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

----

"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!