Verde Artist Guild Blog

Join us for a pain-out this Summer and Fall. Paint-outs begin around 9am, and run as long people want to stay. They are not structured. Bring work for critique if you like…ask for demo from one of the experienced painters…come and enjoy yourself with company of fellow artists. By the way, we can’t predict the weather this far in advance (:-) so please use your own judgement. We tend not to paint in the rain or heavy fog…

• Sunday, June 8th, Lake Merced
• Sunday, July 13 Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge
• Sunday, August 10, Burrell School Vineyards and Winery
• Sunday, August 31, Hidden Villa, Los Altos
• Sunday, September 21, Alameda, TBD
• Saturday, October 18th, 9:30AM-on, Crissy Field, San Francisco

Sunday, June 8th, Lake Merced

Click here for directions.

Sunday, July 13 Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge

When: Sunday, July 13
Where: Don Edwards SF Bay National Wildlife Refuge

It is located near the Dumbarton Bridge toll plaza in Fremont at the eastern end of the bridge. The visitor center is perched on a hillside above miles of salt marsh, tidal sloughs, mudflats, and salt ponds. Inside you will find wildlife exhibits, an observation deck and restrooms. The Refuge is at the southern end of San Francisco Bay and is surrounded by uplands, marshes, salt ponds, and a freshwater tidal slough. In July it should be clear of fog and is an interesting site. I prefer the first parking lot, looking east, but the views from the top by the visitor center are good too.

www.fws.gov/desfbay/index.htm

Directions: From Highway 84 (at the east end of the Dumbarton Bridge), exit at Thornton Avenue. Travel south on Thornton Avenue for 0.8 miles to the Refuge entrance on the right. Turn right into the Refuge. The first parking lot is to your right. To get to the Visitor Center, follow Marshlands Road to the stop sign and turn left into the parking lot. It is at the top of the hill. Additional bathrooms are below the center nearer the Bay.

Sunday, August 10, Burrell School Vineyards and Winery

When: Sunday, August 10,
Where: Burrell School Vineyards and Winery

Burrell School Vineyards and Winery is just over an hour south of San Francisco, halfway between San Jose/Los Gatos and Santa Cruz. Located at 24060 Summit Road, take Highway 17 to Summit Road and go 3.5 miles east/south from the intersection of Hwy 17 and Summit Rd. Look for the big red Schoolhouse on the hill beyond the white fence.

Burrell School’s origins date back to 1854 when Lyman J. Burrell settled the rough wilderness that is now home to our winery and Estate vines. Carrying on the more than 130 year old tradition at the School, David and Anne Moulton began development of the Estate vineyard in 1973. At a 1,600 foot elevation, the site faces to the southwest. Soils are a complex mixture of loam and shale due to our close proximity to the San Andreas Fault.

Sunday, August 31, Hidden Villa, Los Altos

When: Sunday, August 31,
Where: Hidden Villa, Los Altos 26870 Moody Road Los
Altos Hills, CA 94022 Phone: (650) 949-8650
map:

Hidden Villa is a nonprofit educational organization that uses its organic farm, wilderness, and community to teach and provide opportunities to learn about the environment and social justice. Hidden Villa stretches over 1600 acres of open space in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, about 40 miles south of San Francisco. Our mission is to inspire a just and sustainable future through our programs, land and legacy.

Sunday, September 21, Alameda, TBD

When: Sunday, September 21

Where: TBD

Saturday, October 18th, 9:30AM-on, Crissy Field, San Francisco

When: Saturday, October 18th, 9:30AM-on
Where: Crissy Field

Crissy Field is the area along the northern shoreline of the Presidio of San Francisco. There are many subjects to paint here, including a marsh (with a distant view of the Golden Gate Bridge), beaches, historic buildings, etc. Parking, bathrooms, and a small cafe are on site.

Click here to see the area:
http://www.parksconservancy.org/visit/park.asp?park=14

Directions to Crissy Field Center
603 Mason and Halleck Street, Presidio of San Francisco
phone: 415.561.7690

In San Francisco

1. North on Van Ness Avenue
2. Left onto Bay Street
3. Right on Laguna to Marina Blvd.
4. Follow Marina Blvd. past Marina Green, bear right into the Presidio
5. You’ll be on Mason Street and Crissy Field Center is on the left, at the corner Halleck

From North Bay

1. Follow Highway 101 south across the Golden Gate Bridge to San Francisco
2. Take the Lombard/Downtown exit
3. Take your first right into the Presidio
4. Take an immediate right onto Gorgas Ave.
5. Turn right on Halleck St.
6. Crissy Field Center will be on the left, where Halleck meets Mason

