Suzie and I arrived just as Carolyn, Tecla & Kristen also pulled in, it was 8:50 and in case you were wondering -- COLD. Also, in the picture above there is something that could almost look like a covered trash container - it's NOT, it's quite far away and is what most of us thought is possibly a water tank.
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| Suzie |
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| Carolyn, Kristen (both bundled up) |
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| Kristen, Tecla (also bundled) |
So, the real question was -- would we be able to take our hands out of our pockets and gloves off long enough to actually paint. Well, with luck it'll warm up some, but you can be assured that everyone was opting for a spot in the sun.
In fact, I was informed by Tecla that they would be painting just about right where they were.
Nori came along, although her plans were to get there even earlier, but she was still ahead of the meet up time.
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| Nori - thinking about views from the "edge" |
So, I learned something on this day. While this wasn't the spot that Nori picked, her spot wasn't far from there and was truly a bit more on the actual edge of things. So, what I learned is that Nori was a rock climber -- as in MAJOR rocks, like El Capitan (THE major rock). For those of you who don't know about El Capitan, here is a link with very interesting info https://www.yosemite.com/alex-honnold-and-climbing-el-capitan/
Needless to say, she has no fear of "painting on the edge", just second nature for her.
Betty arrived next with Bob and they started wandering around trying to decide on a spot.
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| Betty |
Well, Bob, spent a bit of time in the beginning walking to and fro.
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| Bob walking To |
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| Bob walking Fro |
And, just as I was going to start looking for a spot, LeAnne pulled in - here she is all smiles and a wave just for you!
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| LeAnne |
I went off to the other side of the road not far from where I was last week, so I left everyone behind. That meant when I came back when I was done, I found a bunch of artists happily situated in their spots in that big open area near where we parked. I saw this one person, and was confused at first about who it could be. I soon found out though, it was Kristine a New Girl who found us through Nori.
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| Kristine the "New Girl" |
Will you check out her setup - oh, those beautiful colors are her brand new pastels, don't you just love them! But, look at the TABLE, - hey Mike, her table's bigger than yours 😊.
Here's a view of 3 of the artists in their spots.
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| (L to R) Carolyn, Nori, LeAnne |
Perhaps a closer view of Nori and LeAnne just to verify it's them -- although LeAnne's pink chair is something of a tell.
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| (L to R) Nori, LeAnne |
At the time of this pic, Nori was already packing up -- but just take a look at her and then the "edge" 🙄
Here's the spot Bob finally decided on -- not exactly where he was toing and froing (ok, I know they're not real words even the auto spell feature is telling me that).
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| (L to R) Bob, Bob's jacket |
I didn't find Tecla's spot, but I did see Kristen and yet one more person (now who could that possibly be?). Oops, I almost forgot, right near Bob was Betty, see.
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| Betty in her spot |
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| Kristen in her spot on a narrow trail |
And, just beyond Kristen on that narrow trail was the "other person".
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| Nita in her spot |
Yes, it was Nita -- will you just look at the way she was squatting down and painting. She obviously couldn't find a rock to sit on there as she normally does. But, seriously, have you ever seen ANYONE position themselves like that to paint. Can you believe how limber she is too, ok everyone, this is a test. Go ahead and try and do what Nita's doing, I'll wait ...
While we waited for everyone to bring over their paintings so we could build the gallery. Kristen came over very excitedly with her arms spread wide and turned around to face the magnificent view. She exclaimed -- what do you do, how can you possibly simplify -- just look at it!! Yes, that is pretty much how we all felt, how can you possibly decide what to leave out. Well, kudos to all of us who tried, it wasn't easy but what a beautiful location and one we will definitely be keeping on our list. Hey, so what if we feel compelled to try and paint it "all"!! Heck, it makes for a great looking painting in The Gallery.
Because of the many participants - we have our Gallery in 2. Here's 1
and Here's 2
Something funny also happened on the way to all of us smiling on 2 -- Nori mysteriously appeared (she had to leave early) -- Must have something to do with the "Secret Wilderness Area" we were in. Too bad we can't see her face though.
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| (L to R - Back Row) Bob 😊 (L to R - Middle Row) Betty, Carolyn, Tecla, Nita, Suzie, Kristen, Kristine (New Girl), LeAnne |
Hope you all have a good week!!
Cecilia