PAAR Paint Out - Day 5

We had heard rumblings that the wind was coming back but when we arrived at Jurupa Regional Park it was calm. Luz Perez, PAAR's secretary, brought egg and chili casserole for everyone. It was delicious. We took our time chatting and having coffee and guest what? Yes, the wind started. By the time I got set up I could not believe I was actually doing this again. If you left one thing not held down by a rock or tied down it was gone. Jurupa Park is the opposite of Citrus Park. Citrus Park is well maintained and manicured. Jurupa Park is what you see is what you get. I just love this place for it's rugged, nature look. During the painting of the view of the mountains in the distance with snow and the reflections of the palms from the island of this little pond we had some men come by for a chat about the artists and the paintings we were doing. I actually asked one man to hold my easel so I could walk away and take a look at what I was painting, I think he thought I was nuts, but he stood there and held everything so I could take a look. Painting in the wind you don't have a chance to walk away as you are so afraid your easel will tip and your hard work for the past couple hours can be ruined. This happened to several artists during the week. On regular painting outdoor days I like to walk away and look back from a distance at my painting as you can see so much more than you can close up. If you are viewing my paintings from your computer screen, get up and walk away, you will be so surprised when you look back. I am getting a little ahead of myself, so I need to change this post. Wed. at 6:30 p.m. PAAR had a demo at the Riverside Art Museum. Our programs chair, Joan Coffey, was in charge of the event. She invited very well known painter and past president of the Plein Air Painters of America to be our demonstrator for the evening. So after painting, Luz, Louise and I went to Ada's house for rest and to warm up from the day and get out of the wind. At 4 p.m. we met Lisa McDill for a quick bite to eat at the Spaghetti Factory and then on over to help Joan set up for the demo. Jon did a fabulous job with his painting and was so informative about his art career and answered any question that was asked in full detail. It was such a great event and I am so glad I was able to attend. We got home about 9 p.m. exhausted, I took a nice warm bath and went right to bed. Enjoy the Art! Terry

PAAR Paint Out - Day 4

Today was Citrus Park. What views. As we arrived and were getting set up for the morning breakfast I could not take my eyes off the view of orange groves, distant palms and mountains with snow. Now there are not too many places that I can think of that you can get that type of view and be priveleged to paint it. So I knew this would be my morning subject. The day was perfect. The weather was perfect. It must have been 72 degrees, NO WIND! After finishing up the first painting Louise, Pat and I decided we should go get something to eat and then come back for an afternoon painting. As we started sharing with others, they decided they should go too. Then someone suggested we could bring something back. Alberto suggested a taco stand down the street. So we took orders from all the artist and brought back taco's. We set around eating our Taco's, snapping photos of the group and discussing our paintings and the closing of this beautiful park. This beautiful, well maintained park, will be closing. Yes, our governor has set his new budget and if he gets his way several parks will close. Citrus Grove is on the list. This cannot be. Please write your Senators, Congressmen and voice your opinions. Go visit the parks! They may not be there the next time you want to go.

After a long break I decided to paint the view of some closer palms and the light on the hedge and groves in the foreground. I could not take my eyes off of those distant mountains with the snow. Unbelievable how the colors change from morning to late afternoon. Enjoy the Art. Terry

