Two Towns

Catching up a bit with recent watercolors.  Downtown Sierra Madre was exciting on the Saturday morning we were there to paint.  The city is very popular for cycling groups so there were many bikes.  It was also during a Scarecrow Festival a local art group sponsors.  Lots of activity!

A few weekends earlier we were at the San Gabriel Mission to paint.  There is a nice park across from the Mission with downtown views.  I had a bit of city buildings, banners, and a pretty pepper tree to paint.

Watercolor, 5" x 7" 

Watercolor 7" x 5"

 

The Soaring Teapot!

It's a new landmark in Temple City...the Soaring Teapot!  A very creative sculptural fountain where a huge soaring teapot pours water into a cup below.  We met there today to paint the giant teapot.  It's also the first day of the Lunar Chinese New Year, the Year of the Dog.  While driving to the paint-out I spotted a New Year float, featuring a big dog, heading to L.A. Chinatown for the afternoon parade.  The teapot is located in an outdoor shopping mall which was decorated with many red lanterns.  I wanted to include them in my gouache piece.  We had to paint quickly as the shade we had was shrinking fast.  A fun morning of painting with friends as always.  

7" x 5" Gouache

Festive Playhouse!

A few weeks ago we met at the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse for the Saturday paint-out.  It was a year ago when we were there last.  That day was overcast and drizzly, and I painted a gouache piece, Playhouse Plaza. We had a beautiful day this year and I ended up painting almost the same scene, but in watercolor this time.  The festive Cinco de Mayo papel picado banners in the plaza area caught my eye and I had to include them.  The 1927 Playhouse has some interesting features I might try next time.

5" x 7" Watercolor

Playhouse entrance area

Playhouse Plaza

We had an overcast day for our paint-out last Saturday.  The San Gabriel Mission Playhouse was on the schedule.  I posted about the last two times I painted there in Playhouse Festivities.  That previous visit was also a drizzly day and I painted a gouache piece of the fountain.  On this visit, to stay out of the sprinkles we all sat under an arcade area with a view of the plaza and front of the playhouse.  The fountain is surrounded by a pretty, tiled planter with roses and other flowers.  With this gouache piece I tried to have the planter and flowers as a foreground for the trees and neighboring buildings.  I've signed up for a gouache workshop this coming weekend so it will be exciting to see a different way of working with this medium.

5" x 7" Gouache

 

The Rose Home

It was back in July that we painted at the San Gabriel home of the Rose family.  Originally from Bavaria, Leonard Rose came to California in 1860 and established his family in the San Gabriel Valley.  He had many acres of orchards, a vineyard, he bred horses on his ranch named "Rosemead" (a city now), and he even became a state senator.  His son Guy Rose became a top early California Impressionist painter.   

The original 1861 Rose home is still there, the oldest wood structure in the area.  It was a very sunny morning when we met to paint the house but the bright sun and deep shadows were beautiful.  There was one tree across the street that provided some shade for most of us and I tried a quick gouache piece before it got too hot.  I kept imagining the suburban neighborhood and businesses with none of it there except for the red house.  While we painted, several neighbors walked by and bicycled past mentioning the history of the landmark structure.  Nice to hear how much it's appreciated!

      

5" x 7" Gouache

    

La Laguna

Yesterday the Saturday paint-out group met at Vincent Lugo Park in San Gabriel.  Not an ordinary park!  It's home to La Laguna de San Gabriel a children's playground of giant, whimsical, cement sea creatures.  The animal sculptures were created by artist Benjamin Dominguez.  La Laguna and its sculptures are a state landmark and are being restored.

We weren't aware ahead of arriving that it happened to be the exact 50th anniversary for La Laguna.  Opening Day was May 16, 1965!  The last time we painted at the park it was very quiet but not for the 50th celebration.  There were city officials, old photos, music, a big cake, and even a drum line.  I remembered on my previous visit Ollie the Octopus had a broken tentacle and was fenced off from climbing kids.  It was great to see he's been restored.  I tried a pretty fast gouache piece since it was a hectic day at the park.     

5" x 7" Gouache

The Mission Gardens

We had a beautiful day for a paint-out at the San Gabriel Mission (1771).  My second plein air paint-out was at the Mission in March 2012.  The watercolor I painted that day is posted here in Painting in San Gabriel.  Many in the group that day painted inside the walled garden area and I tried a painting of the grape arbor.  When the sun came out it was confusing with too many shadow patterns!  I learned my lesson.  So when another plein air group met at the gardens recently I had to choose a different view.  

The gardens are ancient and peaceful, between classes of school kids on field trips.  There are many courtyards and shaded patios which used to be the center of the active mission community.  Just the top of the Mission campanario (bell wall) with its six bells is visible from the garden, which I thought of trying.  I settled on a garden within the gardens, the Peace Garden which features a hand made tile piece of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  There were also pretty vases with flowers, making a busy scene which I thought would be best to try with gouache.  Another fun paint-out! 

