Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley

LA QUETE

November 13, 2020 / By


The quest started as a simple idea. I didn’t even know if I would, or even could finish it. After all, it was a commitment for a year.
I didn’t know if it would turn out worthwhile, or just a stack of sticky panels for the scrap heap. I didn’t know if anything would be interesting or worth looking at.

I didn’t know I would eventually paint ghost towns in Silicon Valley, or haunted springs, or wild beaver sign in a metropolitan city, or the worlds largest homeless camp, or the world’s first ‘plein air selfie’.

I didn’t know eventually strangers would walk up to me, give me a hug, and say I brought back their fond childhood memories of days gone by in the “Valley of Hearts Delight’.

Little did I know it would grow with a feature on NBCTV, and other TV spots, articles by major publications, multiple showings in various venues, and a book.

My painting with the prior day's sunset painting by the creek.

Seven years ago today, I started a year-long quest to paint a different “Creek and River of Silicon Valley” each week en plein air, or on location.
At the time, even finishing the year successfully was not known, but I ended up with 60 paintings of 43 different creeks all over the South San Francisco Bay area.

My bike with the painting equipment on the bench.

Discover about the quest, including a short documentary video, interactive map, and other information here–
http://www.donaldneff.com/creeks.html

The collection of 60 paintings is still intact and will be for the foreseeable future. I am still seeking venues both local, national, and international for showings, so ideas are welcome!

An Afternoon at Ohlone

March 17, 2018 / By

Quiet Cove, Garrapata, 12x16, oil on board
Quiet Cove, Garrapata, 12×16, oil on board

Perhaps I should have confessed it up front to Elizabeth, but I had had never been in an art classroom in an institution of higher learning. I have been in art classrooms at art schools, but never a college or university. Being primarily self taught the last 45 years of painting, my art comes from what I love. The only ‘formal’ instruction I have had is various workshops from artists I admire the last 15 years.

Elizabeth Blau, an art instructor at Ohlone College in Fremont saw me on a TV segment NBC Bay Area (you can watch it here if you missed it), so invited me to her painting and drawing class to talk about “The Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley”, and a painting demo.

It was a class of about 10 students, all pursuing different disciplines. After a short talk about “The Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley”, we launched into a demonstration painting. I chose a seascape in Garrapata State Park for my study. I really enjoyed the intimate setting where students scooted up right around my easel to watch me paint.

Here are some photos during my demo, some courtesy of Elizabeth. (Click on the thumbnails to see larger versions)–

Here is the painting about where I left it in class…

The painting about where I left it in class.
The painting about where I left it in class.

I touched up the painting a bit after returning to my studio which can be seen at the top of this weblog entry.

Drone On, Artist, Just Drone On

January 18, 2018 / By

John Joseph Montgomery, who some have called the ‘father of aviation’, did many of his flight tests on a hill in the Evergreen area of San Jose, over a century ago, predating the Wright Brothers flights. Montgomery Hill Park, behind Evergreen College stands as a monument to his efforts. I wrote about Montgomery and previously painted near where his historic flights took place in “The Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley” year long quest you can read about here.

I recently purchased a drone, and fittingly my first flight was by the same hill Montgomery sailed down more than a century ago. I had been contemplating buying a drone for quite a few years, so finally got a DJI Mavic Pro, a portable compact quadcopter, and rated one of the best in the industry. It is small enough to fit in the saddlebags of my Harley, but has all the features of top end professional drones.

Here is a short video composite of my first flights at Montgomery Hill. Yeah, I know it’s not like the stunning drone videos you probably have seen, but it’s a start!

So why am I writing about drones in what is primarily an art weblog? Well, besides just being lots of fun, I have some ideas on incorporating drones into my art. So stay tuned, and Drone On!

The Quest

November 13, 2017 / By

CreeksBookFrontWeb

The quest started as a simple idea. I didn’t even know if I would, or even could finish it.  After all, it was a commitment for a year.  

I didn’t know if any of it would turn out any good, or just a bunch of bad paintings for the scrap heap.  I didn’t know if anything would be interesting or worth looking at.  

I didn’t know I would eventually paint ghost towns in Silicon Valley, or haunted springs, or wild beaver sign in a metropolitan city, or the worlds largest homeless camp, or the world’s first ‘plein air selfie’.  

I didn’t know eventually strangers would walk up to me, give me a hug, and say I brought back their fond childhood memories.  

I also didn’t know it would snowball in scope and public interest way beyond my first simple idea.

Four years ago today, I started the year-long quest to paint a different “Creek and River of Silicon Valley” each week en plein air, or on location.

At the time, even finishing the year successfully was not known, but I ended up with 60 paintings of 43 different creeks all over the South San Francisco Bay area.  Little did I know it would grow with articles written by international art publications, multiple showings in various venues, and a book.  Discover about the quest, including a short documentary video, interactive map, and other information here–

http://www.donaldneff.com/creeks.html

The collection of 60 paintings is still intact and will be for the foreseeable future.  I am still seeking venues both local and nationally for showings, so if any of you have ideas for venues, please let me know!

Don Edwards SF Bay NWR Center Reception

September 6, 2015 / By

Continuing the ”Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley” year long quest.

