New Exhibit

I paint with a group of amazing women artists and occasionally we hang exhibits together. 

After waiting 2-3 years for a show at the Orinda Library Gallery BASA's name finally came up.

We were due to hang on March 31st and then the pandemic hit.

So with Covid-19 on everyone's mind we decided to take what we have been working so hard on and give you a virtual show. How creative is that!

Here is the link: Click Me!

During this stressful time I hope our video gives you a moment to relax.

Stay well......Jeanette

Happy Birthday

Song - Take Me Home, Country Roads by John Denver

Happy 100th Birthday...to our National Parks!

Hope you can join us on Monday at The Lafayette Library for the reception!

Julia Parker's painting will be there!

 BASA's collaborative piece "John Muir, Starry Range of Light" 

is a beautiful focal piece for our National Park series.

Suzun Almquist, Joanne Taeuffer, Marcy Wheeler, Sharon Tama, Jeanette Baird

Bay Area Studio Artists will be there to greet you!


"Going to the mountains is going home." - John Muir

Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes

Song - Changes by David Bowie

In 2013 I painted a rather large canvas (30 x 40) for a show I was having with a group a artist friends that I paint with - Bay Area Studio Artists or BASA. The show was titled "Shades of California" and I painted a beach scene from my beloved Lake Tahoe.

  However, I made the umbrella RED! I thought at the time that it added a snap of color!

......And it was used for the Marketing of our show.



I never liked the painting and I couldn't put my finger on why - other than the colors of the water were too intense and maybe everything was too saturated? It was not calming like I feel when I am on this beach.

 I changed the water and made the stripes of the umbrella more defined.  Still no.....

So I have had it stored in a back room but often wondered what I could do to improve this painting.

Move forward to 2016 - last week.  I was getting ready for an upcoming show in Danville at Chow and I thought about a painting for their large wall.

 I began to work with the photo of the painting in PhotoShop.  I changed that awful purple-blue of the shadows from the chairs, removed the flip-flops (because it always made me wonder where that person went to?), and I lowered the horizon.  Better.....but.......

 Then I decided the umbrella was too stiff and needed a slight breeze.....so I changed the shape. Mmmm.....still not working.

 I changed it to blue, then taupe and finally solid white.  Better but not feeling light and breezy!

Then yesterday morning I noticed our white canvas umbrellas on the back deck and snapped a photo.  I could see the colors coming through the under part of it as well as the changes in the fabric as it moved from post to post.  I also received a catalog the day before with a selection of umbrellas so I combined my backyard photo and the catalog stripes and here it is...............

 I added the hint of a turquoise line at the horizon and poof! So soothing....

 I feel so much better.  It was a tough challenge but I stuck with it and am very happy with how it turned out.  Time to give it a title.....

"Remember…. The entrance to the sanctuary is in you." - Rumi

New Art Show in Napa

My artist friends and I from BASA just hung a new show at the Napa Library.  We will be having a reception and Artists' Talk this Friday.  Check out the flyer for more information!  

I hope you can join us for a fun evening.

If you click on the above BASA link, you will be able to see some of the wonderful pieces of artwork.

Who Knew?

Song - Ali Baba by Los Garcia

Our son Jon came up from LA for a friends wedding this weekend.  On Friday I took him to Benicia to see my current show "Black - White". 

 But when we arrived......

They were closed and didn't open for another hour!

So I decided to take Jon on a little tour of historic Benicia 

which used to be our State Capitol for about a nano-second. 

 The "tour" included the Old Arsenal buildings that are being used as Art Studio's, 

Historic Downtown and of course - The Camel Barns!

 Camels in Benicia?????  Who knew?

The camels were a U.S. government experiment in the mid 1800's prior to the Civil War. They wanted to use them for military travel through the arid Southwest and for future railroad survey crews.  

The camel barns were built in 1855 and are built from some amazing chiseled stone. And even though the camels preformed beautifully in the experiment it turned out that they were too smelly, hard to handle and upset the horses.....

so you now can actually have your very own wedding in a camel barn!

Around the back we noticed a bunch of old wood that was protected by an open structure.
   

Jon spotted a hole where the anchor came though.......It was a ship, the Galilee from 1891. 

Next we headed out on the pier where a few birds, several fishermen and one shy sea lion greeted us.

Every time the sea lion came up for air, I would try to snap a photo of him 

but he was too quick and after 706 photos, I still didn't get a good shot of him. 

I think he was just messin' with my mind!

So I just decided to take a picture of someone who was a little more stationary.

Then it was time to head over to the show!

Samples of Light - Medium - Dark

The gallery is set up to move from lighter paintings to the darker ones........

 My painting "The Sound of Silence" is in the "medium" section.

These self-portraits were done by the group of women that I paint with - Bay Area Studio Artists.

Top: Suzun Almquist 

next down left "yours truly" on the right - Sue Bonebakker  

Third row down left is Joanne Taeuffer and right is Marcy Wheeler   

 Bottom row is left - Ellen Reintjes and right Sharon Tama

On Sunday - Nov. 15th we will be having an 

Art Talk & Tour of our work from 1-3pm.

Hope to see you there!

"A camel makes an elephant feel like a jet plane." 

-- Jackie Kennedy

Pairings Reception on Saturday

Hope you can join me in Healdsburg on Saturday evening!

Orinda Books Show and Reception

I paint with a small group of talented women "Bay Area Studio Artists" and we will be having a show for the month of August at Orinda Books.  The reception will be this Sunday, Aug. 2 from 1-3.  

Hope you can join us!

If the link above does not work for BASA, click below.

bayareastudioartists.com

Plein Air Painting in Napa

Song - Autumn Leaves by The Carlos Herrera Band

Woke up early on Saturday morning to head up to Napa to paint with some friends at Chimney Rock Winery.

Bay Area Studio Artists actually did paint outside!  Well, most of us did......

It was a lovely clear day and the winery was having a new release celebration.  They had a the Carlos Herrera Band playing in the courtyard and we painted while members ate, drank and enjoyed the music, art and sunshine.

This is the outside of the barrel room....

....and inside......

I took most of these photos before the crowds arrived.

Sharon Tama and Susan Bonebakker discussing their painting plan of action!

Sharon painted a lovely little courtyard painting of the trees and flowers while Sue painted the iron gate and flowers.

Marcy Wheeler hamming it up after selling her painting of the band.

Ellen Reintjes chose to do some creative iPad paintings!

Suzun Almquist had a beautiful little painting of the interior of the courtyard. Suzun, myself and Joanne all painted from behind the low courtyard wall looking in at the activity.

Here is Joanne Taeuffer packing up a little early as she had finished her "schmoozing" for the day!!!
Actually, Joanne is an incredible artist and lot's of fun to paint with but she just wasn't "feeling it" on Saturday.

And here I am getting my easel set up to paint.  I did paint the interior of the courtyard as well.  It was great to be surrounded by the vineyard, listen to the Cuban/Spanish music and paint.

 Some of the food servers found these little birds that had fallen from their nest.  They look about ready to fly!

"Beautiful day, good friends, great music and happy to be painting!" - Jeanette Crawford Baird