint an iconic emblem of the bay area before it is demolished next year so save the date and join us there.
Sylvia

Villa Maria Picnic Area, Stevens Creek County Park

Here are our efforts from the visit a couple of weeks ago to Villa Maria Picnic area in Stevens Creek Park. There were lots of trees, and some views of the hills and of course we had another glorious day weatherwise. Enjoy the art.
Sylvia

by Caroline Garbarino

By Brad Santos

A sentinel Eucalyptus at the entrance to the Villa Maria day-use area and a cloudless, perfectly clear blue sky prompted me to negative paint the sky first and then fill in the tree.  I'd hoped for more positive results but, all-in-all, another great day with the plein-air group.  While we painted, behind us, a number of young day-campers were learning the finer points of place-kicking from an enthusiastic and encouraging counselor --- reminded me of Jenny moving us along on a hike-and-sketch excursion.
Brad Santos

By Lisha Wang

By Sylvia Waddell

I was drawn to a little arrangement of fallen limbs with eucalyptus trees behind. In my impatience I ended up with a lot of backruns in my washes so I had to go back in and try and make something out of them at home. I must learn to be more patient! Sylvia Waddell