How It Works

The East Bay Landscape Painters (EBLP) is an informal group of artists that meets weekly. Karen Zullo Sherr and Rebeca Garcia-Gonzalez founded this group in 2007. Betsy Kendall and Sharon Hind-Smith are other, more recent volunteer coordinators for EBLP. Sharon is the current group's coordinator. The Coordinator is a volunteer and as such receives no compensation for this work other than your patience and cooperation. 

Membership 
EBLP is a peer artist group. We treat each other as colleagues, regardless of our painting experience or background. All levels and media are welcome. There are no dues and no admission requirements. The only requirement we have is that you paint with us. Studio painters may take photos, but should do at least some of their painting in situ. To keep the atmosphere encouraging and open, we do not teach each other or hold structured critiques either, although this should not prevent members from engaging in constructive feedback if they are asked for it and if they so desire.

Join Our Mailing List
Enter your e-mail in the box below to become part of our Google Group and
 receive weekly e-mail announcements with the locations and times. You can change your email preferences at any time by signing in to Google and visiting the group's page. We do not give our list to anyone or promote any commercial venture. The only thing we promote is our own members' landscape painting shows. 


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Our mailing list is not public. We do not share your account with third parties.

The Sessions 
Our non-instructional painting sessions last about three hours, and take place on Monday afternoons. During the winter (Nov-March) we meet at noon. During late spring, summer and fall we meet at 1:00 pm. Members leave the meeting location promptly in search of painting spots. For that reason it is a good idea to RSVP and arrive within ten minutes of the start time, as the painting location can change depending on the environment or if by consensus, the group decides the spot is too windy, too hot or not safe. If this happens, we will be able to leave you instructions, if we know you are coming.

Locations 
We do not announce the locations on the blog for safety reasons. Locations are announced by email at least two days before the session. The Coordinator tries to keep the wishes of the group in mind. Sometimes the weather determines where we'll go. Sometimes it is experience. We try to return at least twice in a row to painting locations, unless the spot proves unpopular. 

Anyone can nominate a location. It is as easy as sending the Coordinator an e-mail with the directions. No bathrooms or water nearby are required. Our only requirement is parking for five to ten cars near the painting spots. Locations should be accessible to  a wide range of people, so we try to go to areas that do not require much time walking or extraordinary hiking abilities. 

Cancellations
Cancellations usually occur because of rainy weather, or on rare instances, because no one has RSVP'd (see the last item on this page). A cancellation is always announced by e-mail at least an hour before the session. This is why it is important to check your e-mail and/or the blog before leaving your house. We always attempt to return to the same location the following week if weather has been the culprit.

For New Members
If you are planning to paint with us for the first time, let us know you're coming by RSVPing so that the group can wait for you at the meeting place. Once there, try to introduce yourself the first (and even second) time. When choosing painting spots, we try to stay within eyesight of another member. When you get ready to leave, let us know so that we don’t have to search for you (we do a head count at the end). 

Photos
We take photos of our members at work and we post them on social media without a name attached. If you'd like us to promote you with your name, please let us know. No photos will be taken or posted without a member's consent. We also welcome photos of your work, which we post on this blog. To submit photos of your work, please send a good quality photo to our coordinator via email, along with its title, your name the way you'd like it to appear, media and dimensions.