Answer to Quiz "Where is this Scene?"

Where is this beautiful scene and the other photos on the quiz?  

Well, no one won the $64,000 question!  

(Just kidding about the $!)

The answer is below the picture below.

And the answer is..........Port Townsend, Washington!  Around July 1st.

This town actually has an uptown and a downtown.  The uptown is the residential area of cute Victorian homes, some now bed and breakfasts.  The uptown is literally up on a cliff above the downtown.  The downtown is the Victorian business district and port.  Flowers are everywhere and it is a wonderful place to paint and visit.  And I am so lucky when I get a chance to visit my sister and her husband that live in this beautiful place.

Quiz Responses, Answer Tomorrow!

No, it isn't:

Moro Bay 

Mendicino

Pacific Grove

Pidgen Point

Point Cabrillo

San Diego

I'll post the answer tomorrow night!  Last chance!

Pretty much finished with my sunflowers.  I really loved the set up and enjoyed painting it.  I will let it sit for awhile and see it anything really bothers me enough to change it.

Quiz Hint #4

Last hint!!  Where were these quiz photos taken?  

Hint #4:  Small community, lots of history, wonderful Victorian architecture, near salt water.

Beautiful place!

Quiz Hint #2, #3

Hint #2:  This is from the same area.

Hint #3:  It is more than 200 miles from San Francisco

To guess, just click on "comment" and it will go to my email to be posted.

Quiz------

Nope, it is not Pigeon Point, San Mateo County, CA

Still Life Set Up

I just set up this still life and hope to work on it straight till 4:30 and also tomorrow at the gallery.  It is not my normal landscape so hope it comes out well.  I hope to apply techniques I learned from Laura.

Friday, we paint at Huddart park again.

Hint on the Quiz

It's bigger than a breadbox!

And the wildflowers are to die for!

And it is north of me!

Getting Ready for the Lake Elizabeth Paint-Out!

The 2nd Annual Lake Elizabeth Paint Out on September 12th, 2009 is heading into final planning stages!  Looking forward to artists from all over coming together for a wonderful paint-out.  The paint-out is not juried so it is a great chance for everyone to experience a paint-out.  The scenery is beautiful, the weather is great, people are friendly and appreciate watching paintings develop.

More information will be forthcoming.

A Little Quiz

Where is this beautiful site?!!

I'll let you know after you think about it!

After watching Laura's Demo at the park we tried our hand at it.  I must say I was totally overwhelmed with all we learned.  

I was so tired today I didn't even get to pick up a brush.  I had painting running through my head for 2 solid nights!

After absorbing it all, I will pick up the brush tomorrow and use it!

Another Great Day at Laura's Workshop

Really tired but happy and learned a lot today.  Now I just have to let it sink in!

Photo is of Laura's demo painting.  The scene was beautiful and the weather was great.  Tomorrow I will post my painting.

We had a wonderful day at Laura Williams' workshop.  We went through making very interesting "grays", some helpful tips and a great demo. 

 The demo had us spellbound and speechless!  Not bad for one hours worth of work.  She had also brought, among other of her works, a completed painting of a similar set up.  We could compare her quick study with a final piece.  (If you look carefully to the right of her still life setup you will see the completely finished painting.)

Tomorrow we are going to paint at the park and I am sure it will be a great and enlightening day!

Checking out Niles Community Park

Laura and I checked out Niles Park this morning and did a bit of painting.  It was pretty overcast and then all the clouds started to move apart and the scene completely changed.

Workshop with Laura Williams this weekend!

Workshop with Laura William is this weekend.  Can't wait.  Hope the muse of art will be with me, she has taken a vacation lately.  I have painted with Laura several times and love her work.  She is a great gal, easy going and uplifting!

