We were a group of about 100 people at Asilomar, plein air painting together, walking on the beach together, having meals together, meeting together in the morning and the evening, and sharing living quarters (unless we paid an additional astronomical fee for a private room).
With a crowd of enthusiastic painters, I had to work to find solitude. So, I walked on the beach or on the road overlooking the beach every morning. Sometimes I saw other people with our style of name tags, sometimes painting or walking, but also a handful of other morning folks along with surfers.
I think this is yarrow.
Looking east had a nice sky one morning when we had clouds, but I preferred looking at the ocean.
It seems that if I painted that colorful sky piece, it would look fake.
More looking east in the morning on the cloudy day.
Each morning had a very brief moment where the foam looked almost pink.
And then it went magically bright.
Tomorrow I’ll show you some of the new friends I made.
Day three was a test of my gear: could I fit what I needed into my trusty red daypack and carry my 3-legged stool under one arm and the loaner pochade box in my other hand along a trail?
Yeppers.
We started at Garrapata State Park, along the bluffs on Highway One.
We painted all morning, then headed to Point Lobos. (I wonder if there were ever wolves there??) We were hot and tired after several hours of painting in the sun, but my roommate said that I HAD to see China Cove (she had done reconnaissance the previous day).
Well holy guacamole, it was spectacular! Several people, including my roomie, stopped at a particular spot, but I wanted to explore a bit farther. Look at these options!
ABC
A blew me away with the color, and it was where my little group set up. B was my first choice, but there was no place to set up without blocking the trail. (We were warned that we’d get a ticket if we blocked the trail or set up off the trail.) C was also quite intriguing, but again, there was a lack of set-up space. I also considered another place because it had a bench, but the view was meh compared to those first three.
So, I ventured back to my little group and just got in line because there was space and there was shade.
This photo doesn’t do justice to the green-blue of the water.
I was contending with the cable at the edge of the trail.
I didn’t take a good final photo. I’ll have to finish and scan it when I get home so you can see it.
It was a good painting day, almost finishing 2 paintings, with only detail left to really polish them off. Thursday is a day in and around Carmel.
P.S. There are so many other things about this adventure to share besides my painting progression and locations. I might continue the series next week after I am back home.
After a fight with my stupid french easel on Day 1, a lovely lady lent me a pochade box, or maybe it is a box easel. All I had to do was find a tripod to set it on. “All I had to do”. . . ahem.
The talking lady on the phone directed me about 8 miles to a shopping center in another town, where I checked at Michael’s (no tripods, only the same shoddy kind of easel that I already own), and then at BestBuy. Turns out that camera easels are inadequate, so I left empty-handed.
The talking lady then directed me to Old Fisherman’s Wharf, where I found a pay-to-park lot, saw too many cars and people but recognized no one, so instead of painting, I went in search of a sad little house.
“A sad little house?” you are probably asking.
Yeppers. One of my drawing students has a photo of a certain house in Pacific Grove that he just loves. I found it without the help of the talking lady (because I had looked at a real map in advance and this time kept a sense of direction) and took many photos for him. That redeemed the morning.
However, I came here to paint so that I can learn to paint better, not run around on useless shopping errands and chase down photos of houses. So, I settled in at the little lodge where I am staying to practice using the new-to-me pochade box while finishing a painting from yesterday.
It was time to field-test the new set-up. I drove around the peninsula, hoping to get a good view of the Point Pinos lighthouse, but alas, it was closed and fenced off. So much beautiful rocky coastline to choose from, so I found a spot, PARALLEL PARKED (YEA ME!!), and gathered my gear.
This spot will do quite nicely.
Because the pochade box has no tripod, I have to schlepp a little stool along to sit on in order to hold the box on my lap.
Enough already. I can finish this later. I want to go down to beach now!
Yesterday I was surprised by the lack of shells on the beach. Today I discovered why there aren’t any at the Asilomar Beach—they are all in this little cove!
Am I learning to paint better? Am I getting better at plein air? People say nice things about my paintings, but they are all so very encouraging and genuinely nice that it’s hard to know if they mean it.
Mostly so far I have simply struggled with my gear. Wednesday we will be going to 2 different places, both slightly hard to get to, requiring car pooling and some “hiking”. I put that in quotes because of so much hiking experience in Mineral King, but this may prove to be more difficult than expected due to my poor gear management. As always, more will be revealed. . .
