From April 2020, for a year, I posted on Facebook a painting each day as a brief diversion from the lockdowns and other bad news this year. Neglecting my weblog, I’ll post in the coming days some of my better posts. Some of these paintings are still available.
“Victorian Lore”, 24×12, oil on canvas, plein air.
Alum Rock Park in the foothills just east of San Jose was founded in 1872. With its dozens of mineral springs, it became a nationally famous 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, and grottos. The park has basically ‘returned to nature’.
From the “ny studiekarantæne”, I originally painted this for the Los Gatos Art Festival plein air event. The painting is of one of the remaining foot bridges across Penitencia Creek in the park built in 1913. It didn’t sell at that show, so I touched it up later in the studio. It’s also part of my vertical water series I add to occasionally you can see here– https://pin.it/5Mbc7D2
Note: this post was originally published in 2016 and updated here.
It was in November 2015 that I spent a few weeks in Japan and Thanksgiving with my son, Justin, who had lived there over three years teaching English to school kids. He works and lives in the mountainous town of Maniwa. I have visited him several times, and cannot get enough of the Japanese countryside. Yes, of course the cities are where most visitors go and great fun, but after awhile, to me, the big cities start to blend into the same.
Well, this blog entry is not about Thanksgiving day, but about one day at a school where Justin teaches…a day I will never forget. Justin rotates around a half dozen schools teaching English from Kindergarten through grade school.
The Kusakabe Elementary School principal was interested in meeting me, so I went with Justin in his car to the school for his teaching day. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to stay the entire day sitting around a Japanese school, and it was a little too far to walk home, so figured I was there for the day. After the first hour I didn’t want to leave!
Kusakabe School
It was a drizzly cloudy day.
As soon as we arrived, the principal was expecting me, and he and some teachers royally greeted me. In Japanese schools, upon entering, you take your outside shoes off, and put your inside shoes on. They have slippers for visitors, so I ‘slipped’ into those, and followed the principal to his office. We sat down in some sofas in front of his desk, and chatted a bit, somewhat in English with Justin doing a little interpreting.
A few teachers came to greet me, and before you know it, I had rice paper, ink, and a Japanese brush in front of me and everyone expecting a ‘masterpiece’. Whoa! Japanese art such as this simplifies everything into just a few strokes. I am so unfamiliar with this, I just brushed out what I had seen the day before, Kamba Falls…and it didn’t turn out well.
Kamba Falls near Maniwa, Japan
The first class of the day Justin taught was pre-school. I have never seen such a lively bunch of precious little kids eager to learn. Justin taught a few words for the day…banana, ice cream cone (can’t remember all exactly)…he put them in a song, talked, continually interacted with the children, and invited me to to come up and draw pictures of the words he was teaching on the board.
I was so impressed by one student confined to a walker, seemingly the happiest of all. I didn’t know his condition, maybe palsy, but all the other kids just constantly came over and embraced and loved him.
Watching those kids with all their enthusiasm was one of the sweetest and lovely things I have seen in my life, and it made me realize why Justin loved to live and teach there.
After that, I went to a number of other grade school classes with Justin, but after an introduction, and a little talk, I would exit the class.
I wanted to go paint the Asahi River close to the school, so walked a few blocks with my acrylic travel kit, found a bench by the river, and started to paint.
Asahi River
Like I said, it was an inclimate day, and it soon started to drizzle and found it impossible to continue.
Paint kit by the Asahi River
Heading back to the school, I asked them for a couple chairs to sit and finish the painting outside under the eves. Almost the entire time, I was surrounded by school kids asking me all kinds of questions in a few English words, using gestures, but mostly unable to communicate.
I finished the painting under the eves of the school, and at the end of the day, presented it to the principal as a gift to the school.
Asahi River, 8×10, acrylic on canvas
School was soon over, and all the school kids lined up to be dismissed to go home. The principal wanted me to stand with Justin as he spoke to the student body eager to go home. I had no idea what he said for about 10 minutes as he held that little 8×10 acrylic painting up over his head for all to see. Occasionally there were oohs, and aaahs from the kids, with everyone looking at me, and I just grinned and nodded not knowing at all what was being said.
