The Old Mill

What a lovely afternoon I had last Saturday with my plein air painting friends.  We met at the Old Mill, El Molino Viejo, in San Marino.  This wonderful old adobe building, from 1816, was the grist mill for the San Gabriel Mission.  I've painted at the Mission twice, featured in my post "Painting in San Gabriel".  The California Art Club maintains a permanent gallery at the mill and we painters were interested in seeing the current show as well as painting.

The weather was very hot here again but there was plenty of shade to find on the beautiful grounds surrounding the mill.  In the few months I've been doing plein air painting, this was my second visit to the Old Mill.  There are a lot of interesting views and gardens to find for subject matter.  I'll post my watercolor from my previous visit and my piece from this week.  Plus, a few added tidbits I like to share.

In March I painted the main entrance, 9"x12" including narrow borders.  Last Saturday I chose a back entrance and courtyard, 8"x10".

Some friends painting the same view I was painting.

One of the main features of the garden area is the Pomegranate Patio.  The trees have lots of fruit that's just not ripe enough yet.  I'll be back next month and looking forward to seeing some beautiful red pomegranates.