Two shows tomorrow, Saturday Aug 9!

I could have posted about this sooner, but I’ve been super-busy with family in town, and, getting ready for these events!

Scene on the Straight —after a year hiatus, has returned. It is in an all-day (10 am to 5 pm) event which raises funds to hire underserved youth to restore regional wildlife habitat areas. A good cause. I am participating with the Joules, a local group of plein-air painters. Scene on the Straight website. I will have oil paintings and 6 miniatures (watercolors). Located at Martinez Regional Shoreline, Martinez. ONE DAY ONLY!

Silver City Mine
Silver City Mine
a mini-watercolor
a mini-watercolor

Valona Paintout 2014 —an invitational paint-out event. What is a paint-out, you ask? A paint-out is a challenge to produce a painting (or 3!) in a specified period of time, in this case, a week. The canvasses or paper are stamped by the gallery at check-in, and you are set on the loose in a certain area to capture something about that locale. There is an upcoming history article about Strendzel Hall coming up, so I tried my hand at making an old, fairly plain-looking building which has been through numerous remodels, look interesting. The C&H Sugar factory is located in Crockett, which sort of encompasses the old town of Valona, and it has many industrial but some beautiful structures. I heard from a local that these giant tanks topped by a continuous tin warehouse was a steam generator for the sugar plant. I thought they were kind of awesome. (Ok, I know my taste is sometimes odd!). This was a funny view, too, because of the proximity of this quaint little Victorian house which has a tiny, octagonal room hanging out over the street. (other people are odd too! Would you build right next to a steam generator of this size??)

Reception Saturday evening 6 to 8 pm, at the Epperson Gallery  1400 Pomona Street, Valona, CA 94525

Show will run to the end of August.

Steam Tank
Steam Tank

Frank Bette Plein-air Paint Out

here’s a preview detail of an unfinished painting of a house on Lincoln Street just a few blocks away from the Frank Bette center in Alameda. I think I’ll call it “Island Living” – it’s really all about the speed limits, 25-35 mph all over the island!

Come to the show and sale at the South Shore shopping center if you’re nearby, it’s on THIS COMING SATURDAY, all day, pretty much.

preview of an unfinished painting
preview of an unfinished painting