Donald Neff Weblog

Today was the main event for the Los Gatos Plein Air Event. I submitted three paintings the evening before to be auctioned off today. Below are quick snapshots of the three works I completed in the last couple days– “Just a Trickle” * 16×12 * Oil “Los Gatos Creek” * 12×16 * Oil “Hicks and [...]

Been painting for the last couple days in the Los Gatos Plein Air Event. As typical in these events, the artists have 2 days to paint two or three paintings, and then the works are auctioned off. The auction is tomorrow in Old Town Los Gatos. Although I have been painting for many years, the [...]

Summit Road runs at the crest and most of the length of the Santa Cruz Mountains. It is marked as California Hwy 35. Offering views of the Pacific Ocean on one side and the entire San Francisco Bay area on the other side, it is one of my favorite Harley rides, and Alice’s Restaurant is [...]

Today was the main event for the Carmel Art Festival. Judging was in the morning, a silent auction in the afternoon, awards ceremony at 5, and live auction at 6. After a leisurely brunch, I hung around the show while Josie went shopping in downtown Carmel. It was a good show. For the first time, [...]

Today was the second full day of painting for the festival, and two paintings had to be completed, framed and delivered by 8 o’clock this evening. I had two paintings from the day before, both good enough to put in the show. Today, I was going to concentrate on Point Lobos in the morning and [...]

Today was the first full day of painting for the Carmel Art Festival. During the competition, you have two days to paint and present two finished and framed paintings for auction. I headed out at the crack of dawn back to Point Soberanes, where I had been the evening before. It was a little foggy, [...]

We drove to Carmel this afternoon to participate in the Carmel Art Festival. I am writing this several days later as I did not have good internet access while at the hotel. My wife, Josie accompanied me for the entire festival this time and it was my fourth year participating. After checking into the Portola [...]

During my visit to Carmel today, the bad economy was certainly showing. It seemed every block had at least one or two empty spaces with “For Lease” signs. Thirty year old businesses had shut down. Those I talked to, however said business has been picking up the last month or so. Let’s hope that trend [...]

Did a day trip down to Carmel and Big Sur today. I do this yearly about a week before the Carmel Art Festival which I will be participating in next week. Although weather conditions can quickly change, I like to get a feel for what the weather and surf will be like next week. I [...]

Just received word the Nomadas Del Arte show at the Southwest Gallery in Dallas Texas has been extended until mid May. I have two paintings in the show, one of which is shown below. If you live in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, it is not too late to see the show! You can view works [...]