Mission Park

A few weeks ago one of the plein air groups met at Mission Park.  It's across the street from the historic San Fernando Mission, founded in 1797.  There is a beautiful garden area in the park where we all found our views to paint.  The fountains, long pergola, fruit trees, and formal, enclosed beds of flowering shrubs were really lovely.  Unfortunately the roses had been pruned but that just made us think of another visit at another time of year.  I'll be there!

     

8 x 10" Watercolor

Arches of the San Fernando Mission across the street.

  

David Taylor Workshop!

This month I was able to attend a workshop with David Taylor in Santa Barbara, California.  I had been looking forward to this for a long time and I wasn't disappointed.  Meeting David and watching him paint was such a treat.  David painted two demos a day for the 5-day workshop and each piece captures the feel of Santa Barbara.  And I must say Santa Barbara looked stunning, every building perfectly adding to the ambiance.  I found David's way of teaching to be very helpful and he was so generous to us with his time and expertise.  

Our first morning was a little overcast and we were on the beach, painting two different views following David's demos, morning and afternoon.  Painting on the beach was a new experience for me and trying to paint two pieces a day is a push.  On Tuesday we met at the marina and David painted two gorgeous demo pieces.  But for me, boats and water, I need more practice on those two subjects!  I won't finish the two pieces I started.  We were up in the tower at the landmark courthouse building on Wednesday.  We painted street views Thursday and Friday.  Thursday, late evening, we were lucky to have the opportunity to watch David paint a night scene.  Wow, so interesting to see how he went about it.  

I hope I will be able to take another workshop from David sometime.  The week was a valuable experience and I look forward to applying what I learned.  It's difficult to paint something wonderful in a workshop, but here are three of my pieces and some fun photos...

8 x 10" Watercolor,  Santa Barbara Mission on the hill

Santa Barbara courthouse tower where we painted 

Our first day, setting up - Leadbetter Beach

8 x 10" Watercolor

 

David painting in the courthouse tower

8 x 10" Watercolor

The nocturne

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

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.

The Pomegranate Patio

The plein air painting group met at the Old Mill in San Marino, CA again.  It was really a mill, the grist mill for the San Gabriel Mission, built in 1816.  It was featured in my blog post in September titled "The Old Mill".

The predicted rain was delayed so we painters had a nice but overcast morning to paint at the mill.  One of the features of the property is the Pomegranate Patio.  In September I mentioned that the pomegranates weren't red and ripe yet.  Now in October, the ones in the sun look beautiful, but there is still some paler fruit on the shadier, north sides of the trees.  A few of the pomegranates were ripe enough to split open.  Several artists were drawing and painting the gorgeous lower fruit but I still felt like trying a wider view.  Here is my painting (8"x10"), photo of my view, and a photo of the beautiful fruit on the trees.

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.

Painting in San Gabriel

The location for Thursday's plein air paintout was the San Gabriel Mission (Mission San Gabriel Arcangel, 1771).  The last time the group painted at the Mission was in March, my second outing with them.  That day most of us went inside the walled garden/courtyard to paint.  Since I had little experience with plein air painting I chose a view of the grape arbor to paint that I wouldn't chose now.  The day started off dreary but when the sun came out the area became a confusing mess of shadows.  I'll post my painting and the view I chose to try.  Thursday's painting is below.

On Thursday the artists stayed outside the Mission and looked around the area for subjects.  There are many nice views to paint there.  I was looking for something that appealed and where I could paint in some shade.  I chose the San Gabriel City Hall.  It's in an old 1923 Spanish style building.  Here is my painting and my photo of the view.

I'm also adding my photo of the Mission from the lawn/park where I painted facing another direction.  There are a few of my painting friends trying the Mission view.  I might try it next time.