View from Rio Lindo Academy

This July 4th, Monday Morning Painters were scheduled to meet at Healdsburg Verterans Memorial Beach, but even at 9:00 am, people had staked out their picnic tables and it was sizzeling in the sun. I looked aroung for other MMPs but couldn't locate any, so I drove up to Rio Lindo Academy at the end of Bailache (which becomes Rio Lindo). It was much more peaceful at that location, since I hadn't been there for several years, I was quite taken aback at the changed view. As with a lot of Sonoma county, vineyards are being etched into mountain sides, and along river valleys. The hand of man changed the landscape.

A Maui Visit

Last week I traveled to Hawaii, staying in Maui. While there, the highlight of my trip was visiting Carla Thistle and her husband who moved from Cazadero, CA to Haiku, Maui a decade ago. Carla was one of my art buddies in Cazadero, where we both lived for a number of years. One of her claims to fame is making willow furniture by cutting, stripping and weaving willow from the Russian River area. Several of her willow chairs were featured in Phenomenon, a movie starring John Travolta. Carla and Steve have a sweet home and green house that show off Steve's talents as a builder. Their property is filled with tropical abundance: orchids, fruit trees and just about anything that lands in the rich soil and is watered by the warm tropical rains.

In Sara Lee's Vineyard

This past Monday Morning Painters' venue was located in the lucious vineyards of Sara Lee Vineyards. The vineyards are vast and contain incredible places to plein air paint. We often say to one another how lucky we are to live is such a beautiful place on earth.

Next Door to the Jimtown Store

Last week I was invited to paint on the last remaining 250 acres of the 9,000 acres once homsteaded by Cyrus Alexander in the mid 1800s. Alexander Valley is famous for its wine production, and the valley now contains the vineyards of many Healdsburg wineries. This painting is located next door to the Jimtown Store, and views the back of the house there.

Healdsburg Iris Gardens

Another Monday Morning Painters venue, located downtown, through an alley and opening into a secret garden. The morning's passing clouds turned dark and rained on us before we could complete our paintings, so we had to finish the plein air beginnings at home. The beautiful gardens were filled with fragarent irises and roses.

View from Bishops Ranch

After months of rainy and cold Mondays, the weather finally cooperated for Monday Morning Painters. Here is a view from the a deck overlooking a vineyard and towards Fitch Mountain at Bishops Ranch. Bishops Ranch, in Healdsburg, is favorite place for our group of painters, not only because of the many beautiful views it provides, but also for its peaceful surroundings.

Farm on Adobe Road

Last weekend, I drove to Jaccuzzi Winery for their Olive Festival. The trip showed the beauty of Sonoma County in the late winter - thunder clouds, viridian green grass, diciduous trees slowly gaining back their follage. I pulled away from the ubiquitous traffic on Adobe Road and took a photo of this old farm house with it's Happy California cows and the traffic zooming by, then I painted from the photo.