The annual art show for The El Cerrito Art Association was Friday night, Oct. 5, 2018. It’s always a fun evening of sharing art among friends and fellow painters. This year was a dream come true for me. I received the blue ribbon in the oil paining category. My Sierra Tops painting done outside Reno on my recent trip to Virginia City was selected. And my other entry in the oil painting category, Lafayette Reservoir, received a Merchant Award from the Olivera Plumbing Company. I was able to share the moment with my niece Jenny who was visiting from St. Louis. I am still glowing from that evening. My photo taken from the new Transportation Center in San Francisco, Disappearing, also received a Merchant Award from the Rialto Cinema in El Cerrito.

A favorite painting of mine, Meeker Slough, has been juried into the current show at the Valley Art Gallery in Walnut Creek. I can see Meeker Slough in the distance from my house in the El Cerrito hills and it is bordered by the Bay Trail that skirts the San Francisco Bay. It is a favorite site for local Plein Air painters. The show features scenes from around the bay area, most of which are landscapes. I am thrilled to be in the company of many excellent artists, 2 of whom are painting buddies of mine; Kathleen Gadway and Joanne Uomini. The curator of the show is Emma Acker, Associate Curator of American Art at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco.  The show is up from May 12 – June 23. Treat yourself and have a look.

For the second year our Sunday painting group known as DaGroup shared space in Jerry Turner’s studio/home in Benicia for the annual townwide Open Studios event. Ten of us hung our latest work inside and on the patio for the weekend. Many friends and visitors came to look and buy. We enjoy the time together to really study and critique each others’ work. We eat, talk and relax together in a shared event that seems to cement the bonds we already share. This year I was able to swap my work for two new paintings, one each from Marshall Lockman and Kathleen Gadway. I am thrilled to have them.

Arts Benicia hosted a show juried by Donna Seager at its gallery in Benicia for the month of December. Works no larger than 12″ x 12″ were selected. My 9: x 12″ oil of a summer garden at the Blake Garden Estate in Kensington was selected. It is a favorite of mine and I have very fond memories of the two summer afternoons I spent with the Eastbay Landscape painters in the garden. Our group of plein air painters enjoy visiting many locations in the Eastbay.

October 6 was the opening of the annual art show at the community center in El Cerrito. The oil paintings were judged this year by Paul Kratter. I have been a huge fan of his and was thrilled when he awarded me Second Place in the judging. It was for my painting done this past Spring on a very green Napa county overlook. Sadly, the Sunday of the show the devastating fires in Napa and Sonoma Counties began and burned through much of the beautiful wine country there. I also received an Honorable Mention for an oil pastel of a street scene in Crockett. The show came after the month of September when I had been involved in the Strada Easel challenge to paint and post a picture on Facebook each day of the month. It’s been a busy time.