News and Things Going on
Sutter Street Pastel News: Student Bobby Johnson once again took three top honors at the recent Placer County Fair Art competition. Congratulations Bobby!!
Another student, Marie Komoda Gonsales, is exhibiting in Badass Art Gallery in Folsom CA! Way to go!!
And Finally, student Dave Thimgan was just accepted into a gallery in Sutter Creek CA!
Mendocino and Shelter Cove Competitions
Wow! What an experience, and one I'll gladly repeat! Painting outdoors and getting two 14" x 18" pastel paintings done everyday (on average) was a very challenging endeavor. Dealing with the elements came to the fore much more so than any other times in the past...fog, wind, threat of rain, blazing heat...yep- it got challenging. At one point, while painting in the blazing sun high on a ridge in Boonville, a little voice (no- I don't hear them ALL the time!!) was telling me to get out of the sun. I replied "yeah, I will" but it got more insistent, more so until I felt near panic set in. Even well dosed with sunscreen I swore I could feel my skin turning into bacon. Fortunately, no sunburn but a very unnerving moment...
I feel I gained some insights also as it applies to judging criteria. I won't say here what these perceived insights are but let's just say I definitely have more understanding of their judging perspective, if you will...
I enjoyed meeting the fellow artist-competitors and local denizens. While staying at my friends Bill and Gail's house, they cautioned me about an old skunk that lived on the property and that it being blind and deaf, wandered around anytime, day or night. So, with that in mind, I would paint during the day and keep an eye out for the skunk. Well- late one night, while asleep, the breeze pushed open my unsecured door. I didn't think much about it and fell back to sleep. It seemed only moments later I felt something with four legs walking across the foot of my bed. I woke up, my mind yelling SKUNK!! I froze in a state of fear, not moving a muscle and then...I heard....purring! Posey, the cat (named for the Giants Catcher), had decided that my bed was warmer than hers, or just wanted to visit. I laughed, reached over and rubbed her head and let her visit for awhile.
Another thing about my trip- as far as fishing went, Mendocino was a disaster. I broke the tip off my surf rod while it was in my car, probably from moving stuff around while camping at Russian Gulch. So I bought another rod, discovered one of my reels was missing a screw that held the crank on it. I had another old reel (30 years old) so I took that with me and hiked 3/4 of a mile across the bluff near Little River to find a place to fish. As I started to get ready, I noticed that this other reel was missing a part also and was totally inoperable. I cursed, threw my bait into the water and trudged back (after taking some photos) and left for home. It's just as well- I didn't realize how beat I was.
I feel I gained some insights also as it applies to judging criteria. I won't say here what these perceived insights are but let's just say I definitely have more understanding of their judging perspective, if you will...
I enjoyed meeting the fellow artist-competitors and local denizens. While staying at my friends Bill and Gail's house, they cautioned me about an old skunk that lived on the property and that it being blind and deaf, wandered around anytime, day or night. So, with that in mind, I would paint during the day and keep an eye out for the skunk. Well- late one night, while asleep, the breeze pushed open my unsecured door. I didn't think much about it and fell back to sleep. It seemed only moments later I felt something with four legs walking across the foot of my bed. I woke up, my mind yelling SKUNK!! I froze in a state of fear, not moving a muscle and then...I heard....purring! Posey, the cat (named for the Giants Catcher), had decided that my bed was warmer than hers, or just wanted to visit. I laughed, reached over and rubbed her head and let her visit for awhile.
Another thing about my trip- as far as fishing went, Mendocino was a disaster. I broke the tip off my surf rod while it was in my car, probably from moving stuff around while camping at Russian Gulch. So I bought another rod, discovered one of my reels was missing a screw that held the crank on it. I had another old reel (30 years old) so I took that with me and hiked 3/4 of a mile across the bluff near Little River to find a place to fish. As I started to get ready, I noticed that this other reel was missing a part also and was totally inoperable. I cursed, threw my bait into the water and trudged back (after taking some photos) and left for home. It's just as well- I didn't realize how beat I was.