Justin later told me what the principal said, in summary and paraphrasing —
Art is a universal language which we all can see and appreciate, and even though Mr. Neff can’t speak our language, and we can’t speak much of his, Mr. Neff brought an expression which we all can relate, enjoy, share, and bring us together.
I kinda like that principal!
EPILOGUE
The school framed the painting, and it now hangs in the entrance by the shoe racks.
From April 2020, for a year, I posted on Facebook a painting each day as a brief diversion from the lockdowns and other bad news this year. Neglecting my weblog, I’ll post in the coming days some of my better posts. Some of these paintings are still available.
“Downtown”, 16×20, oil on panel, plein air
Here is another one in the foothills above my old place in San Jose. For those familiar with the area, Quimby Road went by near the house and then up the hills, to Mt Hamilton and Lick Observatory, and then eventually to the central San Joaquin Valley. It’s a very windy road with some 15mph hairpin turns, but what views!
From the “uus stuudiokarantiin”, this view is a few minutes drive up Quimby looking back to downtown San Jose. Once you get past the city’s edge, it turns very pastoral immediately with old barns, cows, horses, and wildlife. Painting this for the Los Gatos Plein Air Art Festival back in 2013, you can read more about those adventures here— http://www.donaldneff.com/blog/los-gatos-art-festival-2013/
From April 2020, for a year, I posted on Facebook a painting each day as a brief diversion from the lockdowns and other bad news this year. Neglecting my weblog, I’ll post in the coming days some of my better posts. Some of these paintings are still available.
“Mt Pleasant”, 8×16, oil on panel, plein air, finished in the studio
I used to live right near the edge of San Jose, close to the east side foothills. Occasionally I would go up in the hills and paint, especially during winter months when the skies were more interesting.
From the “nije studiokarantene”, this piece was sixth in a plein air series of winter cloud studies from the hills above my home about about 5 years ago. The view is from Mt. Pleasant Rd looking west over San Jose and Silicon Valley. The round hill in the middle is Groesbeck Hill Park where I used to walk our Golden Retriever, and our son used to play when he was a kid. In the distant left is downtown San Jose. A few stadium lights were on, probably the PAL Sports Centre, which I indicated.
It is practically impossible to paint a sunset entirely en plein air (on location). The moment you want to capture lasts for only a few minutes. In this instance, I started the painting about an hour before the moment I was expecting, putting in as much as possible based on prior observations from the same location. When the sun hit the right spot, I furiously put down color and value notes, and minutes later the sun was down. I then finished some of the detail in the studio.
I haven’t seen Garrapata coastline this frothy in a long time. I went out with the Monterey Bay Plein Air Painters Wednesday to the coastline. It was such a beautiful day with the unusual pounding surf. Only a few artists showed up this time, and some quit because of the wind.
Generally the paintings I do on these paintout events are just for fun, and not to keep. However this one I might keep and touch up in the studio. About two hours of work.
Enjoy this short video of the pounding surf by Soberanes Point along the beautiful California coastline.
From April 2020, for a year, I posted on Facebook a painting each day as a brief diversion from the lockdowns and other bad news this year. Neglecting my weblog, I’ll post in the coming days some of my better posts. Some of these paintings are still available.
“May Lake II”, 9×12, oil on panel
Yesterday [sic] I posted a painting done at May Lake, in the Yosemite high country. If you missed that story, you can read it here — http://www.donaldneff.com/blog/yosemite-high-country/ Like I said, I originally wasn’t very pleased with these works, but they grew on me over the years, and especially now are reminiscent of my many visits to the area. From the “Studio Kwarantanna”, here is another rock study completed that same day.
From April 2020, for a year, I posted on Facebook a painting each day as a brief diversion from the lockdowns and other bad news this year. Neglecting my weblog, I’ll post in the coming days some of my better posts. Some of these paintings are still available.
Thunderbird Cove, 8×10, oil on panel, plein air
Yesterday [sic] I told two stories, one of a place and person, the other of my painting of it. Today I’ll also tell two stories, of the same place and person, but a different painting.
Yesterday my story of George Whittle Jr was not very complimentary, but that is just part of it. Whittell’s life was not all tawdry intrigue, ceaseless orgies and torrid love affairs. His enormous assets allowed him to purchase most of the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe where he built the Thunderbird Lodge in the 1930s. He resisted a formal education, traveling instead with the Barnum and Bailey Circus where he developed a lifelong love for wild animals. Whittell was made a Knight of the Order of Leopold by the King of Belgium for his distinguished service as an ambulance driver in World War I.
