east bay art classes
Free Painting Workshop #2
Adult East Bay residents who have never taken a class or workshop with me are invited! No previous painting knowledge is necessary. Bring your own media or try mine, and have fun learning how to paint a still life. Enjoy a relaxed, nurturing atmosphere and meet other art lovers. Registration is limited to 15 adults. One spot per household, please. Friends need to register too. My studio is wheelchair accessible and I am Spanish bilingual. FAQs Are there ID, age or other requirements to register for the event? The workshop is for people 18 or older, although I am open to accepting a parent accompanied by a teen 16 or older. It is open to East Bay residents who have not taken a class with me before. What are my transportation/parking options for getting to and from the event? There is street...Read More
A Different Place Entirely
“A different place entirely” is how a painter friend described Meeker Slough in a blog entry. One of the locations I chose for our Plein Air Fridays class, the slough in my opinion deserves five stars as an East Bay painting spot. It is mostly accessible through the part of Richmond’s Bay Trail that borders the Marina Way development and perhaps because of that it feels far, far away. “An old mudflat channel along the Richmond Southeast Shoreline that became constrained from over 100 years of urban development starting in the late 1800s,” the slough used to be considered one of one of the ten most toxic spots in the Bay Area. Thanks to the cleaning efforts of UC Berkeley, it is possible to pass through without being significantly exposed to PCBs, arsenic, lead...Read More
Plein Air Fridays Session 4
Topic Selecting pigments for a Bay Area landscape. Limited palettes. Directions to Crest Ave From Berkeley, take 580 towards Marin and get off at Gerrard. Get off on Castro St exit and make a left on Castro Street. Go under the freeway and you will end up on Tewksbury Ave. Make a left on Tewksbury and continue along the freeway until you hit Washington Ave. Make a right on Washington and go to the small plaza with a statue. The road forks. Stay on your right continue up the hill on Washington. Pass Scenic St. and make a left on Crest Ave. Park at a small lot near the end of Crest Ave, by the trailhead. Please park parallel and close to other cars to leave parking space for everyone. From elsewhere, just take Richmond Parkway west all the way past the dump, and get off toward the end, on C...Read More
Plein Air Fridays Session 3
Topic How to begin a landscape painting, part 2. Directions to Crest Ave From Berkeley, take 580 towards Marin and get off at Gerrard. Get off on Castro St exit and make a left on Castro Street. Go under the freeway and you will end up on Tewksbury Ave. Make a left on Tewksbury and continue along the freeway until you hit Washington Ave. Make a right on Washington and go to the small plaza with a statue. The road forks. Stay on your right continue up the hill on Washington. Pass Scenic St. and make a left on Crest Ave. Park at a small lot near the end of Crest Ave, by the trailhead. Please park parallel and close to other cars to leave parking space for everyone. From elsewhere, just take Richmond Parkway west all the way past the dump, and get off toward the end, on Castro St. North. Fol...Read More
Plein Air Fridays Session 2
Topics How to begin a landscape painting part 1. Safer painting practices. Directions If coming from highway 80, go up Solano to Arlington Blvd and turn left. Or take the Central Ave exit, go up Central and turn left on Ashbury until you hit Moeser, then go up the scary hill and turn right on Arlington Ave. If you are coming from El Sobrante, Richmond or El Cerrito, just take Arlington Blvd and turn right at Rincon Road. From Berkeley, take Arlington Blvd from Marin and turn left on Rincon. Watch carefully for the inconspicuous entrance and sign on Rincon Rd. park in their parking lot, which is next to a convent, then find your way to the reflecting pool, where we will spend the first hour. If you want, arrive early to scout painting spots.