Van Wickle Gates in the Fall

Here is a watercolor I painted in December '09 of the Van Wickle Gates from Brown University in Rhode Island. This was a commissioned painting from someone who saw the first "Gates" painting I posted here on my blog on 2/22/09. To make this one unique, I drew out parts of the painting with ink, and changed the season and color palette. This time I painted the bricks in front with a kind of plaid coloring to remind one of chilly Fall air and the east coast woolens.

I love the challenge of painting commissions. Matching a person's idea of what they'd like to receive with my interpreting it into a painting for them is like puzzle work to me, only easier since I get to make it up. Hopefully the finished product is better than what we both expected. In this case I know we were both happy with the result.

Cabin Pine Cones and Leaves

What can I say? When God makes the raw materials for a painting, and they fall from the trees to the ground in just the right position for a painting, can I really take the credit for it? I just want to praise the Creator who does all things well.

p.s. this little painting found a loving home and I'm happy it did.

Little Cabin in the Woods

My husband encouraged me to walk down the hill a bit and look at the cabin from a new angle since the trees were cleared and new pathways were available to us. I hadn't seen it look quite so picturesque before, though it does look very beautiful in the snow. My imagination took hold and I had to draw all the rocks and boulders with a pen before I painted it. I've been wanting to use this kind of style even more since I painted this picture.

Years ago Rich's great step-grandmother made a beautiful garden all around the cabin. I wanted this painting to sing out echoes of it's former glory.

The Making of the Cabin Collection

Hi! In this entry I want to show you what it was like at the end of July, beginning of August for me. I took on this project of making an entirely new collection of paintings to hang at the gallery for August. I've been in the gallery since February and have had to provide from 5 to 8 new paintings each month (with a few I could carry over from a previous month.) So by the time August rolled around I ran out of new and slightly reused paintings! The only thing I could do was to paint like a madwoman... 7 paintings in 2 weeks! I drew on my old elementary school teaching skills to "assembly line" each step of the way. First, I drew them all out. Then I painted one background, and while that was drying I started another and then another and another....

In the second picture you see the framing process. Same assembly line mentality. You never know when you will use the skills you learned for another job on a totally different job. I remembered when I was teaching Sunday School and Vacation Bible School and had to prepare the crafts for 25 to 75 kids. This felt so much like that.

The last picture shows the paintings hung at the gallery. I finished 6 of the 7 paintings. One is still here in the studio waiting on me for inspiration. Since then 2 of the paintings found good homes. I'm glad I finished it since now I can bring six of them to another show I'll be attending in Roseville on October 17th. That'll be a piece of cake now that I have all the paintings I need for it.

Villa Montalvo

After I finished taking photos, I walked to the middle of the grass, sat down, and drew out this picture. I had my paints all set out and ready to go, but I only had time to draw that day. Later I drew over my pencil lines with pen and ink and added more details to the picture. I decided to keep most of what I did Au plein air and not to correct it too much. I liked the spontaneous feel it gave to the painting. Oh, the pink tree in the front was painted using my artistic license...

No, I'm not getting paid by Villa Montalvo to promote them. I chose to do that all on my own. But I did discover they're having a holiday arts and crafts show on November 20, 21 and 22 this year and I applied to sell at a table there. This came about because I gave some cards I made of some of these paintings to someone who works with my husband, since she's a member of the Friends of Montalvo group, and that same day she emailed me about this show! What a pleasent coincidence!

Some of the people who saw these paintings said they remind them of story book illustrations. I had the idea to publish a small book of some kind with these paintings in it to sell at the show. What do you think? Any suggestions?

To finish the Wikipedia article, I'll post the part about what Villa Montalvo is doing today:

Villa Montalvo today

Today, Villa Montalvo is a private non-profit arts center called Montalvo Arts Center. The 3.5 miles (5.6 km) of hiking trails are maintained through a partnership with Santa Clara County. The park and arts center are open to the public. Funding support is provided by the Friends of Montalvo memberships, as well as foundation grants, other private donations, and earned income via ticket sales and rental fees. More than 600 volunteers donate thousands of hours annually to support the arts programs and maintenance of the villa and grounds.

