Daily Painting

I took a picture of this scene when driving on Covington Avenue in Los Altos in the mid afternoon. Beautiful shadows, and of course, the bright whites. I love it when I see something that catches my eye, pass it by, then drive on, continuously thinking about it, and am finally compelled to make a U-turn to take a picture because I can't forget it, and have to have it, and have to try to paint it. This was one such instance.

I love the Spanish style (Spanish Colonial Revival?) tower of this church in Los Altos, with the stunning blue, curved roof, and the marvelous shadows. I always turn my head to see both faces as I zoom past it on Foothill Expressway. The first painting was a quick, no-pressure painting; and the second one was a planned 'this will be a lot better' painting. No guesses as to which one is the better of the two. Why am I not surprised? That dreaded pressure, and the inevitable result.

November is almost here, and I am frantically getting ready to hang up my art at the Los Altos Library on the 1st. November is filled with deadlines; another one on the 2nd, one on the 5th, another on the 6th, and another one on the 13th or so. I have to focus on the first one, and use the subsequent gap to focus on the next.... Always the architect, here is my layout of the 32 paintings I plan to put up. One of them, Rockland I, was accepted into the Pacific Art League competition/exhibition through November. So, it must come off the Los Altos wall [virtually, at this point], and make its way to Pacific Art League in Palo Alto this Friday [physically]. I am super excited to have two venues to call my own in November.