November 28, 2013

Alum Rock Park sits in the foothills just east of San Jose. Founded in 1872 with its dozens of mineral springs, it soon became nationally famous as a health destination. Stone grottos were built around 20 springs, along with bath houses, hotels, saloons, a zoo, and other facilities over the years. In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, San Jose residents and others could take the trolly from downtown east to commune with nature, partake of the mineral baths, and other attractions. All that is gone now except the stone bridges, grottos, and stairways. The park has basically ‘returned to nature’. More history can be found here. Here are a few historic photos of the park. Click on any image to see a larger version.

A historic photo of the Natorium in Alum Rock Park fed by the mineral springs.

The Trolley Station in Alum Rock Park. The trolley used to run from downtown San Jose into the park.

Alum Rock Park is a little over 7 miles from my home and Penitencia Creek flows through the park, the subject of painting number four. I painted one of the old stone bridges (built in 1913) in the afternoon. A few deer and a flock of wild turkeys kept me company for awhile. Here is a link to the location.

There is a lot to paint here and I would like to return soon before all the fall color is gone, but also need to start covering more streams!

Painting five is just outside the entrance of the park along Penitencia Creek. Eucalyptus trees always make great subjects as they reflect a lot of the local light. I painted right along Penitencia Creek Road. Here is a link to the location.

In the painting, you can see the road bed in the middle background, and a bit of suburbia in the background.

There are also a lot of good spots to paint along the creek outside the park, but will hold off as a backup in case I run out of ideas in other areas in Silicon Valley.

OK, I confess. I went to Alum Rock Park on Monday, but it was closed, so did painting number five just outside the park. I returned on Tuesday and did painting number four. I thought the title was catchy so reversed the order. I never said I would number them exactly chronologically!