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Carmel Art Festival Day 3

Today was the second full day of painting for the festival, and two paintings had to be completed, framed and delivered by 8 o’clock this evening. I had two paintings from the day before, both good enough to put in the show. Today, I was going to concentrate on Point Lobos in the morning and if I got another good painting, spend the afternoon touching up and framing.

After hiking the North Trail at Point Lobos, I found my spot painting Bluefish Cove. I had painted this several times before from different vantage points and light. It was fogged in, which is what I wanted as I wanted the far rocks of the cove to appear as ghosts in the distance.

Here is the scene and my easel set up–

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The painting turned out fairly well, another possibility for the show. Hiking back to the car, I ran across several other Carmel Art Festival participants, including Alfredo Tofanelli shown below–

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I spent the afternoon touching up the two paintings I would enter and framing them, in time to drop off at the show. The pressure was off, so time to relax!

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Carmel Art Festival Day 2

Today was the first full day of painting for the Carmel Art Festival. During the competition, you have two days to paint and present two finished and framed paintings for auction. I headed out at the crack of dawn back to Point Soberanes, where I had been the evening before. It was a little foggy, but lifting and I was hoping to catch the light just right. Well, I did, and it was perfect! The fog was just breaking and the morning sun was spotlighting just where I wanted! Below are a couple shots of what I was painting.

I painted this spot for the first Carmel Art Festival–

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This was the scene I wanted to paint this morning —

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My easel set up on Point Soberanes —

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After almost completing the panorama, it was time to head to a different spot. I drove around a little, and ran into Michael Bagdonas and Robert Sandidge painting the same scene by the side of the road–

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My easel set up along the beautiful California coastline for another painting. The peninsula you see in the distance was where I had been painting earlier this morning–

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I had completed two paintings today, with a little touchup, both keepers for the show.

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Carmel Art Festival Day 1

We drove to Carmel this afternoon to participate in the Carmel Art Festival. I am writing this several days later as I did not have good internet access while at the hotel. My wife, Josie accompanied me for the entire festival this time and it was my fourth year participating. After checking into the Portola Plaza Hotel in downtown Monterey, I was off to get my canvas stamped, and maybe paint a little.

I ended up hiking out on Point Soberanes in Garrapata State Park to start a painting I had been planning for the afternoon of tomorrow, but wanted to get a head start. It was quite windy, and everything was blowing around, including my cap right into a clump of poison oak! It was impossible to paint in the high winds as my canvas board was jumping around like a jumping bean no matter which way I moved the easel. It was starting to get late, so just packed it in for the day. Below are a couple shots of my aborted attempt.

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Carmel Day Trip

Did a day trip down to Carmel and Big Sur today. I do this yearly about a week before the Carmel Art Festival which I will be participating in next week. Although weather conditions can quickly change, I like to get a feel for what the weather and surf will be like next week. I also like to scout out new places to paint, although I have pretty much covered the entire area many times!

After stopping in the town of Carmel (more about this later), eating lunch at Cafe Stravaganza, I headed down the coast and hiked around Point Sobrantes in Garrapata State Park, one of my favorite painting places. I just snapped pictures and found a few possibilities to paint next week. Below is one shot–

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I heard the iceplant were in good bloom this year, so decided to head to Pacific Grove to paint the colors. I did one 8×10 painting in a little over an hour and about the time I finished, the fog started rolling in, so called it a day and headed home.

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Carmel Art Festival

I just received word I was accepted into this national plein air show, now the fourth year in a row. The first year I entered, I was honored with Best In Oils, but nothing since. This makes two plein air shows I will be participating in May, the Los Gatos Plein Air May 28-30, and this one, May 14-17. Below is a picture I did last year for the Carmel Show.

Big Sur, California

First Rays * 12×24 * Oil

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Touch my HeART Gala

I promise this is the last post on Touch my HeART.  Since I had won 2nd place, I got a free ticket to tonights gala. By the time I got there, my three paintings were gone, chosen by someone attending.  Below are a few picts.

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Touched by MyHeart

“It was a dark and stormy night”…yes it was when I drove over to the the Touch My HeART, artists reception tonight. An unusual California downpour drenched everything on my drive.  When I arrived at the event, I was amazed by the line out the door and the crowd to get in. It was the biggest crowd I have seen at any of the Los Gatos charity events.

I donated 3 miniatures and they told me ahead of time I was honored with 2nd place…so, just a few picts.

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Sequoia Art Group

I was invited to do a demo at the monthly meeting of the Sequoia Art Group last night.  The organization is a lively and friendly group of 25 or 30, and it was a great time.

I started the demo around 8 o’clock and painted until about 9:30.  I didn’t quite finish the painting, but will probably only take me another hour or so to complete.  The demo was a 16×20 seascape of the Big Sur coast around Garrapata State Park.  Below are a few pictures from the evening.

I had blocked in the basic composition and painted the sky in my home studio before the demo.  Starting the demo–

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Here is a picture of the group during the demo–

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Some of the group crowds around to watch–

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Towards the end of the demo–

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I’ll try to finish the painting in the next couple of days and post an image of it.  Thanks to the Sequoia Art Group for having me, and I hope they took away something from the evening!

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Morro Bay

I just returned from spending the better part of the week at Morro Bay, California. My sister had rented a house there, and most of her family was there. The house was right on the beach…nothing between us and the water except a little iceplant and sand dunes.  We have had many family reunions and outings there, but usually camped at the state park.

I had taken my paints expecting to maybe do a few works for an upcoming show at Lake Tahoe this summer. They want mainly Sierra scenes, so wasn’t sure how many real plein air paintings I was going to do.

The house had a nice little outdoor alcove which was perfect to set up. Good light, and protection from the howling wind. I ended up doing a Lake Tahoe scene, and a Yosemite scene. Below are a couple photos of the alcove and my setup.

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Below is a snapshot of the Yosemite painting of Tenaya Lake, still a work in progress.

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I couldn’t resist doing one painting of Morro Rock, which was just down the beach. I set up right on the back porch, overlooking the ocean. The wind was so strong though, I only managed to do about a 15 minute color study of the rock itself, but I think was right on in capturing the atmosphere of the coastline.

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Carmel Art Festival Day 3

Today is the Carmel Art Festival‘s exhibit and sale. I had two paintings in the exhibit, shown in my last entry. There were lots of great paintings in the show. I am lucky to say I was in very good company!

The crowds were quite thin, though. My guess is less than half the number of people showed up relative to the past few years. At one time they had canceled this years show due to the economy, but then decided to go ahead with it. Sales also seemed slow, which I don’t think surprised anybody. Unlike past years when my works were bid up quite high, this year I sold only one of the two.

Below are a few shots of the show. First is ‘yours truly’ by my two paintings–

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A couple shots of the exhibit–

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After the festival ended for the day, Sandy-by-the-Sea held a reception and show for me and Stephen Sanfilippo. Here are a couple shots–

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