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Join award winning artist, Laura Williams, for an action packed 2 day painting workshop, Saturday July 25th~26th This workshop is designed for students of all levels. Predominantly a plein air painter, Laura will demonstrate how to paint a landscape indoors quickly and relatively small. We will work from photos or even a still life in the medium of your choice–oil or acrylic. There will be a slide presentation, a demonstration of how Laura works and the tools she works with, a quick study exercise for warm-up and loosening up – a great exercise for comparing line vs. value. Focus of the workshop will include design, composition, value, color and brush work. Participants will paint and the instructor will provide personal assistance. A great workshop experience and a good time will be had by all! Laura has been teaching workshops and displaying her art work for several years throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, Yosemite, and the Wine Country. She has won several awards for her artwork. Please see her website for more information on her award winning art at: www.laurawilliamsart.com.

Dates: July 25 ~26th Saturday and Sunday 10:00~4:00

Location: Fremont Art Association Gallery 37659 Niles Boulevard Fremont, CA 94536

Fee: $150.00 for two days

Contact  Laura Williams at  415-398-2103 laura@laurawilliamsart.com

Huddart Park, San Mateo County

Sheryl and I went over to Huddart Park to paint some redwoods.  A wonderful location, nice and close, cooler than most of the Bay Area but warmer than the coast.

After looking around a bit we finally settled down to painting.  Not many interruptions (no horses this time!)  Sheryl didn't have to move off her trail!

I painted from the stream area wonderful contrasts between dark and light.  But, the old buggaboo I have came up.  Toooo dark and I have to go back and add more mid-tones.  I just get so carried away with the contrasts!

The infamous "Artist Fetish"

A little bit on "Artist Fetish".  There is this thing about being an artist.  It's not just me!  All artists I know have this strange behavior. It changes in the object of attention from time to time, but seems to always be there lurking under the surface.  The fetish:  well, it seems that there is always something out there that the artist "needs" and will be sure to work a miracle and bingo! your painting improves!

You know, a new brush, easel, particular color or maybe a new brand of paint will do it!  I went through the brush fetish for a long time, and the pochade box fetish (the most expensive one).

I think I am cured for now, but know it will be back....

Pastels and Watercolor

At Fremont Art Associations’ Gallery, Claire Verbiest demonstrated her preferred method of painting in soft pastel and demoed how a drippy, runny watercolor underpainting can be overpainted with pastel to produce an exquisitely realistic image. It was a wonderful demo and I got a lot out of it.  

I haven't had a chance to try out what I learned but I intend to!

4th of July at Ardenwood!

A most beautiful day to celebrate our country's birthday!  

It is always so nice to be painting while surrounded by the sounds of families enjoying each other and having fun.  I took my travel watercolor set in my picnic basket.  After checking out the activities in the farmyard, the spinning of wool, outdoor kitchen, music on the grainery porch and the various animals, I found a nice old stump, pulled out the paints and painted.  I haven't really used my watercolors for the past two years so it was nice to use them again.  I had a lovely view of the Fremont hills across the Ardenwood fields.  I did take pictures and will post them.

As lunch time approached I left to go to the gazebo area.  The band was warming up as I choose a nice dry, shady spot on the lawn (I was in Victorian dress, remember).  The lawn area was quite populated with happy picnics.  My husband arrived as the band started to play and we pulled out the fried chicken, potato salad and apple crisp from the hamper and enjoyed our picnic to the music of the gay 90's.

I took some photos to use as studies for future paintings in the "rainy times".  

As always it was so nice to enjoy the 4th with all the friends we came across.  The flow-thru tours of the Patterson House were busy as always and it was fun to have the magic show so popular on the lawn right in front of the house.  I heard the watermelon seed spitting contest and the water bragade were very popular,  I heard them!

Another wonderful Victorian 4th!

July 3rd, 2009

Ok, all ready to enjoy our country's birthday at Ardenwood tomorrow.  Fried Chicken, Potato Salad, Apple Crisp and Lemonade all ready to go - and there will be homemade ice cream at the grainery ( if I help crank the ice cream maker!). 

And my watercolors are ready to go!  I will be in Victorian dress for afternoon tours so I won't be taking my oils.  Painting while picnicking on the front lawn while listening to the band play in the gazebo and watching the children play tug of war, that is the life!