On Day 1, we stayed at Asilomar. People needed to get accustomed to their equipment, the schedule, the weather, the whole situation, so it made sense to stay on the premises, which are walking distance to the ocean.
Our room is so tiny that I am keeping my supplies in the trunk of the car. After assembling what I thought would be useful for the morning painting session, I headed to the beach. My easel is heavy and cumbersome, so when I saw this, I thought it might be a good place to paint.
But the ocean was calling me, so I soldiered onward.
Is that PEBBLE BEACH, the fancy golf course over there??
After walking around a bit, taking a few photos, and thinking about the options, I did one quick sketch to confirm my choice.
Next, I wrestled with my heavy, rebellious excuse of an easel, finally getting it situated.
Here is a series of progression photos.
The painting was interspersed by conversation with passersby and other painters. We were told that it is best to not look at other people’s work while painting because it causes discontent and do-overs. As a result, there was much joking about wiping off canvas and starting again after seeing other’s efforts.
Painters were set up all along the beach.
The painting session was also interrupted by occasional walks into the water.
The kelp was very thick, and although I didn’t see a single shell, I did encounter this jellyfish.
I took one final useless photo, thinking it would show me the scene in order to finish the painting later. Alas, it was too bright out to see the screen of the camera, hence the “useless” description.
I didn’t really like my painting, but I couldn’t figure out how to make it better and it was hot. Didn’t matter, because this is all about practicing and learning. So, I headed to the other spot that I had chosen in the morning. It was in the shade, rather chilly, which was a nice change. An employee of Asilomar stopped by where several of us were setting up to remind us of the “excessive heat warning”. I almost fell down laughing but managed to restrain myself.
I’m liking this one and will definitely finish it later. I even got one final useful photo because I was able to see the screen of the camera. (Okay, not so useful. You can see how the light changes over the course of 2 hours.)
However, I am wondering where to buy a new easel and if I can find a trash can large enough to accommodate this sorry excuse of a plein air easel.
Today (writing on Sunday night) I drove 242 miles to Asilomar, a conference center on the Monterey Peninsula for Fall Color Week, a private painting retreat with PleinAir Magazine’s Publisher Eric Rhoads and about 100 strangers. I got lost on the way, because it is sometimes nay, always tricky to both navigate and drive. I couldn’t get the talking lady to work, couldn’t find myself on a map, so I just resorted to commonsense, kept my sense of direction, and here I am.
Traveling by car means space isn’t very limited. I am used to traveling light, doing without, and making do, but this time I just kept adding things as I thought of them. More shoes, more pants, another sweater, another tool, another book, on and on and on. Ridiculous.
First impressions: beautiful building, long line, friendly people in line.
A friend polished my headlights and then helped me wash Fernando the day before I left. Didn’t matter, we were still shown very little respect on the freeways. Why is it that going 70 in a 65 still brings tailgating and contempt? I may have been imagining the contempt part. . .
This is the Stuck-Up Inn, where my room is.
This is a drive I’m not used to, (duh, I got lost) so the scenery was interesting. Why are there no boats on the San Luis Reservoir? What will happen to all the orchards of dead almond trees? Those golden hills against the blue sky would sure be worth painting, but there is no place to turn off the highway. Why is there so much litter? Where are all these people going?
The beach is walking distance
I have been to Asilomar before. About 15 years ago, a friend and I came to Monterey for the Big Sur marathon (we walked the 9-miler) and then we came here so I could gawk at these beautiful Craftsman style buildings, designed by Julia Morgan. Wow.
The dining hall (great food so far).
One thing that was a little worrisome was rooming with a stranger. No problem! Liesl and I are immediately compatible. . . she was very relieved that I get up early in the morning, and I echo that relief. The room is very small, so it won’t be easy to tiptoe around. She might go out painting first thing; I most likely will go for a walk (THE BEACH!!)
The backside of the room where we registered.
Monday morning we will be painting close to the conference grounds so we can get used to packing our gear and learning to use it. All the people are very genuinely friendly, and many have participated in these events before.
A quick stroll down to the beach after dinner.
So, I will be posting whenever I can find time and have something to show you.
The grounds have good walkways and adequate lighting. HOWEVER, all the buildings look alike, the lanes are curvy, and it is a confusing place of 107 acres. I’ll get it figured out this week.