From the South Bay

1. Take Interstate 280 north to San Francisco
2. Take the 19th Ave/Highway 1 exit
3. Follow 19th Ave northbound
4. 19th Ave will turn into Park Presidio
5. After the tunnel, Park Presidio will meet the 101 freeway
6. Stay in the right lane towards the Downtown/Marina exit.
7. Continue in the right lane and take Downtown/Lombard exit.
8. Take your first right into the Presidio
9. Take an immediate right onto Gorgas Ave.
10. Turn right on Halleck St.
11. Crissy Field Center will be on the left, where Halleck meets Mason

If you’re reading this blog, chances are you’re familiar with social networks, like Facebook, MySpace, etc. I’ve been following Facebook for a while (as part of my role at Wells), and think it has a lot of potential to connect people/groups in much more meaningful ways than MySpace. So, I’ve set up a group called “Plein Air Painters“, and I’d love you to join us!
The group is focused on the art of painting “plein air”, outdoors in natural light. Membership is restricted to plein air artists, of any level. This is a place to learn, make connections and share your experience. We’ll be able to start online discussions, submit photos of paintings to share or critique, and list events–like shows, paint-outs, workshops, and so on.

Here’s how to join:
If you’re not a member of Facebook,

1. Click here to register
2. You’ll then need to check your email for a confirmation from Facebook, click the link in the email to confirm with Facebook.
3. Click here to visit the group.
4. Click the “Request to Join Group” link on the right, below the painting.

If you are a member, click here to visit the group, then “Request to Join Group” link on the right, below the painting. Here’s what the page will look like… See the link “Request to Join Group” under the painting, below right:

The month of May promises to be a most exciting month for plein air artists. Julia will be exhibiting her paintings and participating in several plein air festivals in Northern California.

Julia has been invited to participate in “Painter’s Eden”, a three day plein air event at the prestigious Christopher Queen Galleries in Duncan Mills along the Russian River. The exhibit and sale will be Sunday the 4th of May, some of the finest landscape artists will be represented.
www.christopherqueen.com/events.html

Julia will have works at the Open Studio of fellow Portola Gallery artist, Alice Weil, in Menlo Park, Saturday and Sunday the 3rd and 4th of May and the following weekend. Visit www.SVOS.com for detailed information. The Portola Art Gallery several blocks away, will be featuring works inspired by the beautiful gardens of Allied Arts Guild all month and will have a reception on the 10th.

Cynthia and Julia will both be participating in the renowned Carmel Art Festival this year. The Exhibit and Awards will be on Saturday the 17th of May in downtown Carmel. Many of the galleries will host special exhibits and demonstrations during the weekend. The paintings will remain on display through Sunday. www.carmelartfestival.org/

Finally, the last day of May Julia will join forty of the country’s best landscape painters in the gardens of Copia in Napa Valley for the first Napa Valley Art Festival. The artist will have plenty of room to display their favorite new works for sale and jurying. www.wwwpallas.com/ArtFestival/

We hope you can make it to one or more of these exciting art venues. The weather has been great for painting and the works should be fabulous.

The painters that braved the wind at Pescadero Beach last Saturday were rewarded with stunning clear skies and deep shadows. Kathy, Ed and Julia enjoyed the company of several new painters.

For our April paint-out, we’ll be painting at Pescadero State Beach (the parking lot directly across from Pescadero Road).  The beach has a mile-long shoreline with sandy coves, rocky cliffs, tide pools, fishing spots and picnic facilities.   Across the highway is Pescadero Marsh Natural Preserve, a popular spot for bird watchers and other naturalists.  We’ll paint in the morning (starting around 9:30am), and get together for a bagged lunch and optional critique afterwards.  There’s also a small market with a deli in town, so you can pick up lunch there.

The Reserve is a refuge for blue heron, kites, deer, raccoons, foxes and  skunks.

Directions

The beach is located 14.5 miles  south of Half Moon Bay on Highway One.  We’ll meet at the third parking lot south of Half Moon Bay, directly across from Pescadero Road at 9:30am.

Seasons/Climate/Recommended  clothing

The weather can be changeable; layered clothing is  recommended.

The Verde Artist Guild will be hosting a paint out October 27 at San Francisco”s Conservatory of Flowers, JFK Way, San Francisco. Prominently situated near the eastern end of Golden Gate Park, this gem of Victorian architecture opened
in 1879 and is North American’s oldest existing public conservatory. A city, state and national historic landmark, the Conservatory remains one of the most beloved attractions to in the park. Across the street is the tree fern garden with additional painting subjects.

