Painting at Meeker Slough

Meeker Slough with Duck   acrylic  20 by 30

A few weeks ago I did this one at Meeker Slough on a linen canvas.  It was a warm day and the paint dried quickly on my pallete so I was working faster and faster towards the end with pretty thick paint.  Karen

Monday, Oct 31

We will meet at Meekers Slough in Richmond.

Directions:

From Berkeley, take hwy 80, then hwy 580 toward the Richmond Bridge.

Take the South 23^rd St/Marina Bay Pkwy exit off hwy 580.

Turn left (over hwy) on Marina Bay (1^st traffic light).

Continue on Marina Bay across Regatta (4^th traffic light).

Turn left on Bayside Drive off Marina Bay (about 0.4 miles from Marina Bay/Regatta intersection).

From the parking area, it’s approximately 1 block to the Meeker Slough.

Continue to end of Bayside Drive.  There is a small area to park (10 spaces or so + sign for public access). 

If the parking lot is full, you can park on nearby Shimada Park and walk approximately two block to the same slough.

Saturday, October 29

Pinole Park can be very pleasant once the hot summer days are over. This park is next to a suburban development, but there is a nice combination of hills, trees and open grassy areas. We will meet at the Morningside trail gate. Directions: From 80, take Appian way to the east. Continue on Valley View Rd. Make a left on Morningside Dr. Make a right on Rocky Rd. and a left on Hidden Springs. Park near the cul-de-sac and wait for the others. Some of you might want to hike up the hill, but if you don't want to go up where the trees are, bring something for the sun. There are no bathrooms or water. Please bring a cell phone.

Monday, Oct 24

We will meet at the Vista Point just before Crockett.  There are wonderful views of the strait and hills beyond. And there is beautiful color and in the ground cover all around.

From 80 take the Cummings Skyway exit and go left onto Commings Skyway then right on San Pablo. The parking lot for the Vista Point will be on your left.

Saturday, October 22

We'll return to the Meeker Slough. Kendall recommends it because "There are wonderful views of marshland and hills in the background, or in another direction you can find some industrial, or you can zero in on a small marsh creek with herons, geese, and ducks. You might want to do a bit of exploring first before deciding where you want to paint. There are amazing views of the shoreline a bit further along, the trail." These are her directions:

From Berkeley, take hwy 80, then hwy 580 toward the Richmond Bridge.

Take the South 23^rd St/Marina Bay Pkwy exit off hwy 580.

Turn left (over hwy) on Marina Bay (1^st traffic light).

Continue on Marina Bay across Regatta (4^th traffic light).

Turn left on Bayside Drive off Marina Bay (about 0.4 miles from Marina Bay/Regatta intersection).

From the parking area, it’s approximately 1 block to the Meeker Slough.

Continue to end of Bayside Drive.  There is a small area to park (10 spaces or so + sign for public access). 

If the parking lot is full, you can park on nearby Shimada Park and walk approximately two block to the same slough.

Cows at Carquinez Regional Park

Cows Overlooking the Strait  acrylic and oil stick 16 by 20

I have been working over some of my old paintings that had not come together yet.  This one I worked on with oil sticks over the original acrylic.  When the painting was done there were cows grazing in the park. I haven't seen them on our recent visits.

Karen

Saturday, October 15

This Saturday, Kendall proposed a location we visited last October, Meeker Slough. It's on the Bayside Trail, and you can type the marsh's name in the search box and find all the wonderful paintings that have come out of such a spot. She says "There are wonderful views of marshland and hills in the background, or in another direction you can find some industrial, or you can zero in on a small marsh creek with herons, geese, and ducks. You might want to do a bit of exploring first before deciding where you want to paint. There are amazing views of the shoreline a bit further along, the trail." These are her directions:

From Berkeley, take hwy 80, then hwy 580 toward the Richmond Bridge.

Take the South 23^rd St/Marina Bay Pkwy exit off hwy 580.

Turn left (over hwy) on Marina Bay (1^st traffic light).

