"Grandpa's Workshop" © 11 x 14

‘Grandpa’s Workshop’ was one of the easiest titles to come by for my painting of this old rustic barn at Circle J-Norris Ranch. Located in the spectacular foothills of the Western Sierras near Springville, CA, Circle J-Norris Ranch was one of several beautiful ranch properties we had the opportunity to paint during this year’s CAC- Sequoia Riverlands Trust plein air painting event. As I was laying in the structure of the barn on my canvas an unexpected visitor walked by and said “Oh my, that’s Grandpa’s workshop. Grandpa spent nearly every day tinkering behind those doors.” Well Grandpa has passed on and the barn continues to intrigue passersby like myself. Interesting, I had a feeling there was something special about this place and felt compelled to paint it. I think Grandpa helped me paint this painting, don’t you? ---Frank Lennartz

"Sierra Stream" © 6 x 8 - Sold

I thought I would continue with the subject of the Sierras. This little painting is of a scene somewhere along the 395 but I can't remember the exact location. There was a old beaten shack along the highway and that is what we stopped to photograph. We took lots of photos of the shack with the mountains in the background and neither one of us has ever painted it! The other pictures we took of the surrounding natural beauty ended up as paintings instead. This is one of them. When you're an artist, plans "morph" as you go along.

"Highland Light" © 16 x 20 Sold

As long as I'm on the subject of the Sierras, this is from a Ted Goerschner workshop that Frank and I attended at Lake Sabrina. We went there one frosty dawn, wearing our very warm clothes and by the afternoon we were sweltering in shorts and T-shirts! I did several little 8x10 field sketches of this scene during the workshop and also took photographs. I used them as references to paint this painting in the studio later on. The most difficult part was the water. I think I re-painted it four or five times and finally got it the way I wanted it. This is another wonderful memory of painting with friends in the magnificent Sierras.

"Painting En Plein Air" © 9 x 12

In our last blog, we featured a painting of the Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena and that reminded me of this painting that I did last Fall. There were several artists painting in the area that day and I was having trouble finding a spot to paint where I wouldn't be blocking someone's view or wouldn't have someone else in my view. Since the light was quickly changing and I was getting tired trying to find a spot to paint, I decided to paint this scene and include the artist. I am happy with this painting because it is much more interesting with the figure in it. The artist who was "in my way" turned out to be the central focus of the painting!

This painting is currently being exhibited at "The Old Mill" in San Marino (1120 Old Mill Road). The Old Mill ("El Molino Viejo") is a charming historical building and is the gallery of the California Art Club.

"Hop Sing Tong Benevolent Association" - 11" x 14"

Several weeks ago, Frank and I spent a lovely day participating in a "paintout" in Chinatown. The paintout was sponsored by the California Art Club and there were several other artists there performing their "magic". The weather was perfect and as you can see, there was no lack of color in our surroundings. All day long we were surrounded by shoppers , hustle and bustle. Chinatown is doing a lot of publicity, trying to attract business to their area and one of their ways of doing that is to have performers in this courtyard on weekends. In addition to having a very pleasant painting day, we were entertained with music and several acrobatic shows. They were excellent performers and some of them were scheduled to perform in Cirque du Soleil. The sign on the building with the flags said, "Hop Sing Tong Benevolent Association", hence, the title for this painting. At the end of the day, all of the artists lined their paintings up in front of one of the shops. We were treated with Chinese food and wine and a few sales were made. I think Frank truly captured in his painting the festive feeling of the day.