Magic in Gualala, CA

October 9, 2025 Diana Bennett | Artist | Interior Designer | Cook#BarkingRocks, #beach, #CAC, #DianaBennett, #Gualala, #GualalaPaintOut, #ocean, #oilpainting, #paintingrocks, #paintout, #PleinAir, #rock, #water, California Art Club, Diana Bennett Artist, oil painting, Paint Out, Painting Rocks, painting the beach, Painting the Sea, Plein Air PaintingLeave a comment

California Art Club put together a “Paint Out” in Gualala, California this last month. I participated and really enjoyed it. There were about thirty-eight artists from all over California. For an artist, it is always fun to be around other artists. Two or three artists can be painting the same scene and they will all look entirely different.

The only downside was that I stayed in an old-world waterfront hotel. The room had a wonderful view, but It took at least ten minutes to get water warm enough to shower. The breakfast was either a stale wrapped Biscotti or a muffin of the same nature. I passed on both. There was no room service, so no clean towels, and I was there for six nights.

The beaches were clean and beautiful. The first day I painted at the park, with an expansive view.

I loved the view for viewing, but not particularly for painting. I’m not sure if that makes sense. I attempted to capture the beauty; but I felt something was missing for a painting. My opinion has not changed. Maybe it’s just too much information?

The next day, I visited a beautiful estate named “Barking Rocks.” It was named for all the seals that live on the rocks. There were about twenty of us painting around the waterfront property. I chose to paint a small and quick painting of the rocks.

I was happy with this 8 x 10 and entered it the last day to be critiqued. No one found fault with it, so that was quite nice.

The third day I drove to Cooks Beach, where several of the group were painting. I joined on the cliff above the beach. Several others took the trail down to the beach and were painting on the beach.

I painted this on a 9 x 12 panel. I liked it when working on it.

The next day was too foggy to paint. I reworked the rocks in my hotel room. Gualala is a beautiful place, but does have fog that rolls in and you can not even see the beach. I drove south to Sea Ranch first and the further I drove, the thicker the fog. I chose not to stop at places where you had to hike quite a ways to the beach. I was by myself and did not want to run into “critters”.

I turned around and drove north toward the Pt. Arena lighthouse. When I got the road that takes you to the lighthouse the fog was fairly thick. I drove out to the lighthouse, but the fog was so thick I hardly saw it. I did not paint the foggy wonder, but it is one of the tallest lighthouses on the West Coast.

The effort to find a place to paint did not work well. I painted in my hotel room that day. The final day of the Paint Out, one piece of our work was critiqued by two well-known artists. It was fun to see what other people had painted. I would have loved to have seen the other pieces they had painted, not just the one. After the critique, it was time to head home.

I met many fun people and hope to do more with the California Art Club in the future. Here is the photo from our lovely cocktail party at Barking Rocks on Thursday night in their gallery. It was my second paint out. There were no awards, so it felt more casual than others.

How to Choose Your Next Painting Inspiration

September 10, 2025 Diana Bennett | Artist | Interior Designer | Cook#DianaBennett, #ocean, #portraits, #purpleswimsuits, #water, #whattopaint, painting themes, what do you want to paint next, who does whatLeave a comment

If you are not out doing a Plein Air painting, how do you decide what to paint next? I keep file drawers with lots of ideas. I collect work from other artists for inspiration. I add anything that looks good to me from an ad or magazine at the moment. I look for great photos on Facebook and ask permission to use. When I travel I take lots of photos that “might” make good paintings.

Read my blog. You will see I just did a series of pen & ink drawings of Vacaville, California, where I currently live. I completed a few more drawings for the series I did for Winters, California. This was relaxation time in the evening, as I could watch a movie, draw and use watercolor in my home.

I did a series of animals for fundraiser for a local animal shelter named Funky Chicken. My pieces are selling very quickly as they are posted on “Shine A Light – on those that Inspire“. Each day a different artist’s work of animals from the shelter is put on Facebook for sale.