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Technically, it’s Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge Education Center, which is quite a mouthful. There are selected paintings from “The Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley” currently on display at the center. Today, they sponsored a reception and ‘meet the artist’. It turned out to be quite fun! We had some nice refreshments, then I talked for awhile, visited, and answered a wide range of questions. Some took a guided nature hike through part of the Refuge. I talked about art, indian legends, magic, ghosts, history, flight, conservation, the environment, but mostly about the creeks and waterways in Silicon Valley. My goal was for everyone to look ‘under the surface’ of what is around them in Silicon Valley to appreciate what used to be called “The Valley of Heart’s Delight”. From what I could tell no one fell asleep, and everyone seemed to have a good time!

Just a few pictures of the afternoon courtesy of my friend, past work associate, and great photographer, Scott Loftesness. If you haven’t seen some of Scott’s photos, you should check them out here and here.

The exhibit will be up until the late fall and we don’t really have an end date yet. If you haven’t seen it, or been out to the center, it is certainly worth the trip!

Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge Exhibit

December 16, 2018 / By

During my quest of painting the creeks of Silicon Valley, I painted in many places, but almost all the creeks end up in the marshes of the San Francisco Bay in what is now called the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge. The Refuge encompasses most of the southern portions of the bay, and is a wonderful reclamation of land once used for industrial purposes.

I wrote a number of times about the area in FortySix: Don’s Sunrise Pix, FortySeven: Hunter’s Heaven, and Fifty: Ghost City

We put up 18 paintings specifically from the Coyote Creek Watershed in their Education Center today. The paintings will be on display now until the fall. A special event is scheduled for September 5, which is free, but you must sign up here.

More info can be found here.

Announcing: “The Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley, Studio Editions”

December 14, 2018 / By

Continuing the ”Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley, Studio Editions”.


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The year long quest to paint “The Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley” has been so well received I am going to continue it, however in a completely different direction. Over the next year, about once a month, I will do a larger studio painting of one of the plein air paintings done in the quest. The larger paintings will be different sizes, and not necessarily the same aspect ratio as the plein air. Some will be landscape orientation, and some portrait (vertical) as the painting requires. I will expand some into panoramas, and some just details of the original plein air.

The first painting in this new endeavor is FiftySeven: Sycamore Haven, and painted fairly close to the original, including the aspect ratio. Below is the original plein air followed by the studio painting, which is 16×20, or four times as big. Click on a thumbnail to open up a larger picture and slide show***

 

FiftySeven: Sycamore Haven, Plein Air, 8x10, oil on board
FiftySeven: Sycamore Haven, Plein Air, 8×10, oil on board

 

Sycamore Haven, Studio Edition, 16x20, oil on board
Sycamore Haven, Studio Edition, 16×20, oil on board

These studio works will be for sale. If you are interested, just email me privately at donald@donaldneff.com . I will also entertain requests for certain paintings.
 

Click this link for a map of all painting locations along with each painting.
Click on this link for a Pinterest catalog of all paintings so far.


***Email subscribers may not see all pictures. Just click on the title for a link to the online version.

The Creeks Collection

December 16, 2018 / By

Continuing the ”Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley” year long quest.


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After a little touchup, varnishing, and re-shooting all the paintings in “The Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley” quest, I made this short video of the entire collection. Enjoy it along with a little Celtic music! Click on the picture above or if not shown, this link to view the video.

 

Plein Air Magazine also wrote a short article for their weekly electronic newsletter and Plein Air Collector web site. Click here to read.

San Francisco Bay Wildlife Society posted an article about my painting of Drawbridge, an actual ghost town in Silicon Valley here.

 

Click this link for a map of all painting locations along with each painting.
Click on this link for a Pinterest catalog of all paintings so far.


The Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley, the Movie

November 12, 2014 / By

Continuing the ”Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley” year long quest.

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My year long quest to paint “The Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley” is over! 60 paintings of 43 creeks and waterways were produced.

Please enjoy and share this short video celebration of the hidden beautiful spaces in our metropolitan areas with art.

More information can be found at:
http://www.donaldneff.com/creeks.html

Click this link for a map of all painting locations along with each painting.
Click on this link for a Pinterest catalog of all paintings so far.

Sixty: …and Evening

December 14, 2018 / By

Continuing the ”Creeks and Rivers of Silicon Valley” year long quest.


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"...and Evening", 8x10, oil on boardMorning…Afternoon…and Evening. We had an almost full moon rising around dusk today, so what better way to end this quest with a view of Silicon Valley with a full moon rising over the eastern foothills. I am not as familiar with the western foothills of Santa Clara County where I wanted to paint this, so took me quite a bit of time on Google Earth, and just driving around, to find this scene. I also wanted it to be by a creek I had not painted yet.


I settled on a view from Peacock Court in the foothills above Cupertino. In the distant valley you can see downtown San Jose. The creek is Swiss Creek and is a tributary of Stevens Creek, which I have painted several times in this quest. We were above Permanente Quarry and I could hear the equipment in the distance below. As soon as I turned onto Peacock Court, guess what I saw….a peacock!

The rising moon was spectacular. In the pictures, it almost looks like a rising sun. I stayed until it was too dark to paint, and touched the painting up in the studio.

Click on a thumbnail to open up a larger picture and slide show***

I found a peacock on Peacock Court.
The rising moon over Silicon Valley.
Parked along Peacock Ct. and some nice mansions.
My easel with the almost full moon.

 

This ends the year long quest, but there is much more coming up! Just the painting part is over!

I have a special surprise coming in a few days, and there is much more after that, so stay tuned!

 

Click this link for a map of all painting locations along with each painting.
Click on this link for a Pinterest catalog of all paintings so far.


***Email subscribers may not see all pictures. Just click on the title for a link to the online version.