2 Day Workshop with Laura Williams

Join award winning artist, Laura Williams, for an action packed 2 day painting workshop, Saturday July 25th~26th This workshop is designed for students of all levels. Predominantly a plein air painter, Laura will demonstrate how to paint a landscape indoors quickly and relatively small. We will work from photos or even a still life in the medium of your choice–oil or acrylic. There will be a slide presentation, a demonstration of how Laura works and the tools she works with, a quick study exercise for warm-up and loosening up – a great exercise for comparing line vs. value. Focus of the workshop will include design, composition, value, color and brush work. Participants will paint and the instructor will provide personal assistance. A great workshop experience and a good time will be had by all! Laura has been teaching workshops and displaying her art work for several years throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, Yosemite, and the Wine Country. She has won several awards for her artwork. Please see her website for more information on her award winning art at: www.laurawilliamsart.com.

Dates: July 25 ~26th Saturday and Sunday 10:00~4:00

Location: Fremont Art Association Gallery 37659 Niles Boulevard Fremont, CA 94536

Fee: $150.00 for two days

Contact  Laura Williams at  415-398-2103 laura@laurawilliamsart.com

Painted at Niles Community Park!

What a nice day for painting!  I didn't come out with anything I really like but did a study and will work with it in the studio and go back for another try on location.  I just loved watching the birds dive-bombing into the water for fish.

And I even fit all my errands into my day.  

Tomorrow we wheelchair my 95 year old aunt to the park for her birthday cake and to watch the children play!

Painting at Niles Community Park!

We will be meeting at 11:30 in the School Street parking lot tomorrow!

There is a lake, fishing piers, swampy area with water cypress, view of the golden hills, ducks, birds, lawn area, view of distant hills.  Niles also has lots of small Victorian homes and is famous for the background on many Charlie Chaplin films and period cowboy movies.

Any artists out there can join us.

Next Murder Mystery is August 8

Next Murder Mystery is August 8.

Day 2 - Art in the Garden at Regan's Nursery, Fremont

Leaving the house this morning at 10am the outside temperature was 88!   The heat was not something to look forward to, but armed with water bottles with frozen water, squirt bottles with fans, lots of sunscreen, and hats we faced it squarely!  

The second day of heat brought less people out to shop for plants and art.  There were still quite a few though.  And a bit of a breeze came up every so often.  Wonderful!

Lots of good artist friends, friendly people appreciating art and great friends and familly made it a wonderful day!  but I am tired and glad it is over!

Murder!

After Art in the Garden, a rush to get home, shower and get in Victorian costume and head over to Ardenwood for a murder mystery party!  Believe it or not I was over there by 5:30, 1 1/2 hours after leaving Regan Nursery!  

I sat with a bride, she was waiting for her time to walk down the aisle to the gazebo to get married.  Laid out her train as she went down the steps.  It has been a while since I did that job!

Then I attended a murder.  All went well, the railroad man was murdered and the guests figured out the murderer after dinner and cake and coffee.  

I was tired by the time I arrived home.

Day 1 - at Art in the Garden

Regan's Nursery in Fremont, Ca is sooo beautiful especially now.  The roses are all in bloom and as you look across the nursery it is a riot of color!  Fountains  are babbling,  Musician playing, aroma from all the wonderful flowers,....and the wonderful colors of the flowers!

I met lots of great people today and hope they all had a good time and enjoyed the arts and flowers!  They were all out in our little heat wave....it was 95 in San Francisco so hate to think how hot it was at the nursery!   Thank you to whoever served the watermelon!!!

I started a painting as a demo of Niles Canyon.

So, now to get ready for Day 2!  

"Art in the Garden" this weekend!

San Gregorio Beach

Chilly and VERY windy at the beach with Cathy, Ben and Tim.  Too windy to really want to even take pictures.  We sat behind a driftwood shelter at San Gregorio Beach and ate lunch, played a bit then went home.  We were thinking it might be cooler than the East Bay....Boy, we were right!

Artist's trip to San Francisco and Galleries

Seven of us boarded BART and headed to San Francisco on a most beautiful day.  Finally a warm day! and yet not too warm....Amen!

Wonderful exhibitions by Jeremy Mann and Gregory Gandy.   Lovely studies on grays, great cityscapes!

