summer so far

A rare treat - EDQ spent 4 days painting in the central sierra, staying in the warner cabin. low lake levels made the scene very different, but the high country was as beautiful as ever.
first - the island when it is an island:

our paintings from the drought of 2014:

pamela zwehl-burke, gouache on paper, 5"x7"

diane handloser, gouache on paper, 4"x6"

nina warner, oil on board, 10"x10

libby smith, 8"x10" oil on panel


since it was also a rare chance to paint the full moon in the mountains, we made the attempt.
it was hilarious trying to figure where the moon would actually rise, using our 'technology' - compass, moon-phase app - we were all set up when Gigi looks some 40 degrees to our right and says "is that the moon over there?". quick scramble to re-place ourselves. The best part was we tried again the next night from a new vantage point and still missed it.
very hard to photograph - we need to figure this out…
P & D did not finish their gouaches yet - we'll post when they do. in the mean time here are 2 from the second night.

nina warner, 8"x10" oil on panel

libby smith, first nocturne HL, 9"x12" oil on panel

libby smith, moonrise HL, 6"x12" oil on panel

diane handloser
6"x6"
gouache on paper

nina warner
bird feeder
4"x4"
gouache on paper

nina warner
storm from white bark
2"x3"
gouache on paper

shows

members of the école de quatre are exhibiting in several shows. 
currently in "made you look" at the westmont museum of art:

libby smith - goleta pier, oil on panel, 9"x12"

nina warner - north coast, oil on panel, 5"x7"

nina warner, ukraine in california, oil on panel, 11"x14"

pamela zwehl-burke, shallows, oil stick on paper, 36"x48"

coming up in the "petite landscape" show at the santa barbara tennis club:

pamela zwehl-burke, palms, oil on panel, 5"x7"

nina warner, field in france, oil on panel, 5"x7"

nina warner, lake in sierra, oil on panel, 5"x7"

diane handloser, spring sycamores, oil on panel, 6"x8"

and coming up in solvang at the elverhoj museum "santa inés mission mills":

pamela zwehl-burke, road below the mission, watercolor on paper, 8"x10"

nina warner, santa ines mission mill, oil on panel, 6"x12"

nina warner, view toward the mission, oil on panel, 12"x12"

nina warner, view from the mission, oil on panel, 6"x12"

libby smith - east mill, oil on panel, 6"x12"

libby smith, east and west mill, oil on panel, 9"x12"

libby smith, west mill, oil on panel, 8"x16"

more for may

work done in the last few weeks  - small paintings and gouache studies. 

great portability for travel, 
working from a photo taken 
from an earlier outing




diane handloser
a k park gardens
gouache on paper
3"x3"

walking around the neighborhood 
taking photos suitable for
experimenting with the medium









pamela zwehl-burke
chase palm park pond
gouache on paper
3"x4"

pamela zwehl-burke, chase palms, gouache on paper, 3"x4"

pamela zwehl-burke, chase palms and fountian, gouache on paper, 3"x4"

pamela zwehl-burke, sidewalk shadows, gouache on paper, 3"x4"


from earlier in the month:

libby smith, skofield park mountain view
oil on panel, 5"x7"

libby smith 
camino cielo
oil on panel, 4"x4"

nina warner
camino cielo
oil on panel
9"x12"

18 may 2014

may has been quite a month so far: extreme weather (hot), lots of travel and some slogging through portrait painting. we have also pursued entering work in some local shows and have done well: L & N have work in the Westmont 'made you look' juried show, P, D & N will be represented in the 'petite landscape' show at the sb tennis club, and P, N & L all made it into the Elverhoj museum show 'santa inés mission mills'. not bad!

we have also become enamored with the small gouaches of thomas paquette that are showing at the Wildling museum: beautiful, tiny jewels of landscape.
so we are trying to see what we can do with this interesting and challenging medium.

here are some efforts from mimi:

started working from a cropped, vintage, postcard image just to get used to the paint and develop some sort of technique.


3"x3"
gouache on mat board

the colors seem too bright and un-natural


3"x2 1/2"
gouache on mat board

next came working from my own photographs, cropping the image to suit a small format. somewhat flat, but challenging to mix more muted color



3"x2 1/2"
monterey wetland preserve

3"x3"
meadow in the sierra

this was done from a photo after painting the scene in oil on site. it actually came out better than the oil.





3"x3"
view from camino cielo

time to try working from life, looking at the real thing. easier to work with natural colors and light.



3"x2 1/2"
backyard poppy

3"x3"
montecito peak

22 april 2014

3 of us had a monday session in the landscape - coastal marine layer, but sunny and pleasant in the foothills. skofield park is a off-the-beaten-path gem. missed gigi amongst us.
photos taken with my i-phone, so not the best representation - just a record of the day's work.

pamela zwehl-burke
view through the oaks, oil on panel, 6"x9"

pamela zwehl-burke
stone wall, oil on panel, 6"x9"

libby smith
la cumbre peak view, oil on panel, 5"x7"

libby smith
light through the oaks, oil on panel, 5"x7"

nina warner
view of la cumbre peak, oil on panel, 9"x12"

6 April 2014

some new work and a bit of catching up. L & N have been working at the mill at the santa ynez mission. it's a beautiful site, but can get pretty windy. we had some moments of 'extreme painting' hanging on to our easels and our hats.

libby smith 
grist mill, april 2014 - oil on panel, 8"x16"

libby smith
santa ynez mission grist mill from above, oil on panel, 6"x16"

libby smith

santa ynez mission 
grist mill #2
oil on panel
9"x12"

nina warner
santa ynez mission mills, oil on panel, 12"x12"

nina warner 
santa ynez mission mill, upper building, oil on panel, 6"x12"

nina warner 
valley behind the mission, oil on panel, 6"x12"




some posts from coco from earlier this year:

libby smith
winter afternoon, slough and geese, oil on panel, 8"x16"

and from last month at rocky nook park:

                                          

                                                               





libby smith

light and shadow
oil on panel
9"x12