Sonoma Plein Air-Day 3

Apres Mardi, le deluge! I woke up on Wednesday morning to the sound of rain on the roof. After spending many days painting in my car during the previous Plein Air events, I decided to find a nice cafe and check email. Finally around midday it let up a bit, so I headed over to two of my favorite barns in Lakeville. I stayed in the car, just to be safe and captured this misty view.
Last year I painted the barn at Vadasz vineyards. At that time the barn was barely standing, with lots of shrubs and trees inside and out. So I wanted to do it again. However, the barn was completely redone and the area re-landscaped. There was even an outbuilding blocking my previous view. A beautiful job, but it had lost the appeal of the previous version. So I walked down the hill to their pond, and did a small painting. The clearing skies were fantastic.
By this point on the third day, after ten paintings, my energy was flagging. So I headed over to the entrance to the Sebastiani mansion. There are a couple of Chinese lion statues that guard the entrance. I wasn't totally satisfied with last year's attempt (in the rain) so I decided to try again. I'm getting there. I should probably try it sooner in the week when I'm not so tired to see if I can do a better job. It was fun nonetheless.

Sonoma Plein Air-Day 2

Tuesday dawned beautifully and I got going around 6:30. After driving around a while, I found this beautiful eucalyptus on a very quiet street. Many of the neighbors, including the owners of this tree, were very interested to see what I was up to. The only drawback was that the tree was completely lit by the sun. I do prefer backlit objects, but this couldn't be helped. It was a beautiful morning to paint.
We had lunch scheduled up Highway 12, so I headed over to the Pagani Barn, which was close to the lunch spot. The sun was now quite high overhead, so I had to use my umbrella for the first time. I was using pre-existing frame sizes this year, so I chose the largest of the group. This may have been a mistake. Due to the warmth and dryness the washes were drying very fast. Nonetheless I worked quickly and was fairly happy with the result.
I finished the barn with about an hour left before lunch. I overshot the driveway for lunch and turned around in the Kenwood Spa parking lot. I saw this wonderful vine covered building. After weighing the difficulty of painting in an hour, I decided to go for it. A nice little sketch.
After lunch I headed over to the Bartholomew Park winery, one of my favorite places. I scoped out the gazebo last year, so I headed over to it. The gazebo can be overwhelming, so I chose a piece of it, mostly featuring the beautiful trees and lawn around it. By this time, the fourth drawing of the day, I was getting a bit tired. At 5:30 the Quickdraw event started, so I headed home and shut my eyes for about fifteen minutes, before heading back to the Plaza for the Quickdraw.

Sonoma Plein Air-Day 1

After hearing that rain was forecast for Wednesday, I registered first thing on Monday to get going early. I started with a painting of the Sonoma Plaza fountain, which has been my first painting each of the last two years. With everything backlit, it makes a nice composition, and the water from the fountain sparkles. This has made a nice series, seeing the slight landscape changes from each year.

After a quick lunch with a sandwich from the Boulangerie, I once again surveyed the Plaza and found the Bear Flag sculpture to be in the sun. I have wanted to do this painting before, but the statue is surrounded by trees and is rarely sunlit. Once again choosing a backlit vantage point, I went to work. I rearranged some of the trees to strengthen the composition. Everything went quite smoothly, and I was pleased with the result.

I decided this year not to drive around a lot, so I stayed in the Plaza and went over to see if I could find a way to do the Sebastiani Theatre. I had painted it in silhouette many times, but avoided painting it as the subject. Generally I try to avoid specific building "portraits". They rarely make strong paintings. I usually catch a piece or make them secondary to the overall composition. But this time I succumbed. I tried to direct the eye to the sign and the opening. The tower though is so strong an element it is hard for it not to be a major element. I'll have to try a different approach next year.

Sonoma Plein Air 2011

Next week is the 2011 edition of Sonoma Plein Air. I'll be spending the week painting the sights of Sonoma County. The show of all of the work by over 35 artists is next Saturday, May 28th on the Sonoma Plaza from 10-5. As always, it should be a great show.

This year I'm also doing the watercolor demonstration at 12:30 on Saturday. I'm substituting for Dick Cole while he recovers from some recent surgery. Some big shoes to fill.

And the long term forecast, unlike the last two years, is for no rain!

The Artist's Magazine

I'm pleased to see my work in the new issue of The Artist's Magazine. The article is entitled "Running Water" and explores the use of fluid acrylic and freeflowing watercolor. In addition to my work, three other painters are featured, my friend Robin Purcell (cover artist), Dale Laitinen, and Mark Workman.

The editor, Maureen Bloomfield, chose one of my paintings, Reflections, for use in the magazine's Close-Up feature. I go into detail about how I paint one section of this painting.

Au Revoir, Mes Amis

My six week run at the Thomas Reynolds Gallery ended over the past weekend. It was a great experience, meeting many people and introducing many of them to my work.

Thomas Reynolds was great to work with. Eleven paintings found new owners. Ten of those are shown here. It's sometimes hard to let go, but I trust the buyers will be pleased to look at them every day.

The gallery is going to continue to display several of my "California" paintings in one of the gallery rooms. I will be sharing with this month's showcase artist, Ken Auster, a master oil painter from Southern California. Please visit www.thomasreynolds.com for more details.

Los Angeles Times and the California Art Club

Last Sunday the LA Times ran an article on the 100th anniversary of the California Art Club and the current exhibition at the Pasadena California Art Museum.

I'm quite flattered that they published my painting, Fountain, Sonoma Plaza, as part of the article. It's also nice that Brian Blood's moody cypress painting was also included.

I grew up with the LA Times always on the breakfast table. This is quite cool.