Since 1939, the estate has hosted "artists-in-residence" who live and work on the property. Artists range from musicians, painters, actors, writers and architects. While in residence, the participants produce works and give performances. Since Montalvo started its artist-in-residence program, more than 600 artists from 20 countries have participated. In the fall of 2004, Montalvo opened Sally and Don Lucas Artists Programs which offers facilities and staff supportive of the creative process as well as state-of-the-art technology.

A small gallery, called the Project Space, as well as the box office, are located in the building between the mansion and the Carriage House Theater. Montalvo and its arts programs serve nearly 200,000 visitors each year.

Muses in the Fountain at Villa Montalvo

In the courtyard behind the Villa I found this beautiful fountain. I loved the way the sculptor created these three ladies. One can only imagine the story behind their emotions. I'm going on a fact finding mission to find out, but for now I'll post the painting my imagination came up with. The fountain itself had layers of dried minerals of all colors running down the forms of the ladies.
It wasn't too much of a stretch for me to imagine them in flowing watercolors.

Here again is what Wikipedia has to say about how the Villa was named. Does it mention who these mysterious ladies may be? Perhaps...

Phelan named Villa Montalvo in honor of the popular 16th century Spanish writer Garci Ordonez de Montalvo. Montalvo coined the name "California" in one of his fables. In it he described an island rich with gold and jewels, peopled by Amazons ruled by a queen named Califia. The Amazons in the fable rode griffins, mythical winged guardians of precious treasure. Griffins can be found throughout the arts center grounds, standing guard over Phelan's precious gift.

Did I mention that on the left and right of the ladies are winged creatures?

The Red Hat Ladies at Villa Montalvo

When we arrived at the Villa on that lovely day, we discovered there was a very fancy luncheon going on where all the guests were dressed in their finest. The grand piano was playing favorite songs in the background while the diners were eating both inside the Villa and on the veranda. My eye was captured by these ladies who were all wearing Red Hats. They were from the Red Hat Society, a group of women who celebrate their age (being over 50) and the particular wisdom that only comes from living long and learning from the many experiences life has to offer.

The original owner of this Villa, Senator Phelan, also entertained many famous people here in his day. Here's another timely quote from Wikipedia:
During his lifetime, Phelan hosted many celebrities and notables of the era as guests at Montalvo. Jack London, Ethel Barrymore, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Edwin Markham were among Phelan's many guests. Though not his only home, Villa Montalvo was one of Phelan's favorites and is where he died.
I close my eyes to picture one of the luncheons in his day and hear the grand piano playing in the background, and I'm glad we can still do the same today.

Columns in the Courtyard at Villa Montalvo

In my previous post I showed you my artist friends at Villa Montalvo. If you turn to see what they're sketching, you'll see this lovely pillared walkway. I particularly liked the way the shadows created the same beautiful patterns on the pillars.

Here is another portion of the Wikipedia article:

In 1911, James D. Phelan, a three-term mayor of San Francisco, California who would go on to be California's first popularly elected US Senator, purchased 160 acres (65 ha) in the Saratoga countryside and foothills.

Phelan began construction of the mansion in 1912. The initial supervising architect was William Curlett. When he died in 1914, his son, Alex Curlett, took over supervision along with partner Charles E. Gottschalk. The construction of the building was completed that same year.

Upon his death, Phelan bequeathed Montalvo thus:

"I would like the property at Saratoga, California, known as Villa Montalvo, to be maintained as a public park open under reasonable restrictions, the buildings and grounds immediately surrounding the same to be used as far as possible for the development of art, literature, music, and architecture by promising students."

Though I may never live in a mansion like this one, I'm so glad it's being shared with fellow artists and with the community. I'm thankful for Senator Phelan's gracious intent. I love the concerts and plays given at Villa Montalvo and I know it has inspired me to paint.