PAAR Paint Out - Day 3

Day 3, we arrived at Martha McLean/Anza Narrows Regional Park to find that the entrance had a detour. If you had not been there before you may take the wrong way. We were telling everyone, if you go over the train tracks, you have gone too far, unfortunately with all the work they were doing on the road, you would be over the tracks before you realized you had missed the turn off. Since I had been there before I knew where I needed to go so was able to find the entrance with no problem. Unfortunately some of the other artist were not as lucky! Louise and I arrived a little past 8 a.m. We drove down by the Santa Ana river and looked at the view (breath taking views of the mountains to the Northeast and an old Union Pacific bridge to the west) and oh my the wind was blowing like you wouldn't believe. We sat in our car until another artist came. When we went past the entrance earlier I could not figure out where to pay my fee for the day and nobody was there, so Judy Schroeder said she was going to go back up and pay hers and would take my fees also. Louise and I sat out the breakfast in the back of my car and lift the hatch, another morning of bagels, cream cheese and Louise's jam and of course hot coffee. The artist started arriving, enjoying their breakfast and talking about the days before. I just could not believe that we actually filled up the parking lot with artist. The wind didn't stop anyone from coming, may have stopped them from staying, but they all came. Just before I started to get set up, I realized Eddie had left a message on my cell phone. He said that one of the artist was lost and she was quite upset and getting car sick. Just as I tried calling her, Rita Pacheco comes walking up, white as a sheet and very upset from her 2 hour ordeal. I calmed her down, got her some crackers and sprite and told her to sit down and relax. She wanted to go home, but we managed to get her to settle. Not too long after this Rita comes back to see if anyone can help her, she has locked her keys in her car. It was not Rita's day. After a few sticks to reach the keys and the luck she had left a window cracked, Alan Nowell had figured out how to get her keys off the seat and out of the window. By this time we were all laughing and just so relieved that Rita could now stay and paint. We put all the breakfast away and set up to paint down by the river. I didn't realize I had set up so close to the cliff as I was trying to find a spot in the trees to get out of the wind. When I realized this, I took a bungee strap and then strapped my easel to one of the tree limbs to try to protect it from the gusts of wind, just incase I had to let go. My easel tripod is very good in the wind, but I wasn't taking any chances. Oh the wind was so bad. I later learned that we had 60 to 70 mph winds that day, the life of a Plein Air Artist! After I finished my painting, Louise was waiting in the car, she was ready to go. It was just too much to try for another painting. Some of the artist had taken cover down under the bridge. I know someone took a photo of my easel attached to the tree, when I find out I will see if I can post it to this post on my blog. Until then, here is the painting I did at Martha McLean/Anza Narrows. Enjoy the art! Terry

PAAR Paint Out - Day 2

Day 2 of the paint out started out with a continental breakfast in front of the Riverside Art Museum around 8:30 a.m. I noticed when I arrived that the palm trees that line the streets in Riverside were starting to sway, but had no idea the wind would get so bad. We all set up, after our morning coffee and a wonderful bagel with Louise Smith's home made apricot jam, outside the Riverside Art Museum. RAM has a yearly artist competition called the Top Dog. The winning painting is donated to RAM and they give it to their top Patron of the year. The artist is invited to the Gala dinner and honored for their donation.

As the morning went on the wind got worse.

We were hanging on to our paintings and easels and painting away. This photo is of Joan Coffey (programs chair for PAAR), painting away in the wind. Note her hair as it is swirling around.

Around 1 p.m., I had enough and suggested we go to lunch at RAXX. RAXX is one of our sponsors for the event. They serve a great barbecue and the best sweet potato souffle. So some of us put up our painting gear and walked over for a nice relaxing lunch. Luz, Louise and I had to leave at 2:30 to attend a surprise party for our dear friend Glenda Ames. We were celebrating her 1 year anniversary from her liver transplant. Glenda is a long time friend and we met when Luz gave art classes in my studio. So cheers to Glenda! We are so happy all has worked out so well for her. After the party I came home, ate dinner and went to bed. The wind really zaps it out of you.

I am happy I did get a nice enough painting to enter in the competition for the Top Dog. Enjoy the art! Terry (Photos of the event by Albert Varela)

PAAR Paint Out 08 Week - Day 1

Glad to be back, and boy do I have a lot to show and tell to get you caught up. Since I didn't have a spare moment to keep you up to date on the daily happenings of the 3rd annual Paint Out of the Plein Air Artists of Riverside, I will start updating this week and try to remember the highlights of each day. We painted for 9 days in some of the worst wind imaginable (60 to 70 miles per hour), followed by some of the most beautiful days you can imagine for January (temps up to 75 degrees) in Southern California.

We had 38 participants in the event. Most all 38 participants painted on the weekends and anywhere from 20 to 25 painted during the week. Some artists played hooky from their jobs to come out and paint. (Did I say that!). All in all it was a wonderful week, one I will look forward to every year. The PAAR board went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure this event was special. We had continental breakfast every morning and supplied the artist with a sack snack including an apple, water and goodies to get them through the day.

I took on Sharon Sahovy a member of PAAR to help out with the Quick Draw (be careful not to volunteer around me, I will put you to work) and she did a fabulous job helping me in whatever I asked her to do. More on the Quick Draw later.