Painting with Francesca

What a treat to paint at Ardenwood with Francesca!  Jen came down too and we had a nice lunch and then found hydrengea's to paint.

A group of us are going on the 23rd to visit galleries in SF.  It is going to be lots of fun!

We are planning  to visit the John Pence Gallery to view the works of Jeremy Mann and Gregory Gandy.  Then we will visit the Josh Hardy Gallery to see Glen Dean's works.  I am going to especially look at the grays and values.

Tomorrow my granddaughter and I are painting at Ardenwood.   She is planning on painting a picture for her dad for Father's Day.  How fun!

Trying to absorb!

Think sponge - just trying to absorb all kinds of ways to get the right values.  Just remembering to think before laying on the brush is the trick.  I always love the paint, the canvas, the scene and want it NOW! and doing before the thinking!

Antzy to Paint!

I had too good of a time at Ardenwood Tues.  I'm getting antzy again!  -need to paint, need to paint,......

Maybe this afternoon I will get a chance to look at what I did at Ardenwood and start a painting from one of my studies.  I am reworking and concentrating on values and shadow colors -trying to go another level with them.  

This week I have been so busy I have to do HOUSEWORK and obligations  before my passion.  Darn.

Thank You Conklin Bros.

Brian Halpenny at Conklin's had invited FAA artist to display their art work at the Chamber of Commerce mixer tonight.  Nice to meet so many people and receive such nice comments!

Finally, a painting day!

Sometimes so much is going on and creativity has to be pushed down for a later time.  It makes me very antzy when I don't get to let my creative side loose!  As my husband can attest...

Finally, a chance to break free!  Ahhhh

A beautiful day and a chance to paint at Ardenwood with good friends!

And, the muse of Art is finally back!  A good painting day.

Painting Mission Peak!

It was so beautiful today!  We painted at Mission Peak Park!  

Creativity and the Mental State

I have not been in the greatest state of mind, worrying about friends and family and it has really shown in my creativity!  I have tried to push it into the background but it tends to pop up anyway.  Things are starting to resolve themselves so I am beginning to relax more.  Hopefully tomorrow will be the triumph of creation over the mind!  At least I still learn while I am "practicing"  it is just a pain to know my work isn't up to snuff.  

I certainly have been busy with all sorts of other activities, graduations, grandkid events, Ardenwood, etc.  Ardenwood had free admission on Memorial Day.  Over 300 guests toured the Patterson house.  I certainly knew we were busy.  The day was beautiful and warm.  The picnic groups were certainly having fun on the lawn!  The murder mystery is Saturday - "George's Lost Gold".  Always fun.

Foxgloves

This was done from under the shade of trees and my wonderful large umbrella at a winery in Sonoma..  I certainly didn't want to add to my Monterey sunburn!

It has really become aware to me how important it is for the palette as well as the canvas to be in the shade on a sunny day.  I just can not SEE the colors with the glare of the sun.  My new umbrella is nice and large to cover canvas, palette and ME!  It has a stake that goes in the ground (if it is not rock!) and a footrest to help push it into the ground.  The umbrella itself is vented to help it stay upright in a good breeze and the angle can be changed as the sun moves without having to move the pole in the ground.  It was worth the $80!

Sunscreen is also very important.  And I learned the lesson to put it one BEFORE I start painting.  Once I start painting and the little voice in my head says "put on the sunscreen" I say "in just a little bit" then go into a painting meditative state and that little voice does not get in that Quiet Space.  -And I feel it later when I am red!  Listen, Mary Kay, get that lesson into your head! -Sorry, just talking to myself!

Movie: Local Color

The movie "Local Color" will be out in theaters June 26th.

The writer/director is George Gallo.

The movie is a semiautobiographical account of Gallo's life as an impressionist painter during the summer of 1974.

