The Rialto

I could title this post "South Pasadena".  I'll post two paintings done in South Pasadena, but the "center piece" is the Rialto Theater where we had a recent plein air paint-out.  I've lived in South Pasadena since 1973 so it was an exciting week when all three plein air groups that I meet with chose locations here!

The Rialto Theater is a center piece in our town but it has been crumbling for many years and needs help.  Built for movies as well as Vaudeville, its opening was in 1925.  There was a Wurlitzer and orchestra.  When the Rocky Horror Picture Show came to the Rialto in 1978, it was still shown at midnight until the theater closed in 2008.  The city wants it restored and revitalized but no one has stepped up to do that so the landmark sits in a terrible state of disrepair.  The old Rialto is a nice subject for plein air painters, and who knows what its future will be.  I painted it in gouache at 5x7".

Two days later the Saturday group painted at various spots around one of South Pasadena's interesting intersections.  There is the post office, two churches, a rooming house, a patio cafe, and a performance theater.  I painted part of the Fremont Centre Theatre building that had some beautiful light and shadows that morning.  It's also a 5x7" gouache.  

I didn't realize that so many people I know would drive by and walk by while I was painting! 

5 x 7" Gouache

5 x 7" Gouache