Right now I am working on a fun piece. It’s from a photo my daughter-in-law took. The photo features her two daughters and niece. They are at the beach in almost matching purple swimsuits. I wanted you to see them, not the water. Hope you like it.

So, now that this is done, what is next?

Many artists stay with one theme. They paint landscapes or portraits. They paint only still lives or fruit. I get “bored” with always painting the same theme, so like to try different things. Maybe I will paint flowers next?

If you are an artist, how do you decide what you want to paint?

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Sketches of Downtown Vacaville

September 5, 2025September 3, 2025 Diana Bennett | Artist | Interior Designer | Cook#acehardware, #AndrewsPark, #Backdoorbistro, #downtownvacaville, #drawings, #Heart, #Heritagehouse, #Journey, #librarybar, #losreyes, #MainGrape, #Maske, #operahouse, #pen&ink, #raineysfurniture, #stems, #theartisanvacaville, #townsqarelibrary, #vacaville, #vacavilleartgallery, #vacavillemuseum, Ace, Ace Hardware, Back Door Bistro, Heart, Heritage House, Journey, Laineys Furniture, Los reyes, Main Grape, Maske, Saint Andrews Park, Stems, The Artisan Vacaville, The Opera House, Town Square Library, Vacaville Art Gallery, Vacaville Museum1 Comment

A few years ago a friend of mine asked me to do a series of drawings of Winters, California. They were sold at the Winters Chamber of Commerce. People enjoyed purchasing a card to remember having a glass of wine or maybe a meal they enjoyed.

Now living in Vacaville, I thought it would be fun to do a series of drawings of the local downtown. See if you can name them all. They are for sale at “The Artisan in Vacaville” or from me directly. They sell for $6.50 per card. If I am low of your particular card I can order more.

When I first moved to Vacaville, I created a series of drawings featuring some of the beautiful old homes on Buck Avenue. Cards can be made of the ones I drew, or if you would like one of your home, contact me.

I will do a blog with my drawings of Winters, California. I started doing these drawings during the Pandemic, when we no longer went out much. I enjoyed drawing and did not yet have a studio or my oil painting supplies here in California. I took photos of many of the houses I wanted to paint. In the evening, I would work on the drawings as I watched television and had a glass of wine. Since the idea of going out was not an option, this was a great way to pass time.

I hope you enjoy them, and maybe think about buying some!

What Can You Learn in an Art Class

August 22, 2025 Diana Bennett | Artist | Interior Designer | Cook#artclass, #beach, #composition, #hayfields, #ocan, #painting, #surf, #takingartclasses, beach, composition, painting class, painting landscapes, painting the beach, painting the ocean, should you take art classes, what I learned in art classLeave a comment

I have always felt if I learn one new thing from a painting class, then it was worth the money. I took one last weekend at Folsom college, which is about an hour away from where I currently live. Setting up my easel, I realized my tripod was broken. I leveled my pochade box and just set it up on the table. That being solved I looked around the classroom and learned my first new idea. The man setting up next to me had put masking tape where his canvas sat. I thought this was so clever. I often put my finished painting in a frame. I set it on the easel to see what the finished project looked like.

Within the first five minutes I had at least one “ah ha”, and will do that going forward. Once the class began as I watched the demo, I was happy to see that the artist used many of the things I have been taught in other classes. What I loved was that he broke many of the “rules” from classes and teachers in the past.

He blocked out the design of the painting using Alizarin Crimson. He then used a roller or a large brush to indicate simple areas. It was a much faster way to begin a painting. He went on to share that every painting needs a story. He often writes a poem about his painting. I love that Idea! It is something I have started adding to all my work.

The story/poem for this first painting:

Being on a bus ~ not my favorite.
Being on a tour bus going to a wine tasting ~ getting better.
Being on the same bus ~ passing beautiful hay fields.
Now, this is good! Hey! Let’s have a glass of wine.

