Cobb Estate

Our group "Thursdays en Plein Air" met recently at the Cobb Estate in Altadena.  I hadn't been there before so I was looking forward to it.  I heard from fellow painters that the once grand Spanish style mansion is gone.  All that's left is some of the foundation and a few stairs.  The Cobbs built the home in 1918 with money from the lumber business.  The internet says that after several owners the Marx Brothers bought the mansion in 1956.  But it was neglected, and the remnants of its former greatness were eventually removed.  It's also a supposedly ghostly place and is sometimes known as the Haunted Forest.  

A disintegrating driveway leads into the area, which is gorgeous, with lots of trees and greenery.  The estate is at the foot of the mountains so there were many hikers and dog walkers out on the hiking trails.  Since I wasn't planning to paint any structures in the area I brought my gouache to practice with.  I was going to try two small 5"x7" pieces but I measured and taped my paper incorrectly.  So, I painted one larger piece and guessed at the dimensions for two smaller ACEOs or ATCs, 2.5"x3.5".  I had a lot of fun that day and I'm enjoying my gouache experiments.

5x7" gouache

Zinnia!

There is a favorite local craft store and gallery named Zinnia, "A space for contagious creativity".   http://www.zinnia.biz,  http://zinnia4crafts.blogspot.com
It's by far the most fun store to visit and shop at in South Pasadena.  Its owner is wonderful and creative, and she has artistic, amazing employees who contribute so much.  I've taken a couple of inspiring, crafty, classes there.  They also have a store cat named Alley!  I had been planning to do a blog post about this terrific store.  I mentioned it in my post "The 350 Project".  Today I received an email from Zinnia announcing that they are moving to a different location which isn't such happy news to me.  I hope their new location will not be too far away.  Well, what an opportune day to finally get to that blog post!

Zinnia is a special store because they also have a small gallery space where they've hosted some really wonderful and popular shows.  I've participated in each one since I wanted to support them all I could.  I'll post the pieces I've painted for their shows here.  All are ACEOs or ATCs which are always 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" and can be in any medium.  These shows were when I was illustrating commercial greeting cards so I tried to have fun with my pieces for Zinnia.

The first show was in 2008, The Bee Cause: a Group Show Dedicated to the Honey Bee.  It was a benefit to bring attention to the honey bee crisis and Colony Collapse Disorder.  I donated my piece and it sold so I was happy!

 Their next show, in 2009, was the Tattered and Tangled Garden Party.  The opening was in conjunction with South Pasadena's Art Walk.  So much fun to stop by.

Zinnia's 2010 show was The Kitchen Show, anything kitchen inspired, whatever that meant to us artists.  There were fun pieces made from kitchen utensils, cups and plates, and artwork featuring food.

The Cirque de Bizarre show in 2010 was Zinnia's most ambitious show, meant to coincide with Halloween.  The opening was on Art Walk night again and what a great turnout they had - artists, art lovers and friends.  I'm going to miss Zinnia and hope they will relocate soon!

Highland Park

The Saturday paint-out was in Highland Park at the old police station.  It is the oldest surviving police station in Los Angeles.  It opened in 1926 and now operates as the Los Angeles Police Museum.  It's listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  I didn't paint it.  As I walked up to look at our location for plein air painting, a neat view of the hills and homes across the police station parking lot caught my eye.  That view stuck in my mind and won out over the square-ish police station building.  While I waited for my first wash to dry, I wanted to try a small plein air scene, ACEO size (2.5"x3.5").  I chose to paint the palms and plantings on the far side of the police building for the small piece.  Along with my paintings, I'm posting a photo of the building I passed up painting.  Maybe next time.  There are many other exciting views to paint in Highland Park as well.  Can't wait to try some others!

First Day of Fall

We have had such a hot summer here in Southern California and I know that's been the case all over the country.  It's been one long heat wave.  So far 2012 is the hottest on record in the US.  Here it is September 22, the first day of Fall, the autumnal eqinox.  I'm ready for some cooler weather which we will hopefully see.

I was thinking about some autumn inspired watercolors I painted last fall.  The first is some autumn leaves that have turned colors, painted for a group on the Paint My Photo website.  Most people painted the same photo and it was fun to see everyone's version.

I was feeling in a fall mood when I painted these three ACEOs.  I had a persimmon as a model for that piece.  The other two are just made up.  I really enjoyed adding the crows to the scarecrow piece.  ACEOs are always 2 1/2" x 3 1/2", but can be any media.  Sometimes they're called ATCs, Artist Trading Cards.

This last piece was for a monthly challenge in a Facebook group.  One member (Terry Freemark) posted some of her photos of Pennsylvania farms to use to paint from, or for inspiration.  I combined two photos for my watercolor.  A pumpkin farm!  I'm already inspired for this year.    

Hopefully these fall thoughts will bring some cool weather.

Moody Landscape

After seeing the movie Moonrise Kingdom which was filmed in Rhode Island, I was inspired to try another painting.  I couldn't wait to try a different version of the piece in my "Green Again" post from a few days ago.  In parts of the movie it's very stormy and dreary.  I had the thought to try a more moody and gray version of the previous painting which had focused on mixing greens.  I tried a small ACEO (ATC) size version which is 2.5" x 3.5" just to get the feel of trying to use more neutral colors.  This is the finished piece, 8" x 10".  It was difficult to put my thoughts into paint and use more neutrals as planned, but I think it does feel more subdued and moody.  I always learn something from these pieces.  My ACEO idea sketch is below.

Barns!

I'm having fun in the Vinita Pappas "Going Green" online workshop.  We're doing a lot of mixing so far which is really the essence of dealing with greens.  I've always been a fan of "No tube greens" and like mixing my own.  This workshop of Vinita's is reminding me of the one she offered in May - "Loosening Up".  This is my final project from that workshop, painted from Vinita's photo.  I think I need to search out some beautiful barns to paint here in Southern California.  This piece is 10 1/2" x 14".

And one day last month when I felt like painting something quick, I tried this view as an ACEO or ATC which are 2 1/2" x 3 1/2"...playing card/baseball card size.  I used to paint ACEOs as detailed as the greeting card artwork, but I had fun with this small piece.  I'll post more ACEOs here.

Vinita shared an interesting quote today from Julia Cameron, author of "The Artist's Way".  Not sure I completely agree since we try to do the best we can, but it's food for thought.

               Perfectionism is egotism parading as virtue.  -Julia Cameron