Keith's Garden

Keith Stover is a landscape designer and one of our members went to his garden on the Montclair Gardent Tour and arranged for us to come and paint.  It is about one acre and very beautiful.  He has a a lot of native plans but says he has branched out to put in other plants he loves and wanted in his garden.  I painted one of the inviting sitting areas with a view of his house.  He was very gracious and it was a great place to spend some time.   Karen

Keith's Garden                                                                      acrylic  18 by 24

Warm Day

Gold Hills   acrlyic on canvas 16 by 20

It was very warm  and bright at Cummings Skyway  when this was painted and my umbrella came in very handy. Karen

Cummins Skyway Canyon

Cummins Skyway Canyon, 30 x 40" acrylic on canvas

Betsy took me to the other side of the road, where the cows usually are (they were not there that Saturday). I saw a rabbit on the fire road where we set up. I wasn't sure if I would be able to return for a few weeks, and painted as fast as I could so I could finish this humongous canvas. I also used loads of medium so I could control the opacity of the color. It was a very hazy day, and the sky I originally made did not have any depth to it, so I changed it. The backlit hills are okay. I am still revising it in my studio, and will post an update when I'm done.

Blake Garden Redwood Grove

Blake garden Redwood Grove, 24 x 18," Acrylic on canvas

I missed Ling and the gang, because I arrived at 11:30 AM. I didn't feel inspired by the reflecting pool or anything else. For some reason, i didn't feel very talkative and retreated into the northern part of the garden. At the bottom, I saw a pool formed by creek water and then I saw a bench. It felt like the place was beckoning me, so I stayed. Onlookers had to leave the path to come see what I was doing, so I felt safe. I was going for the feeling of the place. I love this painting.

Between the Storms

Between the Storms  acrylic on linen  16 by 20

Last Monday we went to the Emeryville Marina on a cloudy day between storms. It was pretty grey and cold but I settled into a spot of sun and the trees acted as a wind block and painted for a few hours untill the wind picked up pretty hard. It was good to be outside.


Karen

Painting at Lake Anza

Lake Anza #2   acrylic on 22 by 28

I almost cancelled todays session because of the heavy fog but decided to go after all. It was foggy all the way to the park but once inside the fog was gone and there was even sun.  The lake was glistening.  I did this painting last week  at the lake and have been working on it in the studio.   Karen

Western Stege Marsh

This big acrylic (30 x 40") was the result of three visits. I tried a different approach, with an underpainting that was very desaturated. The buildings caught my attention, they looked so boxy and bright against this marsh environment. Then I went home and found out they were part of a turn-of-the-century explosive manufacturing plant. Unfortunately this is also what made Western Stege Marsh one of the ten most toxic places in the Bay Area. The land has been owned by UC Berkeley since the 1950's and the cleanup has been going on for the last few years. It is almost complete, yet there are signs warning passersby to stay on the bay trail because of "hazardous substances."

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

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

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

Somewhere in El Cerrito

View from El Cerrito Hillside  acrylic on canvas 24 by 36

This was done in El Cerrito sometime this summer. I think it was near the Nature Area. We went back there today and I did another one that looks similar.  Karen

El Cerrito Bay View

This painting was done from the el cerritio hill location we have been going to this summer. I was looking toward the bay with all the electrical wires and towers in the way.  Karen

Tormey in August

We have been painting in Tormey again. This one was done looking back at the town on a 20 by30 canvas. I was not sure about the dimensions of the canvas when I got it but I liked working on this size.  Karen

Tormey

This was one of those times when I was in a rush, as I had to be at a child's birthday party afterwards. I was attracted by the towering Chevron tanks looming over the one-street town. I had brought a small canvas (11 x 14"), and sat down to work with acrylics on a very hot, dry day. The biting horse nearby kicked up clouds of dust and the sheep were curious. I tried to get the right values on canvas, but my chief difficulty was the speed with which acrylics dry up on breezy summer days. I finished at home from memory. Not one of my best, but hey, at least I showed up!

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El Cerrito

We have been painting a few time in the hills in El Cerrito near the recyling site. There is a path in the Nature Area but I had too much stuff with me to go too high.  Karen

Overlooking the Bay

Finally had some clear sunny weather so we have gone back to the cemetery and also painted in a new place in El Cerrito. Both locations gave overlooks of the bay so I have been working on paintings with similar formats.  So unused to the sun that at the El Cerrito location I had too much and went home  and drank 3 glasses of orange juice.    Both paintings are 24 by 36 acrylic on canvas    Karen

Below San Pablo in Berkeley

We have been painting below San Pablo in Berkeley. There are a lot of intersting streets with a mixture of small cottages and light industry and we have just begun to explore the possiblities. This is a 24 by 30 acrylic done at the corner of Camelia and 8th Street.  We are going to go there again this Saturday.

Karen

Julie at the Hoffman Marsh

We were lucky it did not get drizzly until after our three hours were up. Julie was right in front of me and we did not have that much space.  The grassy area between Rydin St. and the marsh is not that wide. Everything was wet.

Julie paints with another outdoor painting group and joins us occasionally. She was working on a wonderful painting of the marsh itself that included the Central Ave highway 80 overpass in the background.

This is a 20 x 16" acrylic on canvas. I used a lot of matte gel for the green grass and the sky, and kept changing the marsh behind the eucalyptus trees. I may continue to revise this painting. I usually line up three or four paintings and revise them simultaneously.

Nicholl Park

This is one of the paintings I dropped off for our show at the San Pablo Gallery, Immigrant Neighborhoods. It is a well used small park with picnic areas and a skate board area. My composition is a little like a Seurat of the park with people in the shadows.  Only mine has a pitbull not a black dog.  It is 24 by 30.  Karen

4 PM, Rumrill and Market

I had finished this painting a few weeks ago, but was unable to photograph this one and several others because my camera lens was broken. It is part of the Immigrant Neighborhood series, to be shown at the San Pablo Gallery. Please don't miss the opening, this Saturday, February 26, from 1-3 pm.

I did some revisions from memory. This was a large (24 x 36") canvas, it was very cold, and so it took me two consecutive Saturdays to even get it to the point where I could revise it in my studio. Thank God for acrylics! I painted the figures consecutively. First I marked the spaces where I wanted figures, then, when I saw somebody I liked, I placed their figure in the spot I had reserved. Most were waiting for their order and stood still. The car nearest to the viewer is Karen's. The woman working inside the Los Grullenses taco truck came out to see the painting and said she loved it.