Day 63: Friday, April 15 - my son's 37th birthday

Every so often my son, an inveterate reader of interesting "stuff", sends me a link that he knows I'll like.  The following was on a list of books that depending on your interests had the "one" book that you should be reading. This is a site/book that talks about Watercolor Painting.  I spent way too much time, following the links to other sites, reading here, reading there.  Have fun with this the way I did.  I plan on spending a lot more time reading this "experience" with painting.

http://handprint.com/HP/WCL/water.html

The author is Bruce MacEvoy

The coming weeks are filled with painting shows, flower shows, gardens in bloom.

April 16-17: Descanso Garden in La Canada is having several activities and events including an art show in the main building near the entrance.
April 30: Arlington Garden's 2nd annual celebration of its Fifth Anniversary to be celebrated with an art show/sale, marmalade sale, garden tours and talks. Starts at 9:30 a.m.
April 30: Maranatha School is hosting a paintout by artists from the Mid Valley Arts League. Wonderful painters painting away. I think there's a fee to enter the school grounds.
April 29-30: San Dimas Festival of the Arts. I've been to this show several times. Fabulous art!

Day 62: Thursday, April 14

Oh my. I mentioned the fact yesterday that Arlington Garden and Pasadena are bathed in sun? I got to the Park about 10 a.m. to meet and greet painters and to try to recruit their paintings for the party on the 30th.........I am fried. I am sunburned. Never even entered my mind to wear a hat! It's just the first day of sun that all of us have stood around in. 

Painted a bit, had a great time. I think we're going to have some wonderful paintings at the Party.  There was one smart woman, parked in the shade, doing some fabulous line drawings and gentle paintings: Phyllis Kato

Have always painted in watercolor, have always painted portraits. This whole trip into plein air painting is really something. It's darn hard!!  And then a while ago I decided to try to figure out oil painting. I started a class at PCC (Pasadena City College) being taught by Jill Kiefer that's an oil painting class for total beginners.  I've actually finished one plein air painting from a photo of the Park that I don't think is all that bad.  I couldn't figure out how to get it dry so I have it in my car where it's hot, hoping that it will dry.  When I can take a photo I'll post it here.

That's all for today folks. It's 10 p.m.............and it's been a long day.

Day 58: Friday, April 8

Yesterday, Thursday, opened cold, cloudy, chance of rain, but there had been a paint-out sheduled at the Arlington Garden for some time and typical California? Wait 5 minutes and the weather changes........or is that Denver?

martha and walter mcnall

Anyway, I drove to the Garden to see who was painting and what they were painting. It turned into a glorious morning with some wonderful work. The group is led by Martha and Walter McNall and Brenda Swenson. I told them I was "pimping at the Park" in terms of trying to recruit all of the wonderful plein air painters to exhibit their work at our Arlington Garden Party, Saturday, April 30, 9:30-2 p.m.

martha and walter mcnall



brenda swenson



A few vistas of the Garden, a few painters.....

chuck kovacic



lynne fearman

Looking forward to lots of gorgeous art for sale on the 30th of April!!

This same group will be painting, again, on next Thursday, April 14th barring a rain storm.  There is also a group painting there on Wednesdays and there are always one or two people painting, walking, sitting and reading.....

You're never alone in this park.

Day 17 - many days later

Back to painting after a several weeks long hiatus. Came home from my wonderful Charles Reid class in northern California and promptly left for Vermont and my friend's wonderful old farm. 

Back to Pasadena where I've become involved with a public garden: The Arlington Garden .   At the bottom of this link is a map to the Garden. You won't believe how beautiful it is right now and probably for the next 3 or 4 weeks!

This Garden, a Mediterranean extravaganza which uses no water, is in bloom right now - absolutely spectacular.  Thursday a group of plein air painters met there to paint and they'll be there again next Thursday, the 22nd. Tuesday, the 20th,  a group of oil painters are assembling in the afternoon.  Any artist who paints in the Garden is welcome to submit their painting for sale at our 5th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, May 8. You need to contact me though so that I'll know how much hanging space we need to display these wonderful works.  The Garden will take 25% of the sale price to help fund its Foundation.  There will also be fabulous Orange Marmalade for sale which was made from the orange trees on the Garden's grounds by Waldo's Jam Company in Sierra Madre, CA   There will also be lavender sachets available, again, made by hand from the many varieties of lavender found in the Garden.  (Tooting the horn here, inviting everyone to come to the Celebration in the Garden on May 8.)

A friend alerted me this morning to a painting done in the Garden on Thursday by Marian Fortunati. Enjoy her  painting of bearded irises.     I'm hoping Marian's painting will be one of those for sale on May 8.

Have found some more fun challenges for all of us looking for "things to paint". I'll post those in my next post. 

Come join us in the Garden!  Here's my painting from that day - actually Brenda Swenson was in front of me painting one of her wonderful paintings, so I painted her.  Enjoy.