I was able to catch the last few hours of the Los Gatos Plein Air Art Show down town after taking in the Triton Midsummer Art Celebration last weekend. I knew I was in the right place as there was a steady stream of people leaving the Town Park Plaza laden with heavy gold frames holding freshly painted works of art! Los Gatos Plein Air is a fundraiser presented by the Los Gatos Morning Rotary Club. Jurored artists have nearly a week to paint at least six plein air pieces of local vistas. This event supports the arts, music and youth in the South Bay, and the humanities programs of Rotary International.
It was amazing to see what these talented plein air artists were able to whip up in such a short time! I can imagine the pressure is so intense to produce your best work on demand like this! I’ve provided links to their websites, which can be reached by clicking on their names.
Ed Lucey is a Los Gatos artist, a member of the LGMG and LGAA who was recently featured in Artist’s Magazine! He specializes in local landscape and playful still life oil paintings.
Hey I know that cactus! I pass it on my favorite evening walk. It’s funny how I’ve photographed it, been photographed with it but never though to painting it. Ed Lucey has done such a beautiful job with it – I’m loving all those warm rich tones!
Terri Ford (in the shades) is an accomplished pastel artist from San Jose who used to be a member of our gallery. I miss seeing her paintings there as I always covet them! Her use of color and material is always gorgeous, sadly not so evident from this photo as her display was hopping! Her website is great though and she teaches classes!
Sergio Lopez, from Santa Rosa, reminds me of one of my favorite impressionaist artists, Childe Hassam, especially the painting of the bluff (upper left). I think he said it was from Wilder State Park in Santa Cruz. Sergio also paints an exquisite series of women overlaid with floral patterns, called Painted Roses, how I adore them! For a full rundown on all the pieces he did for the show, check out his great blog!
John White of Long Beach is a plein air and studio artist. I love the seascape on the bottom right. See all those empty hooks? Those paintings went off to new homes before the close of the auction, one of them (a fresh vineyard scene) can be seen on his website.
Exhibiting artist David Stonesifer of Los Gatos and artist Lesley Underwood (both Los Gatos Gallery Members) were enjoying a moment at David’s display.
I love the compostion, the square format and the pink undertones in Here is David Stonesifer’s oil painting, Laguna Road at Santa Teresa!
Tonja Zenin of Cupertino painted several views from one of my favorite spots, Shark Tooth Cove in Davenport!
Anton Pavlenko also did several paintings from Shark Tooth Cove too, I mean who could resist (not me) It’s beautiful there!
Look how the color of the water warms up as it hits the beach and goes cool and deep as it hits the shadow from the rocks! Those loose, buttery brush strokes make me salivate!
For me, this little oil painting, Waiting to Cross also by Anton Pavlenko is what plein air is all about! With only a few exuberantly textured and vibrant strokes he has captured but also transformed a familiar scene. The staccatos of red and green really animate the piece and the entire image seems to shimmer with the movement of the juicy brushwork. I go for burgers now and then at that building on the right, It overlooks the plaza where the silent auction was held.
Here’s another familiar haunt charmingly rendered in pastel by Brenda Boylan of Beaverton, Oregon in Coffee Break. How did she capture moving people like that! This is clearly the Los Gatos Roasting Company on Main Street where there’s always a good crowd and on weekends there are hoards of cyclists and dogs of all breeds added to the mix! I love her use of color and raking lines.
I ran into John Agg, Executive Director of the Art Museum of Los Gatos and artist Kee Jin who were taking in the event.
I got to meet Sterling Hoffman of Sebastopol for the first time. You can see some of his work is on the left, paintings from Garrod Farms, a spot with which I’m very familiar with as my daughter loves the horse camps they offer there.
Marti Walker of West Sacramento did this charming pastel of one of Los Gatos’s storefronts (Tassels, I’m guessing). Just one of the many paintings proving the town to be as pretty as a picture!
