What a clear day and the temps turned out to be a lot warmer than I anticipated! I arrived to find a few dedicated artists waiting for me.
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| (L To R) Dona, Gail, Mike & his Mug |
Notice Mike in shorts - turns out he was the only one who was anticipating the strength of the sun this day.
Nita 2 drove in while we were waiting and right behind her came Cathy and then Michelle who drove a 4 wheeled vehicle this day (left her bike home).
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| Nita 2 |
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| Cathy |
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| Michelle |
Yes, Michelle decided riding her bike on 89A with drivers at high speeds was less than ideal. So she used a car for a change.
Ed also drove in -- we've been lucky he's been able to join us lately.
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| (L to R) Michelle, Cathy, Dona, Ed |
So we headed away from the parking lot and toward the paths to the ponds. It's a short, pleasant walk with many locations to stop and paint and even small viewing decks.
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| Viewing Deck/platform, whatever |
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| Path to ponds and in the distance is Ed |
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| (L to R) Rick, David |
Wow, been a while since I've seen these two. I learned, however, that David actually sort of joined us the 2 previous weeks, we just never saw him. One reason why we didn't see him is that he opted for the Sunrise view and was out and painting around 6:30 -- so we would've been getting there when he was leaving.
While I was talking to David, I was informed that there was a big white crane just over on the other side.
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Ok, while he was big, it also gives you an even better idea of just how big those cattails are.
Nita 1 showed up and believe it or not, it was hardly time stamp worthy -- 8:44, almost on time but not quite.
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| Nita 1 |
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| Hamilton |
He did allow his chauffeur to join us.
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| (Front to Back) Robin (the chauffeur), Michelle, Ed |
We'll just ignore my finger. She wasn't the last artist to join us though, there was one more to come along and surprise us.
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| Chris |
It was Chris who took a break from packing up the house to come join us. Glad she was able to make it!
I didn't get a lot of people in their spots, but I did catch a few.
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| Robin in her spot and the other painting there was Nita 2's spot |
Speaking of Nita 2, she finished her painting so quickly, she wound up doing quite a bit of walking back and forth. In this next photo you can see her taking off on one of her jaunts.
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| (L to R) Chris, Robin, Nita 2, my spot, Michelle |
Ok, just realized that I didn't get Ed in that photo, but his spot was over seated under that tree to Michelle's right. Two other people I didn't catch in their spots were Dona and Cathy. Now I saw Cathy multiple times, as she had at least 3 different spots and one was right near me. Clearly, I wasn't prepared. Oh, but I did find Nita 1 in her spot. She was right near where David & Rick were.
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| Nita 1 with multiple paintings spread about |
Yes, Nita 1 found that getting there close to on time meant she had even more time to paint. She certainly didn't let any grass grow under her feet - she just sat down in it instead.
So, I mentioned at the start that the temps turned out to be rather warm and I certainly wasn't dressed appropriately. The sun felt strong, so we were all ready to head out right on time. Near the entrance there are some picnic tables -- perfect location for our gallery!
And, since I see you all squinting -- here they are a little bigger.
Well, with soooo many paintings to look at, it took us a few minutes to gather together where we could smile on 2, but we managed!
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| Back Row - (L to R) Ed, Michelle Mike (hard to see those 2) Middle Row (L to R) Rick, Dona, Nita 2, David, Gail, Nita 1, Robin, Cathy, Chris Front Row (L to R) Me, Hamilton (after all he is in front of Robin) |
Till next week!
Cecilia