Increasingly reclusive, Whittell refused to develop his Lake Tahoe holdings. He donated land to the University of Nevada and Zephyr Cove, where a high school bears his name. When George Whittell died he left a legacy of pristine shoreline along with a large share of his fortune to the National Audubon Society, Defenders of Wildlife and the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Much of the east shore of Lake Tahoe is still undeveloped and now enjoyed in it’s original natural condition because of George.
I hiked down that steep east shore embankment to paint this plein air. Although I thought there was a trail, I ended up scrambling over logs, rocks, and brush to reach the shoreline. Just around the corner of the painting is Thunderbird Lodge, but not visible here. If you look at yesterday’s painting, this is from the shore along the peninsula. I originally didn’t think it was that great a painting, as it was mainly meant to capture the colors and values. When I took it to the local gallery, they thought it was wonderful. I now think it is one of my best and most accurate captures of the colors of the Lake Tahoe shoreline, and used it as the title page in my book “Plein Tahoe”.
From April 2020, for a year, I posted on Facebook a painting each day as a brief diversion from the lockdowns and other bad news this year. Neglecting my weblog, I’ll post in the coming days some of my better posts. Some of these paintings are still available.
“Thunderbird Overlook”, 12×16, oil on panel, plein air
“When men stop boozing, womanizing and gambling, the bloom is off the rose.”
George Whittell Jr.
My have times changed! A little backstory….
The first art gallery that accepted my work after going full time as an artist was in Tahoe City. They have since closed down, but in the 2000’s sold a lot of my work. I used to visit Lake Tahoe every few months, do new paintings, and drop off both plein air and studio works. This is one of the plein air pieces I did on those trips.
This painting is an overlook of Thunderbird Lodge, which I have written about before in these posts. Built in 1939, it was designed to blend harmoniously with its surroundings. But, the guy who built it might have been more interesting. George Whittell Jr. was born in San Francisco in 1881, an heir to one of San Francisco’s wealthiest families. His father was the founder of PG&E, the Northern California utility corporation, and Jr eventually became one of California’s richest people then at age 49. He built the lodge in 1935 to escape California’s higher income taxes. Yes, even back then, people left California to escape taxes!
From April 2020, for a year, I posted on Facebook a painting each day as a brief diversion from the lockdowns and other bad news this year. Neglecting my weblog, I’ll post in the coming days some of my better posts. Some of these paintings are still available.
“Hakone Pals”, 24×12, oil on canvas, plein air
Over 100 years old, Hakone Gardens in Saratoga, CA, is one of the oldest Japanese estate, retreat and gardens in the Western Hemisphere. In 1915, two San Francisco arts patrons, Oliver and Isabel Stine, intending to build a summer retreat, purchased the 18-acre site on which Hakone now stands. Inspired by her trips to Japan, Isabel Stine modeled the gardens upon (and named them after) Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park.
Having visited Hakone in Japan, I especially appreciate the namesake, and the countryside there is beautiful views of Lake Ashi and Mt Fuji.
From the “Studio Keimusho”, another “Vertical Water” painting completed for the Los Gatos Art Festival of Hakone Garden. Look at the painting and can you guess why it was named “Hakone Pals”??
From April 2020, for a year, I posted on Facebook a painting each day as a brief diversion from the lockdowns and other bad news this year. Neglecting my weblog, I’ll post in the coming days some of my better posts.
“Merced Reflections”, 16×8, oil on panel, plein air
Several years ago I started a series called “Vertical Water”. I add to the series occasionally with both studio and plein air works. This one was painted en plein air on Swinging Bridge in Yosemite Valley, Feb 2017. It was quite cold, so I touched it up and finished it in the studio. That year was a great trip as I visited my painting on display in the Yosemite Museum, saw the firefall, and executed some good paintings. From the “Studio Börtön”, you can see more vertical water paintings here: https://www.pinterest.com/next…/the-vertical-water-series/ You can read about the trip and enjoy a short video here: http://www.donaldneff.com/blog/fire-water-and-ice/