        

7" x 5" Gouache

     

Playhouse Festivities

I can hardly believe it but almost exactly a year ago I posted the watercolor I painted at the San Gabriel Mission Playhouse in Mission Playhouse.  Since then I've painted there on two other days and I'll share those paintings.  The Playhouse is just a block from the historic San Gabriel Mission, 1771.   

In April the Saturday plein air group met at the Playhouse.  There were some festivities going on including a small crafts fair.  Very pretty tables were set up and there were lanterns hung in the tree.  That's the view I chose to try in watercolor.  

The next time I was there to paint was with the Friday plein air group.  The show we had in July of our artwork was at the gallery adjacent to the Playhouse.  We thought some artists in action, doing some painting might get the attention of people in the area.  It was a very overcast day so I chose to try a gouache piece since my watercolor washes would have a hard time drying.  It actually drizzled on me as I painted the fountain and I had to move twice.  Most of the group painted a still life set-up in a covered arcade area near the gallery entrance.  My photo of them is below and I wish I had time to try painting the still life as well as the fountain.  Such a lovely location.

10" x 8" Watercolor

8 x 10"

5 x 7" Gouache

The Cottage

A recent group plein air paint-out was at the Church of Our Savior in San Gabriel.  The church was completed in 1874 and the surrounding buildings and gardens are lovely.  The owner of the Rancho San Pascual where the church was built was the grandfather of the famous WWII general George Patton.  General Patton grew up attending the church.  There is a life-size bronze statue of the army commander on the church grounds.  Some artists chose the statue to paint.         

 It was a nice sunny day and there was a big turnout of painters.  The church has a tall and dramatic bell tower.  The changing shadows on it, the surrounding eucalyptus trees, as well as the leaded glass windows, looked complicated to paint that morning.  I chose a small picturesque gate cottage to try.  In my last photo of part of the group during the critique, you can see the church building in the background.  Maybe I'll try painting it next time.

8x10" watercolor

  

Beginning 2013!

It's been a really nice start to 2013!  Last week I was happy to share the interview Maggie Latham did with me.  What a nice surprise that was and I was so happy to be a part of Maggie's blog series.  

Last week I also entered some watercolors in a local show.  A first for me!  The San Gabriel Fine Arts Association started off the year with a show of works painted around the city of San Gabriel.  I had three plein air pieces to enter, and thought I should join the group and give the show a try.  A city councilwoman judged the artwork.  I just found out today that one of my pieces won Third Place.  A big surprise and honor.  It was interesting to see that the four awards all went to watercolors.  

Below are my three plein air pieces of San Gabriel locations.  The first, painted at the old Mission, is my Third Place winner.  The City Hall piece did well in the juror's eliminations.   The Mission Playhouse piece also got lovely comments.  Great beginning to 2013!

The Lake That Became a Park

A recent paint-out was at Lacy Park in San Marino, which started out as a lake.  It was a natural lake, fed by springs and streams flowing from the San Gabriel Mountains.  It was also a drainage area for the Old Mill which I've painted 3 times now.  But, oh my, by the early 20th century excessive water usage by the local settlers had turned the beautiful oasis into a dried up, stagnate, swampy mess.  As the community around the lake grew, in 1924 the city decided it would better serve the public as a park.  So, in the 1920's earth from the excavation of early buildings for Caltech was brought down (about 2 miles) to fill in the lake.  Rare plants were donated from the Huntington Gardens.  Looking on Google Maps it's interesting knowing the history of the park since it looks like a big lake in the center.

It started as a dreary day but the sun appeared in the late morning.  I like some sun for cast shadows and also to help my washes to dry.  There is a wonderful rose garden with arbors but without sun, it looked sad and shady.  There are fabulous palms but I had just painted some the day before.  I found an old 1920's-era building, the only structure around, and chose it to paint.  I really had fun with this piece and my viewpoint was next to the play equipment so it was enjoyable to hear the kids while painting.  I'll also post a view across a corner of the center lawn where the lake was which includes friends' easels.  In my last photo, the walking loops around the center lawn are lined with these El Camino Real bells.  The El Camino Real linked the 21 California Missions.

Lario Park

A recent paint-out was at Lario Park in Azusa, CA.  I hadn't been there before so I was looking forward to it.  Fellow painters said there would be a nice view of the mountains.  Those would be the San Gabriel Mountains, with the highest elevation at 10,000 feet.  On the south side of the range, the largest runoff flows into the San Gabriel River, which flows out of the mountains near Azusa and into the urban San Gabriel Valley, and eventually into the Pacific Ocean.

Lario Park turned out to be just a parking lot, small picnic area, and restrooms beside the San Gabriel River which is now a flood control channel.  It was a beautiful clear day and not too hot for plein air painting.  There were many hikers, dog walkers, and cyclists out on the bike path, San Gabriel River Trail, that edges the river.  Our group had a big turnout of artists anxious to paint!

The view I chose to try includes the Punta Larga Railroad Bridge in the distance.  It was built in 1907 before the river was made into a flood control channel, and is open to pedestrians, cyclists, and equestrians.  The area has native shrubs and grasses which survive on rainfall, plus many birds and lizards.  A fun place for painting!  I'll include a photo of my view and also a shot of some of my painting friends at work.