In and around Berkeley.

Karen pointed out today that it's been a long time since we posted to this site. Boy is she right!


One of my goals for the past year has been to learn to feel comfortable painting in a small format. I have a bias toward larger scale, because it allows for ample movement of my brush, and shows off gesture so beautifully. I wanted to create paintings with a physical presence in spite of their small size.

It has taken quite a bit of time to work toward this goal.

Betsy Kendall, Trail Crossing, at Urban Ore , 18" square, Oil.

Trail Crossing goes back to last year's outing at our local construction junkyard. The yard is surrounded by interesting construction supply businesses and warehouses. Plus you can see the hills to the east.

 Betsy Kendall, Tilden Trees, 16" square, oil.

We all tried various views of Tilden Park from a rise in a popular dog-walk trail. Lots of pines and redwoods give way to a view of golden grass and ridgetop trees. Interesting changeable light, and some stressed conifers turning red-brown in bits made it interesting.

Betsy Kendall, Gateway, University Village, 18" square, oil.

Gateway was one of three I tried at the end of 6th Street in Berkeley, where a park marks a "daylighted"creek, and international families stroll in and out to the University's student housing. Albany Hill is seen in the distance.

I was sitting in the middle of the sidewalk, and everyone was very friendly and curious. I also saw a Belted Kingfisher perched above the little creek (behind me in this painting), looking for fish in this new hunting-ground.

Only Anytime, 16" square

Only Anytime was from one of the group's trips to the Berkeley waterfront park, near a lagoon where people row. Lots of parking restrictions! But trees and greenery, and wading birds, too.

Boynton St., Berkeley

The narrow Boynton St. snakes its way through the Berkeley hills, leaving little space for neighbors to park their cars. We had to set up shop on the sidewalk. Others tried the stairs leading from Maryland to Boynton, striving to capture a view of the bay. This was a smaller oil, 16 x 20." I used a lot of stand oil to work faster than usual, since I had challenged myself to get all nine cars in this painting. I worked from the background towards the foreground, from the more distant cars to the closest ones. By the time I got to the Volvo in the foreground, I was tired.

Figure and Landscape Show in Berkeley

I want to thank all the landscape painters and blog followers  that were able to get to my opening at the Firehouse North Gallery in Berkeley on Friday night.The show included some of the urban landscapes done in this group including this one from near Urban Ore in West Berkeley that I don't think I ever posted and some from Tormey that I know were posted on this site late last summer.

You can see some pictures from the opening on the  Firehouse North Blog as well as see the schedule of when the gallery is open in case you have a chance to get there and see the show.  I enjoyed it but am glad it is over and eager to get back to painting.

Karen

Jo Ann Dr From Fairmead Park, El Portal

This painting is a living testimony of my love of cars. Not of them as vehicles, but cars as rolling polychrome sculptures. I have never included so many cars and truck in a painting of this series. This acrylic on canvas must be 24 x 30," and was done during one of the last Saturdays in the fall. I revised it at home. I like the two bright sidewalks, leading the eye like runway lights.

Rumrill and Market

It was a very cold wintry day between storms when I worked on this near the taco truck in the parking lot of the hamburger stand. I came back next week and finished it and the weather was pretty much the same. I was very happy ther was the same truck there again and I realized after awhile that the truck was owned by someone in the taco truck. It is a 24 by 30 canvas.

On the Top of McBryde

I have done a painting of the bottom of McBryde where it reaches San Pablo and when we went to Alvarado Park I decidedto do a painting from the park entrance of the top of McBryde even though it was in the full sun.  It is an 18 by 24 canvas.  Karen

McBryde and Mclaughlin

It was so great to be back painting after all the work putting up our figurative show.  But the figure was on my mind an I managed to get one into my painting of this corner on McBryde just half a block up from San Pablo. It is an 18 by 24 acrylic.  Karen

Tormey

It turns out we were not in Selby but in Tormey.  Across San Pablo it is Selby but the row of  houses where we were painting is historically a town called Tormey.  It is all considered part of Crockett now I was told by some of the residents on the block.  It is a wonderful painting location with hills and houses, goats and horses and many varied views.  I am still working on this painting but wanted to post it because I gave out my card with our blog address on it to some of the people that lived in the houses I was painting.  We plan on going back next week. It is 24 by 36 and large to finish in one session. Karen

Below San Pablo

There is a lot of possibilities for paintings below San Pablo Ave.  On some of the side streets on Saturday it is pretty quiet. I worked on a large canvas- the largest I have done outdoors and although not finished I like the rough quality it has so I am worried about working on it again and loosing that  and may start another instead next week. This painting was done on Cedar at 2nd Street. It is 24 by 36.
Karen

Art and Monster Trucks at Port Costa

Okay, they were irresistible. Not the trucks themselves, but their reflection on the parking lot's deep puddles of dirty water. Karen and I noticed them at the same time and decided to paint them, but I had a square 20 x 20" canvas and had to make the composition work. I jumped on my truck bed and found it gave me a good view of the puddles. I also became an unwitting participant of the hotel's gossip from this vantage point. Just when I thought I was going to spend a wonderful half hour rendering the pink truck, a man who was going fishing parked a big 350 Ford right in front of the pink art truck. I promptly got off my platform to beg the good man to move it, and he obliged (thank you!). Karen got a good laugh from the whole episode, which she watched from a far corner of the lot. I ended up moving the bare mossy tree to the left, because it was sitting right in between the two trucks, but I left the rest pretty much the same way it looked. Rebeca Garcia-Gonzalez

Yellow Building at Port Costa

Port Costa has many things that I find interesting to paint. I love the hills nearby also. I had a great view across the parking lot and could watch the people coming and going. Having the buildings and the hills beyond and the cars in front let me play with shapes and colors until I liked the balance of abstract and representation. It is a 18 by 24 acrylic on canvas. Karen