Villa Montalvo Artists

My friends settled in to sketch and paint Villa Montalvo from the side and I thought they made a beautiful picture. A gazebo behind them added to the beauty of the scene. While they were painting, I decided to walk around and take photos of the grounds. Thanks to my friends for the inspiration!

Villa Montalvo: Stairs to Heaven

After so many months I'm back to update the blog. I missed you all and I missed doing the blog! I'm going to start by showing you some paintings I'm currently working on called the Villa Montalvo Series. I've painted 6 and I have 4 small ones drawn out and ready to paint. Three are hanging in the Gallery Saratoga this month. Villa Montalvo is a beautiful set of buildings that use to be owned by a prominent Senator in the area. Here's what Wikipedia says:

Villa Montalvo is an Italian Mediterranean style mansion nestled in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, in Saratoga, California, United States. It was constructed from 1912 to 1914 by California statesman and businessman James Duval Phelan. After Phelan's death, it was donated to the state as a park and then a cultural and arts center, as it exists today. It is a historic landmark and in 1978 was awarded inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places.

Myself and my two artist friends (two followers of my blog, guess who...) decided to paint and photograph the Villa one day. Soon after we got there we settled in and I turned around to see these wonderful stairs cut into the hill. I just knew I had to paint them. Later when I got home I saw the pink roses arching over the top of my photo. This was just the start of what would be a magically wonderful day.

Orchids in the Gallery Parts 1-3

Here's what I did while sitting in the Gallery on Sunday night. Funny thing, I'm so peaceful when I'm drawing and painting from a still life or out in nature that I don't mind too much if people watch me. I even stayed one hour past closing time to finish these! This is the second time I painted these orchids. I framed parts 1 and 2 (the bottom 2 images here) into one painting and hung them in the gallery today. The third one (on the top) will be part of another series of 3. Stay tuned!

Vase of Orchids Card and Envelope

Last Thursday when I was sitting in the gallery, I was looking for things to do while I waited for people to come in. We're encouraged to do art work in the gallery, so I found this deckled edge card in my purse, took out a pencil and drew the orchids and vase someone had brought in. Then I drew over it with a regular black ink pen. The next day I painted it and the back of the card and wrote a note to someone and mailed it. I think I'll do this again!

Deer in the Auburn Woods

Here are two paintings in one. I call it: Deer in the Auburn Woods. And this is my first painting to sell at the gallery! After I came home from vacation I was surprised to hear this great message on my answering machine. What an encouragement.

Easter Tea and a Vase of Calla Lilies

Today was Easter Sunday and I was blessed with painting together with my family. We didn't paint Easter eggs this time, but 6 of us learned Japanese brush painting together, then 3 of us continued with watercolor painting. The vase and lilies were my first attempt at ink painting, but I continued it on into a watercolor painting. I've been wanting to paint my tea set since I was inspired by my new friend Barbra and her teacup painting. This will be the first of many I hope. May God bless you all who read this. He is risen!

From A to Z: Window View of a Garden and Beyond

Here it is. My step by step project of my Aunt's painting with a window scene. I had a few steps in between like drawing more details and then tracing over the drawing with a sepia pen and ink 005 permanent pen. The actual painting itself took 12 hours. I'm happy with the way it turned out.

From A to Z: Yosemite

Have you ever been to Yosemite Valley in California? No matter where you are from, you must plan to visit it at least once in your lifetime. We use to camp here often when my children were small. I must make a point to visit it again soon.

Form A to Z: Sunflowers

There's nothing like a field full of sunflowers to change your perspective on your day.

From A to Z: (The) Red Hot Poker

Sometimes a flower comes along that begs you to draw and paint it! This one from a photo by Jerod Haskins (taken while he was a missionary to orphans in Africa), did just that to my soul. The multiple petals and the triple colors cause me to praise the God who has endless creativity and imagination!

From A to Z: (The) Great Horned Owl

A pen and ink watercolor painting done for my daughter.

From A to Z: (A) Doe and Her Fawn

I love animals!