Catch Me In The Galleries This Spring!

In addition to the spring show currently going on at Christopher Queen Gallery, the reception for the spring show at Toby's Gallery in Point Reyes Station. It was a bit of a time-crunch for me to get these done in time for the show, but I can't pass up an opportunity to paint spring wildflowers!

Scenes of Marin in Springtime

This was from an outing last year about a year ago at this point. We went to go look for the rare and elusive Oakland Mariposa lily. We found some of those, but so much more! We hiked up to the summit of the mountain and found tons of lupines, tidy-tips, poppies and more! This was a scene near Turtle Rock, for those of you familiar with Ring Mountain.

I don't know if gouache is pushing me into a more detailed way of rendering, or if I was always drawn to this method and gouache is better suited to it than oil? Either way, I'm enjoying going down this path.

We have been going to the Marin Headlands a little more often as of late. I think it's because I've been doing more events in Marin County lately, but I like it! Gives me an excuse to learn more. We went about a month ago. It was a pretty nice day, though there were a lot of clouds, giving us an interesting lighting situation. We ended up at the Point Bonita lighthouse, but this one of the many beautiful sights we saw along the way.

Who says gouache has to be flat and chunky?? Once you really learn the medium (and how to paint) you can get an amazing amount of subtlety from it. This was mainly done by texture and subtle layering, but it takes less time than you might think to get this effect.

This was from our first-ever visit to Angel Island. We loved it! The hiking is just strenuous enough to get a good sweat going, but you can do most of it in a day. It would be fun to camp there and spend the whole time exploring instead of having to ferry back after a few hours. I highly recommend it though! I was always intimidated by the extra planning and the fees for riding the ferry and all that, but it's really not that bad! The ferry is short and fun, and the island itself is like going back in time! I imagine that it's similar to what the rest of the Bay Area looked like a hundred and fifty years ago.

You get some of the best views in all of the Bay Area! 360 degree panoramas of the entire Bay Area, including all of your favorite landmarks. Mount Tam, the bridges, sailors, all the hills, the skyline of many major nearby cities, and of course, Alcatraz Island. I'm not so much interested in the prison history of the island, but I bet it's a great place to get unique views from! My artist brain thinks a bit differently.

Click here for info about the gallery

If you have a chance to see the show in person, here's some information. These month-long shows come and go, so don't delay! The reception will greet you with drinks, snacks and smiling faces, so it's best to go then!

Springtime Splendor Art Exhibition

Saturday April 4 – Wednesday April 29

Opening Reception, April 11, 1 – 4pm

Also, you still have plenty of time to check out "Spring Flourish," the current Christopher Queen Gallery show. I'm busy working on the next show which opens in May. I'll have pictures from that show coming in a few weeks, but in case you missed it, you can preview the show by going here: https://sergiolopezfineart.substack.com/p/springtime-splendor

Thanks for being here! See you again soon.

-Sergio