Continue on Marina Bay across Regatta (4^th traffic light).

Turn left on Bayside Drive off Marina Bay (about 0.4 miles from Marina Bay/Regatta intersection).

From the parking area, it’s approximately 1 block to the Meeker Slough.

Continue to end of Bayside Drive.  There is a small area to park (10 spaces or so + sign for public access). 

If the parking lot is full, you can park on nearby Shimada Park and walk approximately two block to the same slough.

See you there!

Monday, October 17

We will meet at the Vista Point just before Crockett.  There are wonderful views of the strait and hills beyond. And there is beautiful color and in the ground cover all around.

From 80 take the Cummings Skyway exit and go left onto Commings Skyway then right on San Pablo. The parking lot for the Vista Point will be on your left.

Hillside Natural Area From End of Portola Dr.

You learn the most interesting things by doing a Google search with the names of a city's streets. The historical societies websites pop up, and also, the minutes from city council meetings past. And that's how I learned that I painted a former quarry by the name of Hutchinson. The story is fascinating, given that the entire street still shows traces of its past.

In any case...this was a difficult acrylic to finish. I devoted a total of seven hours to it. Somehow, it demanded a more thorough treatment than others I do in half the time. I also used a much larger canvas than I normally use, 24 x 36". I had fun painting in the company of Milada, Ling and Kendall.

Monday, October 10

We will return to Tormey.  From 80 East take the Cummings Skyway extit (26). Go left on Cummings Skyway and left on San Pablo and you will see a row of houses on the left on Old County Road. Take a left on Old County Road. We will meet at the end of the block.   

Saturday, October 8

We will return to the open area on Navallier and Portola streets, in El Cerrito. No bathrooms. Bring a cell phone, your own water. Please park along Navellier and wait for the others. There is a variety of views, among them, of the Nature Area hills, of streets that stretch across the hills, and of a lonely white house up Moeser. It may be foggy, but it could also be warm and dry. Dress accordingly. Please reply to the listserv message if you are coming. 
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Tormey in October

Tormey October  acrylic,  20 by 30

We went back to Tormey. It was a wonderful fall day with wild turkeys, goats, sheep and horses.  We made it until 12:30 when the rain started.  I did this looking looking west.  Karen

Tormey, Skyline & Corral

This was the first painting I did at Tormey, a town at the west end of the Cummings Skyway. I finished it from photos this spring. It's kind of austere, but I felt pretty good about being able to convey the sense of all those bars to the pasture. It's oil on canvas and 30" x 40." I feel the reddish toned canvas added to the depth of color, at least in the original.

A second piece I started soon after, facing the other way. Karen was set up right at the base of the telephone pole.
Betsy

Dusk, King Ranch

This is one of two paintings I made for a show at the Vallejo Maritime Museum, called Seeing Solano: Solano Land Trust through the eyes of artists, running through December. It's of a low, rocky tree-covered ridge in one of the windiest places I've ever painted. Started pleinaire, finished in the studio, it's 30" x 40" oil on canvas.

Monday, October 3

We will return to Tormey.  From 80 East take the Cummings Skyway extit (26). Go left on Cummings Skyway and left on San Pablo and you will see a row of houses on the left on Old County Road. We will meet at the end of the block.   

I found some interesting material about Tormey

The Rise and Fall of Tormey, California by Michael Tormey, May 7, 2006 (Note: Readers may find it helpful to first read the narrative, A History of Rodeo, California and the Role Patrick Tormey Played in its Early Development.) Lost to the annals of history is the small town of Tormey that once existed in the upper northwest corner of Contra Costa County, California, near both San Pablo Bay and the Carquinez Strait, barely two miles from the town of Rodeo and 28 miles from downtown San Francisco. While the name Tormey still appears on maps of the San Francisco Bay Area, today it is for the most part long abandoned, vacant land. It was at one time, however, a cozy company town that was home to hundreds of families over the course of nearly a century. Read More Karen

Today's session is cancelled

We have to cancel the session today.   We will post our upcoming Saturday locations  soon.