Well, not exactly regular, because it involved gathering paintings from Kaweah Arts and pricing them for the Redbud Festival. But that is all part of the business of art in the life of your Central California Artist.
I started 3 new sequoia paintings so that Kaweah Arts has back stock.
Then it was time to drive to Kaweah Arts to collect paintings that might sell at the Redbud Festival. I gathered all except one, because it was hanging on a hanger that I couldn’t figure out how to operate.
I piled all the paintings according to size and attached price stickers. No matter how I do this, they don’t stay on. I did it anyway, because someone(s) else would be minding my booth for me on Sunday and I wanted it to be easy for them. Sunday mornings at the Redbud Festival have historically very low attendance, but it would be wrong to leave my booth unattended while I attended to my responsibilities at church.
This doesn’t look like very many, does it? There are about 30 here, stacked on the desk.
Something happens when I am seeing them all together and studying them up close and in good light: suddenly, none of them look quite good enough. Sigh. I hate that.
It was a beautiful day, and I worked with the studio door open.
Then I painted some more until it was time to set up for Redbud.
The plan was to get all the structures in place and then take the paintings and other merchandise on Saturday morning. It was so very windy that we just unloaded the display pieces and headed home. I didn’t take any photos of the wind for you.
About the paintings: if I mix up and paint each color across three paintings at once, it goes a bit faster. It’s a continual struggle to not spend too much time on paintings, because the prices have to be sensible for the tourists, and the stores keep 30%. I often hear that my prices are “too low”, but it is good to be realistic about Tulare County. Besides. . .
I use pencils, oil paintings, and murals, to make art that people can understand, of places and things they love, for prices that won’t scare them.
This is not a redbud; it is a calla lily, blooming for the first time in 25 years in my yard.
Hey, friends. Today was Day One of the two-day Redbud Festival in Three Rivers. This year it has returned to the Lions Roping Arena, a great big outdoor space. There is good signage leading to it, but in case you are wondering, cross the Kaweah on North Fork Drive (just before Sierra Subs), go about a mile, turn right, cross the North Fork of the Kaweah, and turn left. Follow the dirt road to the arena. (It’s dusty, but you don’t need 4-wheel drive or a pick-em-up truck.)
It was a little hard to leave in the morning with the sun shining through the lobelia blooming on my front porch, but sometimes an artist has to do what she has to do.
There aren’t a lot of vendors, and attendance was low. This sounds bad on the surface, but as a introvert with decent social skills, I liked have plenty of unrushed time to converse with each visitor. I met some fine folks, and I reconnected with other people I hadn’t seen for awhile. There was a man with a guitar who played and sang a few songs each hour, very pleasant, not loud, and I found myself singing along because many were songs from my era (the ’70s). There was food for sale, but I didn’t get any because I don’t like to be caught with my mouth full while working my booth.
The pointed canvas top is the Redbud Garden Club’s booth, selling plants behind my booth.
All in all, it was a pleasant day, and I sold enough to hold my head up and return for day two.
You might enjoy stopping by tomorrow, Mother’s Day.
Official hours are 10-4, but I will have some booth neighbors minding my booth until I can get there, maybe around 11:15 or 11:30. (I have responsibilities at church first.)
At the beginning of the day, happy to be set up.I took a photo of Trail Guy taking a photo of me.
I’ve been telling you about Texas so eagerly that I almost forgot to tell you about the Redbud Festival. It is traditionally on Mother’s Day Weekend. This year it will return to the Lions Roping Arena in Three Rivers. I haven’t participated in a few years, but this time your Central California artist will be back, Lord willing, the Creek, etc.
Oil paintings, notecards, coloring books, Mineral King Wildflower books (very few remaining), and of course Wilsonia books will all be available for purchase in my booth.
This is a new event, sponsored by and located at CACHE, 125 South B Street, in Exeter.
I will only be participating on Saturday, December 9. (You may have figured that out, now that November 30 has passed.)
You will get to meet my new friend, Krista, the watercolorist, along with Nadi, Miguel, and Vicki.
I will bring 2024 calendars, notecards, Tulare County coloring books, Wilsonia books, Mineral King Wildflower books, and a variety of smaller paintings.
You will be also able to see the show “Bovine State of Mind”, along with visiting the museum with its outstanding displays.
