Sal Pizarro, wrote a short blurb in his column in todays Mercury News.
In the bustle of Silicon Valley, it’s easy to succumb to the notion that the beauty of the Santa Clara Valley has been displaced by industrial parks, strip malls and the always-dreaded sprawl. ….
You can read the rest here.
I was invited to a press preview of the upcoming Breath of Plein Air show starting this weekend in San Jose Historic Park. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality and variety of the plein air work in the show. It is amazing the interpretation of subject matter and colors you can find just around this urban area.
A number of artists in the show came, and Sal Pizarro, a columnist in the local San Jose Mercury News was also there. I mainly talked shop with the other artists & enjoyed the wonderful snack buffet.
A public reception is on schedule for this Sunday. Hopefully you will come out and see the show! Below are a few shots of the preview.
The show is in an old historic home in the park…
Several of the artists, left to right, Andy Ballantine, Rebecca Osgood, and Jill Arnone (PR person for the exhibit).
From left to right, Sarah Puckitt (curator), Sal Pizarro (columnist), and myself in front of one of my paintings.
When doing plein air work, it is usually wise to stick to your original plan. Sometimes the light may change, but if you change a painting along with it, the entire thing may not work. I affirmed this lesson the other day…
Alum Rock Park, founded in 1872, was the first municipal park in the U.S. state of California. Located in a canyon in the Diablo Range foothills on the east side of San Jose, it is fairly close to my home. The Los Gatos plein air group was painting there today, so joined them.
The park has many things to paint. Penitencia Creek winds its way through the canyon, and there are plenty of century old bridges, rock formations and hillsides. It was cloudy, but the sun would peek through occasionally lighting the distant hill side. I decided to paint one of the foot bridges in shadow with the sun catching the hillside behind it…
The painting started out well, but as soon as I finished the lit hillside and was halfway done with the bridge, the cloud cover lifted, and the bridge was now bathed in light…
So, I changed it. Bad decision. The bridge just didn’t look right. So, I scraped it off and repainted it in shadow. The entire painting is probably a scraper, but it also taught me a lesson. Below is a quick snapshot…
And one final picture of some of the Los Gatos painters.
I guess the city of Carmel threw a fit when the Carmel Art Festival was canceled, so it is back on! You can read more on their web site, but the show was originally canceled due to the economy. I guess the show planners didn’t consider the economy of the town in their original decision! The festival brings in lots of extra income to the hotels, restaurants, and other businesses.
Hope to see you there! Below is one of my entries from last year.
Meanderings * 12×24
Oops, I pasted the wrong URL in the last post. It is fixed, but some RSS feeds did not pick up the corrected post. The correct link is–
Although this weblog is mainly about painting, it is also about art and places in general. I thought this short movie by Ross Ching so compelling, just had to pass it on. It is shot entirely with a digital still camera. Check it out…
http://www.rossching.com/eclectic-20
