Sonoma Plein Air Art Festival 2016 Day 1 Paintings

Mount Tam Morning 11 x 14

Old Lakeville Barn 12 x 12

Petaluma Afternoon 9 x 12

I'll post all the paintings, then do a write up on this event later.

Sonoma Plein Air 2015 Tuesday Paintings

"Above the Valley" 14 x 18
 Painted first thing Tuesday Morning

"Ridge Top Oaks" 10 x 12
 Afternoon painting Tuesday

Hill at Spain Street 6 x 6
Quick Draw Tuesday late afternoon

October Vines, 14 x 14 Plein Air Watercolor

October Vines, 14 x14 Plein Air Watercolor



The old vines on Piner Road in Sonoma have so much character.
These vines were just starting to change color in early October.
This was painted the same day as Bob's GranFondo bicycle event and just before the Riverbend painting of the Russian River posted in the most recent blog entry.

Final Paintings and Sale Sonoma Plein Air Art Event 2014

Clouds Over Cabernet 6 x 6 Sold

George Ranch Oaks 6 x 6

Sonoma Plein Air Art Festival 2014 Day One Paintings

A Thirsty Place 11 x 14

Valley Oaks 11 x 14

Sonoma Sentinals 11 x 14

Sonoma Plein Air Day Four to Six

We finally got some sun on Thursday and I got in two very different paintings.

Survivor 12 x 12
I was happy to have sunlight to paint and this gorgeous Eucalyptus caught my eye. I like it when there is one tree left of what you know was  once a windbreak .

A Perfect Day 12 x 16

After another fabulous lunch by Terry ( apricot chicken ) I drove over to Green String Farm where Hylla Evans pointed out the way to a wonderful painting spot beside the pond, and out of the wind. There were egrets, cranes, red-winged black birds , crows( having a discussion about what the heck I was doing)  and sheep baahing in the next field. This is the kind of setting I love to paint in and will be back to paint.

Friday was spent staring at paintings touching them up and framing. Friday night was the gala at Cline Cellars where Dick Cole very deservedly won artists' choice with his masterful watercolor.
Saturday, the rain held off and we had good foot traffic all day. A side benefit of the sale is being able to talk with other artists ,something I don't do often enough. It was especially fun talking with Dick Cole and Micheal Reardon, my fellow Watercolor painters.  My hosts, the Bieneman's were gracious and generous hosts.
If you would like to read about other painters at this event, my fellow bloggers for this event are Terry Miura and Bill Cone
In spite of the weather, it was a great week , in no small part because of the wonderful job done by the volunteers who work on this event year round. Art education in the schools needs all the support we can give it. To find out more about the foundation go  to the Sonoma Plein Air Web Site

Busy getting ready for two Plein Air Events in May: Carmel Art Festival and Sonoma Plein Air Event

Vineyard Verde 11 x 14 sold

Top of the World Carmel Valley 12 x 16, honorable mention Carmel Art Festival 2009
Here are two of the paintings from these events last May.  The details for both events are on the web sites linked to the right of this post, but the main events are Saturday and Sunday, May 15 and 16 in Carmel and Friday and Saturday, May 21 and 22 in Sonoma.

Sonoma Plein Air Event 2009

Sonoma Hillside Tapestry 14 x 14

Bartholemew Park 12 x 16

Vineyard Verde (Near El Verona) 11 x 14

Lovall Valley View 14 x 11 sold

New Vines Sonoma 14 x 14 sold

May was a very busy month with two plein air events. Here are five of the six paintings I displayed at the sale. The last one is on my easel being tweaked right now.

Despite the challenging weather ( rain through Wednesday afternoon) I feel good about the finished paintings . Bartholemew Park was done in the rain, with my painting under an umbrella and me under an oak and a rain hat. I did a lot of positive reinforcement on these, saying you've got all week, just take your time, because the rain slowed the drying time so dramatically.

Lovall Valley View was painted Wednesday late afternoon just as the clouds were finally lifted. It is the backyard view of the beautiful property where I stayed . I liked the light and dark shadow patterns on the hill and the grasslands half green half gold mixture.

Sonoma Hillside Tapestry and Near El Verona were both painted at Vadez Winery on the sunny day on Thursday and New Vines was painted up the hill from Anderson Ranche's lovely lunch.

Sonoma plein air, last paintings

Sonoma Evening 11X 14
Petaluma Drizzle 11 X 14

I had two paintings I started but did not finish at the Sonoma Plein Air event in September. Both are better than they were, but not anything special. I usually wouldn't paint in a drizzle, but I was trying to do what was suggested and paint in Petaluma on a gray day. I may go back and darken the middle ridge so that the farthest ridge feels more distant. Sonoma Evening is more successful, it has more sparkle, but I usually don't paint in the evenings , so some of the values look off. I am glad I tried different things and am glad I had a better painting day on thursday, these are both from the wednesday when I felt stressed because the weather was bad.

Sonoma Plein Air 2007 Part 2

Descending Oaks 14 x 14
Hill at Kunde 12 x 16
Ridge at Sonoma 12 x 16


On Monday morning we signed in, had our paper stamped and went out to paint. I was on my way to Jack London State park, when the road to Valley of the Moon Winery caught my eye. So I painted in the shade of a tree in the driveway of the tasting room . Went to my hosts, unpacked and started out to the State park again, but on a whim decided to go up to the top of Moon Mountain Rd to see what was there. The light on the Valley was incredible , so I painted there starting at 3 :30.
On Tuesday, we were invited to paint at the Bouverie nature preserve, in Kenwood, I think. I painted Ridge at the Preserve on Tuesday morning there, then drove down the road and painted Hill at Kunde Tuesday afternoon.
Wednesday I tried to paint in Petaluma but it was cloudy and it was an unfinished painting. In the afternoon I went far down HWY 121, and painted Descending Oaks in partly sunny, windy conditions. I saw my first clydesdale while painting (I keep track of wildlife I see while painting but this was a first!) That evening I went into town and painted behind Sebastiani. It is also an unfinished painting.
Thursday morning I stared at my paintings and made adjustments to finish them. Thursday afternoon, I was feeling good about my progess and I drove back to Kunde where Early Autumn Colors Sonoma just about painted itself. It was my personal favorite of the week and I brought it to the gala friday night where it got bid up above retail for the foundation. The purpose behind the event is Art education funding in Sonoma County, a very worthy cause and one that inspires me.

Sonoma Plein Air 2007 part 1

Early Autumn Colors Sonoma 11 X 14

At the Top of Moon Mountain 11 x 14

At the Valley of the Moon 14 X14

I just got back from the Sonoma Plein Air Paint Out on Saturday night! It was a wonderful experience to spend 4 1/2 days doing nothing but paint in a beautiful setting. I met some wonderful people, the artists, volunteers, my hosts, and the art collectors were all great.

I had a personal step forward, in my quest to get more versatile, I have been trying to get more comfortable with smaller sizes. I love to work in half sheets and have been getting slightly smaller. At this event I was very comfortable working in smaller sizes and happy with how they turned out.

I painted 9 paintings, 6 that were finished, 2 that have issues I am still working on. And only one that is not worth trying to finish. So I am pretty happy. And I sold 2, in a venue where I am new to collectors. More paintings from Sonoma next post. The web site is http://www.sonomapleinair.com