Alameda Plein Air Paint Out -19th Annual Event 2024

This was my fifth time joining the Plein Air Paintout in Alameda. Starting in 2018, because of the pandemic, we missed one year, and I missed the last year.

Checked into Richard and Jo's recently-renovated Victorian house after charging my electric car a bit on Sunday night. Nice that I could stay the night before so I didn't have to feel frustrated in freeway traffic, worrying about missing the beginning of the Alameda annual event.

There were many nicely done classical still-life paintings hanging on the walls in their house. Found out that Jo is an artist too, Those still-life paintings were hers. Richard started learning watercolors from Margaret at the art center.

There was a little drama at the charging station before that. There was a guy occupying one of the two 30-minute charging stations who wouldn't leave. The other was an Asian gentleman who let me charge first, and he was back in the waiting queue.

I noticed that the guy had charged past the 30-minutes maximum time, and told him that his time was up, but he said rudely to me "Mind your own business!" I guess that everything has a way to be balanced, good and bad, light and dark, etiquette and rude, just like a painting needs contrasts. I decided to leave after charging my car for 20 minutes, and didn't want the other gentleman to wait for too long.

Very happy to see some new faces and old artist friends as we were getting our papers and canvases stamped. Most of volunteers were the same people who helped us out in previous years. They are nice people for sure.

I drove around and checked several painting spots, and because it was gray, all the locations and subjects looked unappealing.  It was almost noon when the sun came out. I started painting near the Fruitvale Bridge with an old factory behind. I had an idea to paint it as a night scene, it was challenging, and it took time to finish. Actually I went back a couple of times to add more info.

On the other side was the Dragon Boat restaurant. And I tried another sunset scene in front of it. Actually, this one was on my painting lists for years. Finally, I did one.

Bettie hosted a big party at our first paintout night in her backyard on the waterfront. Always fun to catch up with many artists and meet new ones too.

I was supposed to move to Bettie's after a two-night stay at Richard and Jo's. Another artist who stayed one night at Betties told me that she wanted to move from the boathouse into her house because of the bridge noise. I'm pretty sensitive to noises myself while sleeping, so I checked with Richard and Jo, but couldn't stay because their niece was coming.

Fortunately, I met Nancy at the party, and she invited me to move into her house, and I could sleep well and concentrate on my painting. She lives in a beautiful, well-maintained Victorian home that really proved a peaceful place.

The next morning was grey again so I decided to draw the places first then go back to painting after the sun came out. There were many streets under construction, but I ended up at one of my favorite painting spots, "Dan's Farmers Market". There were many cars parked in front. After cars drove away new ones replaced them. It took me much longer to draw, then paint and it was chilly in the shade,  Besides the cars kept blocking what I wanted to see. It is one of the many challengings of Plein Air.

Afterwards, I went back to charge my car and went for a walk at the Grand Marina. There were always many paintable subjects there and I loved the mood of the sunset time there, and so decided to paint it.

Wednesday morning was our "Quick Draw".  Aeolian Yacht Club was on my painting list as well. Another gray morning. When I was halfway done with my painting, a security guard came and told me that I should not park in the Guest parking area, also that I should not be there. Usually I would move on, but time was limited so I stayed to finish the "quick draw". Later, the sun came out and it was not easy to edit on watercolor, I tried to light up some color areas to match the new lighting.

Saw several good works at the SouthShore Center during our "Quick Draw"exhibition. After that, with Poon and Beth together, we went to the docks to paint the famous aircraft carrier, the USS Hornet, which was another subject I've always wanted to paint.

For several paintings, I had to return to the location to add more detail or catch the sunset feeling. While back at Grand Marina, I overheard some young kids speaking in a unique language near their parents, which turned out to be a Mayan language.

Reminded that we went to Guatemala, and heard all the stories about how the Mayan culture is slowly disappearing. I am very happy that they spoke this language to their kids. The guy told me that he knew how to write some of the characters as well, just because his family was poor, he had to drop out from the school when he was still young...

Evening was fun. Chatting with Nancy, I found out she was such an interesting person. And I enjoyed a solo show she performed for me on piano, and sang for me like on a broadway stage! Friday I framed my paintings at home.

Saturday we had a wonderful exhibition. Juror Babara Tapp gave me very nice feedback. (August 3 2024)

Several weeks ago, I attended this special event honoring the talented Nancy Seamons Crookston at South Shore Shopping Center with many other artists. Some of us painted outdoors, this what I did of a live model long pose 3-hour session + hours added for studio study, painted on a 12"x16" new panel.

https://originalartstories.blogspot.com/2022/08/alameda-plein-air-paint-out-17th-annual.html

https://originalartstories.blogspot.com/2021/08/alameda-plein-air-paint-out-16th-annual.html