Towata Park, Alameda

Ink and watercolor in large Moleskine watercolor sketchbook
Click here to see larger

Thursday night was a 2-hour plein air paint-out on Alameda Island that was part of the Frank Bette Art Center’s annual invitational weeklong event that culminates in a show and a fund-raising auction in the park Saturday. Susie and I went there straight from work and had a very enjoyable time looking at all the accomplished plein air painters at work spread out over about a half-mile square area. It was warm, very windy and the sun was setting on the water, creating glare amidst views of a marsh, the bay, a small boat harbor, San Francisco across the bay, and a huge old concrete bridge with rush hour traffic flying across it a very short distance away. Despite all these challenges, the artists were doing some amazing work. After we’d admired all the interesting styles and techniques we found a spot where we could sit and draw too.

We’d both been attracted to the funny little boat to the left of the picture so we both drew and painted the same scene (but quite differently) in about 20 minutes. Then we took another walk around to see the finished pieces and left as the artists were setting up their paintings in a circle so that they could vote on the winning painting. While we were there, I got to see Ed Terpening, a fellow blogger, in action (the painting he was working on last night can be seen by clicking his name), and met Tom Zephyrs, a fantastic artist who is the brother-in-law of a childhood friend. Susie and my favorite was a large pastel in brilliant colors of the imposing bridge by artist and blogger Ann McMillan. She won first prize at last year’s event and that pastel is featured on the Frank Bette’s website page about the event.

Two nights in a row of painting inspiration and two nights in a row of dreaming about painting…until the earthquake hit at 4:42 this morning, putting an end to lovely dreams for the night. Fortunately it didn’t create any problems and was short enough that I didn’t even have time to do my usual earthquake reaction: panic and try to remember what it is I’m supposed to do during an earthquake. It felt like someone had taken my one-story, rectangular house that is much longer one way than the other, and picked it up at one end and snapped it, like you do with a sheet when you’re opening it and laying it on the bed.