The Watering Trough

 Our South Pasadena watering trough is officially Cultural Heritage Monument No. 7.  Designed by Norman Marsh,  and presented to the city in 1907, it's titled "The Watering Trough and Wayside Station".  It was a rest stop for people and horses as they traveled between Los Angeles and Pasadena. 

I've painted many times in this location, once the center of South Pasadena, but I hadn't painted the horse trough before.  Two paint-out friends were painting in this area so it was time to try it.  It was nice day and the lighting on the stones caught my eye.

5" x 7" Gouache

   

Halloween House

I've painted at this South Pasadena intersection many times in my years of plein air paint-outs.  This building, The Century House (1888), is also known as Halloween House.  Two of the "Halloween" horror movies were shot there.  Appropriate for this Halloween weekend.  In 2012 I posted my first plein air watercolor of the local landmark, Century House.

5" x 7" Watercolor

                               

Library Shade

I thought I would have a new painting for 2020 by now but...not yet.  I have several from 2019 I haven't posted so here is a small piece from a few weeks ago.  There is a nice bench by the huge Morton Bay Fig tree at our local library.  It was a chilly morning so the bench in the dappled sun was a good place to sit for a painting.  What could I see to paint from the bench?  The view across the street of the busy coffee shop on the corner was a great subject, and one I've painted several times before.  My previous painting was in 2017, Corner Coffee.  I always enjoy South Pasadena views for my watercolor.

7" x 5" Watercolor

Last for 2019~

I had planned to try something different, maybe a floral with Christmas colors, for my final painting in 2019.  Turns out it might be my first for 2020.  So, my last bit of art for 2019 was a sketch last Saturday with our plein air group.  We were at Memorial Park in Sierra Madre.  I was thinking of a sketch of the community garden there but it was being redone, adding more plots.  I noticed the side street to the east had a nice mix of buildings and trees, and wires which I like to add.  It was a cold morning so I decided to do a pen sketch rather than a watercolor.  The Stabilo pens are water soluble so I did add some water to see how that would go.  It's been fun to experiment with the various pens available.  Looking forward to doing more watercolor painting in 2020!

5" x 7" Pens

Christmas Lights

I had to miss our recent paint-out at a busy plaza featuring holiday decorations.  But I wanted to try painting something holiday inspired.  In December three years ago I took a photo of the home across the street from us.  It's always decorated for every holiday and especially for Christmas.  The pretty lights at dusk caught my eye.  Have a wonderful holiday!

5" x 7" Watercolor

  

St. Luke's

We've met several times to paint at St. Luke's Hospital in Pasadena.  The hospital was built in 1933 and closed in 2002.  No longer a hospital, it's been a popular location for movie and TV filming, including Kill Bill and LaLa Land.  I hadn't tried painting the building before.  On one visit I painted the apartments on the opposite side of the busy boulevard,  The Yellow Apartments.  On another visit, since I like utility poles, I painted the curve in Washington Blvd in gouache but I didn't finish so I brought the piece back the next time to finish it.  I'm still not sure it's finished but it's included here.  So on our recent visit in October I finally tried painting a watercolor of the main hospital building.  Pretty sunshine that morning.

5" x 7" Watercolor

5" x 7" Gouache

Vintage postcard

Spring Flowers!

With a winter season of more than normal rainfall here in Southern California, the flowers this spring have been gorgeous.  Last week two paint-out groups had some wonderful purple/lavender Jacaranda trees to paint.  This year the trees' flowers seem to me to be more vibrant than we usually see.  A few months ago painters were noticing the many hillsides covered with bright yellow mustard flowers where there had been dried weeds before.  So many beautiful views to paint!

Watercolor  10" x 8"

Pen and Watercolor Sketch 5" x 7" Avenue 64

Watercolor 5" x 7" at Elephant Hill

Sketchbook, pens and watercolor

Yellow House X 2

On two visits to Garfield Park in South Pasadena, I painted the pretty yellow house across the street.  The park is surrounded by a neighborhood with interesting homes.  In 2016 I painted a cat sitting across the street at Park Avenue Park Avenue.  The yellow house on the corner is an interesting subject and I'll probably try it again.

8" x 10" Watercolor

5" x 7" Watercolor

Park view

Euclid and Union

Last Saturday the paint-out group's location was the Pasadena City Hall.  To me the 1927 domed city hall architecture is kind of intimidating to try to paint.  I tried it several years ago and never finished that piece.  I walked around the block and noticed the construction site where my nephew is the project manager for this new five-story office building.  There was a lot of activity for a Saturday.  Very interesting to watch, so I thought I would try a quick painting from the shade of a tree across the street.  Not sure if a construction site is any easier than an ornate 1927 structure, but it was fun.

5" x 7" Watercolor

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"

 

Two 2018 Paintings

I thought I would post my watercolors from the paint-out locations from the last two Saturdays in 2018.  These were both done pretty quickly.  I was having trouble finding my subject in South Pasadena when I noticed a pretty tree with yellow leaves and some potted plants by the sidewalk.  I didn't have too much time to paint by then so it was done quickly.  And last Saturday we were at a park in Sierra Madre.  I was late arriving and it was cold.  The wonderful trees and bright green lawn looked fun to paint.  Unfortunately, it was pretty cold to be sitting for an hour or so to paint.  Another "quickie".  Hoping to improve my painting and of course paint more in 2019!

5" x 7" Watercolor

South Pasadena Museum just up the street

7" x 5" Watercolor

A community garden in one corner of the park...next time!

Walking Man

Wow, it was last January when I painted the Walking Man at the South Pasadena Metro station.   I'm way behind with my blog posts!  A wonderful feature at our Gold Line Mission Station is the 10-foot bronze strip statue.  This neat public art is by Michael Stutz, which he titled "Astride-Aside".   It was placed there in 2003 and has been decorated casually by people for special days and events.  I'm happy to have this piece in South Pasadena.

7" x 5" Watercolor