Day 1 was a beautiful day in downtown Riverside. The artist checked in at 8:30 a.m. where they received a canvas tote full of goodies. A lovely pin was donated by the Riverside Art Museum for the occasion. Raymar Art Supplies donated an 8 x 10 canvas for each artist participating and the Metropolitan Museum donated pencils. A lot of info including calendars for the next 3 months painting sites for the artist was included and of course some essentials that any artist might need during the week. After check in the artist were treated to a continental breakfast with great Mexican Pastry donated by club member and photographer Albert Varela. The artist were asked to stay on Mission Inn Ave to paint. The Press Enterprise came out and did a video of some of the artist painting and wrote a very nice article about the event for the newspaper. (http://www.pe.com/ Jan. 12, 2008) to read the article and view the video. There was also an article written about the event on Jan. 10 or 11. Just type in Plein Air Artists of Riverside in the search box and the articles will come up for you to read and view.

After check in, I packed up my painting gear and walked down to Library Park across from the infamous Mission Inn Hotel. I spotted the tower in full sun with these lovely shadows of the palms on the walls of the Mission. I especially liked the view of the mountains in the distance (on the right side) with a few palm trees to give the painting a little atmosphere.

Around 1 p.m. the cell phone was ringing, "Let's go to Lunch!" Albert the group photographer (who took all the photos on this page except the photo of the painting) came by and said "Let's go Terry". My friend Carolyn Kilgore the proud owner of one of my Afghan Hounds Penelope was painting near by, she didn't want to eat lunch but said she would watch my easel and to go on. Unfortunately in Library Park a lot of the homeless are hanging around, so you have to be careful. They are very nice people and I hate to see them like this. They actually enjoy chatting with you about painting and what they have done as far as art and they are happy to model as some of the artist have put them in their paintings. Today one of them told me he had studied all the masters and he could paint almost as good as them. I smiled and told him I wished I was that good!

So Albert and I walked over to Las Campanas to join a group of starving artist...(no pun intended)...It would not have been a completed outing in downtown Riverside without margaritas and eating Mexican food to enjoy the day and start the event! (In the photo starting from the back left, Sylvia Ramos, Elin Pendleton, Albert Varela, Louise Smith, Terry d., Joan Coffey and Fernanda Natale Reynolds.

Trees, trees and more trees

Happy New Year! Yesterday the 1st day of the new year was so beautiful in S. California that I just had to go outside and paint. I don't want to brag here but I think our high was 68 with some high clouds and sun. I have been noticing that I am not happy with my skies in some of my paintings, so I wanted to do some experimenting with some colors and see where I got. The first painting was done looking up into the Eucalyptus trees that are in my front yard. I painted it from my back yard looking over the roof of my house. They are really tall trees. Same as the second painting. The 3rd painting of the palm tree with a skirt is about 4 houses down from me. It had really beautiful light on the left side and grabbed my attention when looking around at all the trees in my neighborhood to paint. The last and my goal was accomplished with the sky, is the frawns on my palm tree in the back yard. All of these paintings are offered for sale at $100.00 ea. unframed, $165.00 framed, oil on canvas board, done with a palate knife. They will be on display at the Banning Center for the Arts, starting Jan. 12, 2008. Enjoy your new year, and enjoy the Art! Terry d. Chacon

Fisk-Burgess House and Grove

Another painting for the Redlands Conservancy exhibit/show at the Redlands Art Association. This beautiful historical home is right in the center of Redlands, Ca. The grove has been preserved through a conservation easement. This house was on the list of places to paint, but we were suppose to paint there on Dec. 1, 2007. I missed the date so Pat and I decided to just paint on the outside looking in. I loved the way the roof top was nestled in the grove and all the beautiful trees that surrounded the area. It was another beautiful Redlands day. Warm sun and beautiful light. This painting is called "From the Outside Looking In". I can put 3 paintings in the show. Now I have to decide which 3 of the 4. The show reception is Jan. 6, 2008. The show will be up for 1 week, so don't miss out. Well today is Dec. 31, 2007. Next time you hear from me it will be 2008. I hope everyone has a wonderful, prosperous New Year. Cheers, Terry d. Chacon