Web address is http://www.conservatoryofflowers.org/

We will meet at 9:00 a.m. then break for a bag lunch and critique if desired.

Hope to see you there!

Directions from the South Bay (HWY280);
1. Take Highway 280 north: stay in the left lanes and take the Golden Gate Bridge exit onto 19t Avenue (north).
2. Stay on 19th Avenue for a little more than 3 miles.
3. Turn right (east) on Fulton Street.
4. Follow Fulton to 8th Ave. and make a right.
5. Turn left on John F. Kennedy Drive and follow this to the Conservatory, on the right.

Parking - The streets which surrong the Conservatory provide free parking limited to 3-4 hours.

Julia will once again be participating in the Preserve Lamorinda Open Space Art Show, a benefit to preserve the remaning natural environment . The exhibit will feature artists from the Bay Area whose works depicts the beautiful rolling hills and marine estuaries, artists that are all making an effort to keep these places safe from development. A portion of the sales go to that effort.

Date: Sunday, September 30
Time: The show will open to the public from 10 am to 5 pm
Location: The Art Show will take place at St. Mary’s College in Moraga.

We will be set up outdoors on the lawn next to the Hearst Gallery. I will have new works painted during the Crockett, Valona and Alameda plein air events on display as well as other Northern California landscapes.

Three Verde Artists have been selected to participate in the 2nd Plein Air Paint Out Art Exhibit and Sale in Alameda California next week, Cathy Boyer, Julia Seelos and Ed Terpening.

40 Plein Air Artists have been juried into the 2nd Annual Frank Bette Plein Air Paintout for a week of painting the island of Alameda’s historic architecture, urban landscapes, waterways and San Francisco Bay views.

Thursday, July 19, 2007, is the “Jewel by the Bay” Quick Draw Event, from 6pm -8pm, at Towata Park - next to Harbor Bay Island Bridge (off Otis Drive) You are invited to watch the artists create a painting in two hours. All the artists will be painting in and around Towata Park.
The Quick Draw Paintings will be for sale at the Silent Auction booth at Jackson Park on Saturday.

The event culminates with an exhibit and sale Saturday, July 21st, 10am to 5pm in the historical Jackson Park, Alameda (Park Ave. between Encinal and San Jose Ave.)

Follow artist blogger Elio Camacho is offering workshops in the San Francisco Bay Area. The workshops are 5 hours a day, one day per week (either Saturday or Sunday), spread out over 8 weeks. I think this is smart. Spreading out the days like this allows you to work on advice he’ll give before the next week. From his site:

Morning Tuition is $350.00 for 8 weeks 9 am to 2:00 (5 Hours) pm each Saturday or Sunday. Each class will start with a demonstration, followed by individual instruction at each student’s easel.

Evening Tuition is $250.00 for 8 weeks from (2:00-3:00 critique the previous weeks evening works) we will paint from 3:00pm till just after sunset. This class is great for students wanting to learn to mix paint quickly and catch the fleeing light. During this class I will set up with students and paint the landscape alongside them. Students are encouraged to paint but can also sit back and watch as I handle the challenge of painting the rapidly changing light. This class will NOT be as hands on morning sessions.

You can sign-up or inquire using this form on this site.

I can’t attend this event myself, but thought others that read this blog local to Northern California may be interested in this Call to Artists, from my good freind Andy Skaff:

North Tahoe Arts in partnership with East West Partners through the Tahoe Mountain Resorts Foundation, Truckee Gallery, and the Truckee Donner Land Trust plans a month-long celebration of the wonders of Martis Valley at Lake Tahoe in October, 2007. As part of this celebration we are planning a three-day “paint out” at various locations throughout the Martis Valley the weekend of October 5, 2007, culminating in a sale and cash awards ceremony at The Village at Northstar at Tahoe on Sunday, October 7, 2007. East West Partners, the developers of the new Ritz-Carlton Highlands Lake Tahoe and The Village at Northstar hope to make this an annual event drawing regional and nationally known artists and collectors. As you may know, early October is a glorious time in the mountains when nature is at its best. The painting opportunities should be wonderful. After the Ritz-Carlton, now under construction, is completed, it is anticipated that it will be the venue for this annual event.

Low-cost housing at Northstar or home stays with local Tahoe artists will be available on a first-come first-served basis. There will be no entry fees for participating in this event. Please let us know, by responding to this email, if you have an interest in participating or have any questions, please send us an email at the contact number below”.

Andy Skaff
530/525-4937 (Tahoe)
925/254-5656 (Orinda)
510/325-6019 (cell)
andy@askaff.com
www.askaff.com