The Santa Clara Parks and Recreation Department is putting on a plein air paintout and show, which I found out about mid-way through the event. There was about two weeks to paint Martial Cottle Park en plein air for the show and since there was a little time left, decided to join in…partly because I am now known in the area as a painter of Silicon Valley due to my year long quest, “The Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley”…plus it’s only about a 20 minute drive from the house. I later I found out a lot of my artists friends didn’t find out about it either until it was half over.
Martial Cottle Park is one of the newest county parks, and one of the last remnants of the agrarian legacy in the Santa Clara Valley, once known as the “Valley of Hearts Delight”.
I went out last Monday to register and paint in the park, it was cloudy, with just an occasional thinning so the sun could break through a bit. I first decided to paint the main barn from a picnic area.
Here are a few shots of the morning (click on a thumbnail to see a larger picture)—
Later, I parked along Snell Ave, and painted the old home the Cottles used to live in. I don’t paint architecture much, so was a bit of a challenge. (click on a thumbnail to see a larger picture)—
At this time, I don’t know which, if any paintings will be in the show, but just dropped them both off. The paintings will be shown at the Santa Clara Government Center, Gallery at 70 West Hedding St. San Jose (8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.) which is the same gallery that exhibited “The Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley” several years ago. There will also be a reception at the park May 6, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. More information can be found here.
An online display and voting for people’s choice award will be made available, so stay tuned!