April 16, 2023

At first I thought it would be a good challenge, a little out of my comfort level, but maybe some fun.  Later on, wondered what I might be getting myself into! 

I volunteered to paint with the Monterey Bay Plein Air Painters at the Old Monterey Foundation Downtown festival in conjunction with the Monterey Museum of Art Block Party and  the Monterey History and Art Association’s Jo Mora Day, yesterday, April 15th.   Downtown Monterey is checkered with old buildings, adobes, and secret and not-so-secret gardens, some centuries old.

We were supposed to paint around Old Town Monterey, and then display the paintings in the afternoon at the block party.  Architecture, buildings, etc. is not usually what I paint, nor do I consider my self proficient at it.  As a son once said many years ago, “Dad, your buildings suck, but you are getting better”.  As we got closer to the event, the instruction sheet says they will assign us a location to paint!  Uh-oh!! I don’t even get to choose where to paint!!!

Arriving for check-in on a cloudy morning, my assigned spot was Casa del Oro Garden.   I had actually not been to this garden, but as it turned out, there were several spots appealing to me to paint.  I chose the old adobe wall and gate behind the Pacific Hotel, and close to Debra Nichols, Membership Chair of MBPAPA.  About 15 MBPAPA artists were participating.

Since it was overcast, but supposed to clear, I took my time the first few hours, painting everything but sunlight until the sun came out, and then finished the painting in a little over 3 hours.  They also opened the gate, showing the inside garden, which I decided to paint in, and enhanced the piece.  It was probably too late to start another painting, so left it at that.

The festival coordinators didn’t specify if we should frame the paintings or not, but I only had one frame in the studio for the size of the canvas, so framed it. As it turned out, the painting and frame seemed to really go together, and later on a number of spectators remarked as such.

Dropping off the piece at the festival for display, it was quite an active event!  The downtown block party was jammed with people, display booths of all sorts, food galore, and live music.  

My piece won first place, and also sold! Maybe I should start painting more architecture!