"I know of no better way to cleanse a soul than painting plein aire landscapes. Whereas people can deceive charm and flirt, nature, as my departed Dad used to say, “Is what it is.” It is my personal love, respect and awe of the sheer unyielding natural beauty of what lies around us that I am trying to bring forward in these works. It is impossible for me to stand before a mountain and not be completely aware of my mortality. It will be here long after I am gone, but at the moment in time that we meet I feel the need to not only recognize its beauty, but let others know that I tipped my hat to its glory." - George Gallo

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"It seems now, that when I first started out on this journey I had it all wrong. When I was responding to a clever flick of a brush, what I was responding to was not technique, but truth. When you really look at something and finally understand it’s nature and how it relates to everything around it, that is when you can throw that fleck of paint with assuredness.  

When you understand the very simple lesson I have just stated, then I believe you are not only on your way to painting masterpieces, you’re also on your way to a far deeper understanding of the universe. Not the universe of science, but the universe of the soul. It is in these quiet hours that you will get as close to God as you can here on earth and with a little luck and a lot of patience, come as close to happiness as you’re ever likely to know."  

- George Gallo

 

Back Home

Back home and now the weather is HOT!  Stop Whinning!  I was so glad I had brought my large umbrella to Sonoma.  After getting sunburned in Monterey I had learned my lesson.  I am really happy with the umbrella.  It went into the dirt easily and held up even when a breeze came up.

Wednesday, May 20, 10 PM at Coyote Hills to paint.

Sonoma

Lots of adventures in this last week.  I bought a new prochard and have been trying it out.  It is always interesting to try something new and get used to it.  Advantages and disadvantages.

Sonoma was beautiful.  The Art Festival was wonderful, lots of very good artists and interesting paintings.  The weather couldn't have been better, the company either!  We all had a great time.

Pacific Grove

What a wonderful day in Pacific Grove with Jen.  Perfect weather!

Coyote Hills Paint-Out Art Work May 2,09

Simone Archer was the winner of the People's Choice Award.

Coyote Hills Paint-Out Art Work May 2,09

From top to bottom, artists:

1.  Robyn Leimer

2.  Mary Kay Chicoine

3.  Laura Williams

4.  Laura Williams

5.  Edwin Bertolet

More Coyote Hills Paint Out Art Work

Top to bottom, Artist's names:

6.  Donna Arillaga

7.  David Skidmore

8.  David Dunlap

9.  Carolyn Lord

10 Bert Evens

More Coyote Hills Art Work

I am not sure of the artists on these pieces, if anyone knows let me know:

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

And yet more Coyote Hills Paint Out Work

I do not have the names of the artists that go with these pieces.  If you have them please let me know. 

If I have missed your work, I apologize. Send me a jpeg and I will add it.  

16.

17.

18.

Coyote Hills Regional Park Paint Out, May 2, 2009

Artists are always learning.  It is just part of art, you are never done.  BUT, today was a definite learning experience for a group of 25 artist participating in the Coyote Hills paint out.

We all had been watching the weather reports all week.  It had been windy and chilly and we were wishing for the week before when we were gripping about the heat.  The rain was supposed to start Friday and just scattered showers on Saturday.  Then the news kept getting more ominous.  Down right RAIN on Saturday, 1-2 inches.  Oh, well.  Artists are a brave and sometimes foolhardy group.  Everyone assembled at the park's Visitor Center for sign in, had their canvases stamped (so no one can bring in work already done and all start at the same time).  We collected our water bottles and energy bars and off we went to find the perfect place to paint.  

Just about the time everyone started to settle in and set up, it started...sprinkles first, then full fledged rain.  There were a variety of strategies to meet this foe: Rain coats, ponchos, umbrellas of all descriptions, under trees, under tents, even in the car.

Rain on a canvas board is not a good thing. And an umbrella protecting the canvas can form a little drain spout sending rain into your palette.  Oil paint and water do not mix.  The paint gets a sort of yucky texture and trying to stick it to a wet surface can be down right discouraging.   And then the poor watercolorists, what can I say!

But those perservering artists lived through it and managed to come out with some pretty great paintings.    We all have a story to tell about how to get by painting plein air in the rain!

Next years East Bay Regional Park Paint-Out will be held at Sunol Regional Park.  Pray for Sun.

And by the way, I came in 2nd in the People's Choice Awards