Art for Heaven's Sake - "A quiet moment of the show"

This weekend, I had a booth at the wonderful event, Art, For Heaven's Sake . This was the 30th anniversary of this successful and fun event. the Redlands United Church of Christ is the host of this event, and they use the money earned from this, for many worthy causes. There were more than 60 artists exhibiting their work. During the show, I decided to paint the view from my booth. The only difference from this view, is that there were usually much more people walking through the booth area, but I decided to make it a quiet moment, rather than a crowd of people. This is my 12x12 plein air pastel, "A quiet moment at the show".

Morning Shadows at the National Cemetery

This weekend, I painted at the National Cemetery, in Riverside CA. The Plein Air Artists of Riverside has been invited to paint there for three weekends, and then on Veteran's day, there will be an unveiling of the paintings at the administration building. The paintings will be on display at the Cemetery until June of 2010. I must say, I did not know what to expect with painting there, but I was so pleasantly surprised by the beautiful scenery that was available to paint. Because I was challenged by my Mentor, Albert Handell to paint running water, I decided to try this beautiful little waterfall that is at the entrance to the Cemetery. The fog had been quite heavy at the start, but it started to come out, and the shadows and the beautiful waterfall into the pond, was so beautiful. This is a 12x12 plein air Pastel on Pastelbord.

Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve

Yesterday I went to paint at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, which is south of Del Mar, CA. It was such a lovely day, and beautiful surroundings, painting with me were two artists friends, Terry d Chacon and Rita Pacheco. We hiked down to a view point to see this vista of La Jolla in the distance. The weather could not have been more perfect, not to cold or to hot. We all completed a painting of the vista, and then hiked back up to the parking lot. Terry and I decided to paint another painting from the top trail near the parking lot. The sun was going to set in an hour and a half, so we both had to work fast. I completed the other two paintings in this time period, one little 5x7 of the famous Torrey Pines, and the other painting, an 8x10 view of the trail, with the shadows of the setting sun. All in all a good day to paint and enjoy nice friendships.

Terry and Evelyn Paint the Zanja

This morning, a group of painters and I, meet at one of the advertised sites to paint the Zanja. This is on Walnut Street, in a beautiful back road, that runs through orange groves, and has beautiful vistas, of the mountains. Also in this area, there are about four bridges that cross over the Zanja, which is the theme of our painting event, "Along the Banks of the Zanja". This view is looking towards one of the stone bridges that is completely covered by ivy. There was a little trickle of water in the Zanja, and it was quite interesting with it's reflections of the greenery that surround it. Terry d Chacon and Evelyn Ifft were painting on the bridge, so I put them in for interest. The day was a beautiful day, with cool weather, and nice company of artists. No better way to spend the day.

Painting the Zanja - Sylvan Park

"Along the Banks of the Zanja" is the theme of the Third Annual Open Air for Open Spaces paint out. This wonderful event is a teamwork effort with Redlands Art Association and the Redlands Conservancy. Artists will paint in 8 locations where the historic Zanja remains in relatively pristine conditions. This painting was completed last Wed. in Sylvan Park, where the Zanja runs through this section of the park. There are about four bridges crossing the Zanja, and on this morning, the light was quite interesting, just hitting a few highlighted areas, and the edge of this large palm and the top of the bridge.
"Painting the Zanja - Sylvan Park" is a 11x14 plein air pastel, on pastelbord.