Museum in the Woods

Return to my place in Inverness took me by this house.  I stopped, sketched and painted it.  The painting was done on a vertical format to capture the tall trees.  The redwood and forest dwarf the building which is a museum.  This could be the place for a nursery tale.  It is at the bottom of the hill and tucked in quite a lot of vegetation.  The tall roof must result in some interesting space inside, especially on the second level. 

Eucalyptus Gateway

The eucalyptus tree thrives at Point Reyes.  There are plenty of them springing up in otherwise barren spots and they are as common as redwoods.  This was a midmorning painting. I was in the parking lot with the sun high in the sky on a perfect day.  I was worried that I would overwork the tree canopy as I painted it.  My goal is to paint watercolor with as few brush strokes as possible. The bark is also interesting.  It becomes very light in large areas.  The tree behind the eucalyptus is a fir tree, probably spruce and the trunk color is constant.  There is also one of those leaning green cypress or juniper type growths behind the spruce.  These are also characteristic of the north coast.  They lean from the wind and have a spear appearance. 
I need to go to the library and consult the references on trees.  Isn't it amazing how curious you get from painting and observing>

Space for Rent

Can you imagine living behind a giant billboard?  The Urban Landscape Artists painted this morning in Oak Park.  This neighborhood was one of the finest in Sacramento but fell on hard times.  The homes are lovely and many have been repaired.  Most are two story houses.  Because of flooding, the living space was on the second level.  Business sites are many along Broadway, but there are plenty of vacancies and closed down buildings.  There has been a huge effort to resuscitate this section of Sacramento. 

I chose this corner for my painting because of the vacant billboard space for rent.  It is symptomatic of the area.  I like the cast shadow of the billboard on the side of the house.  The chain link fence is all too common along Broadway and may indicate removed structures.  I was particularly fascinated by the cast shadows from the morning sun.  I took a photo of the site for comparison. 

Amalfi Dreams

A year ago I was on the Amalfi coast of Italy. It was a busy place trying to tour the different towns.  Crowds were everywhere especially, on the buses that leave you standing.   I came across my sketch book from that trip and decided to try putting together an imaginary scene from those sketches.  The steep walls with roads and tunnels dwarf all of the boats below.  It is an awesome place.  I would love to return and just set up and paint.

Point Reyes Station, CA

Arrived at White House Park and painted on the creek.  The fields are yellow and the hills brown at this time of year.  The characteristic brown hills of Point Reyes are in the distance.  The time was just before noon yet the hills are shadowed which helped to give them a good three dimensional mass.  I left the white in to connect up with the house structure and not isolate it as a bulls eye.

Above Tomales Bay

Driving along Tomales Bay in Inverness, CA I had a bird's eye view.  Down below the tide was out and the ship wrecked Tomales Bay vessel is aground.  A home with a long, long walk is high on stilts.  The brown hills lacking vegetation that characterize Point Reyes frame it all in.  I stopped, sketched and painted the scene to the somber sounds of a bag piper standing on the shore.  It was a great day to be a plein air painter.

Heart's Desire Beach, Inverness, CA

This is a nice state park at Point Reyes, CA.  We arrived early with no one in sight and started painting.  Soon, the beach filled up with picnickers, swimmers and party goers. The trees close to the beach are laden with moss which hangs down.  A few sailboats anchored off shore and we met some boaters who live on board and home school the kids.  But, it all started off very serene with a blue sky that did not have a cloud in it.