My first painting was from a photograph I took out of a bus ride in Hungary to go to a wine tasting at a well-know winery in the area. It was a beautiful day, and we kept passing hay fields with rolled bales. Having grown up on a farm, where we raised wheat and barley I love being out in the country. We were asked to bring our own photographs. The first day was to be a landscape. He had photographs, but if we used his photographs we could not sell our piece. I painted from a photo on my phone. It was a small photograph to work from. I promised myself I would learn how to move my photos to my Amazon Fire when I had time.

I started the painting by placing the trees and the bales. It was a fairly quick study, which I completed in a couple of hours.

Our teacher made only two suggestions. One was to darken the base of the trees. The other was to add a little green to the sky. I did both and was pleased with the result. One thing I have learned about photographing your work, is that it always views better in person and in a frame.

The next day he was going to be doing a demo on an ocean scene. I had several photos from Puerto Vallarta. I selected one off my phone because I forgot to bring photos to use as a reference. When I got home I printed a couple of photographs to take the next day. You can enlarge the photos to see a certain part. However, having a larger photo as a reference is easier.

My husband and I travel to Puerto Vallarta every year. I always enjoy the beach as it is shallow and you walk out a ways. It is also quite beautiful. I selected this photo as my second to paint.

Bringing the painting to life and wanting to draw you into the scene, I changed the colors a little. I wanted the focus to be more in the middle, where the waves are crashing. I wanted you to know the mountains are there, but not the place your eyes goes first. There were a couple of areas that drew attention to the wrong place. The instructor helped me decide what to simplify.

As I worked on this our instructor said: “When you think it’s done it’s already over-worked.” He came and said: “Leave it where it is, so you don’t lose the spontaneity of it.”

Poem/Story:
Does being at the sea bring you joy? Does it bring peace?Does it make you calm? What does? Does anything?

For my last painting of the class, I had about two hours remaining. I zeroed in on part of this photo. This allowed me to do a simple and fast painting. I finished the following painting in about twenty minutes. One of my good artist friends once pointed out: “When someone asks you how long it took to paint this piece, respond with how many years you have been studying. This indicates the effort you’ve put in to reach this point.” I have been painting about thirty years (off and on), so it really took more than twenty minutes to complete the painting.

This class was very successful for me, as I learned several new ideas. I will add them to the way I paint.

Poem/Story:

Let’s walk to the beach. I just walked down to the beach. The Light danced on the water. The surf sang songs of joy. And I knew the day was mine.

Enjoy your next class. Don’t expect to totally change the way you paint or think. Concentrate on learning something new and add it to what you already know and use. One new idea is better than none! I learned many other things in this class that I did not share, but totally enjoyed.

Traveling Art

August 10, 2025 Diana Bennett | Artist | Interior Designer | Cook#vikingcruise, art, Diana Bennett Artist, painting while traveling, pen and ink, travel art, Viking Cruise, watercolorLeave a comment

When I travel I always take something along to sketch and paint with. We recently returned from a Viking River Cruise. For some reason I had expected to see wonderful sights all along the river. That just was not true. There were a lot of trees and many concrete levies along the way.

I found we spent many hours on buses taking us to locations away from the river. We started our cruise by staying in a lovely hotel in Bucharest for three days. The river was too low for the riverboats to pass. We wanted to see the Black Sea at Constanta. So, we took a seven hour bus ride to see the sea. It was lovely, but not a seven hour bus ride lovely?

The small painting above was from a photo I took from our first night on the Danube. We were on a boat with 194 people. There weren’t many “quiet places,” so it was difficult to find somewhere to sketch. I found a table in an area that served as a dining area most of the day. It was not particularly private.

As we continued our journey, I looked for fun things to sketch. This priest was sitting outside of a cathedral that we walked by in Constanta, Romania. I’m not sure of his purpose and it was quite hot, but I thought it was an interesting sketch.

Here is the photo that I took. I was using watercolor, which is unforgiving. I wanted to make his eyes closed as in the photo, but I accidentally made him look awake. It is not something I will turn into a painting, but it was a fun sketch.

Going through the locks for the first time I found this group of workers rather humorous. They were supposed to be working, but here they are chatting and on their cell phones.

I took some other photos on the trip that I plan to paint:

I’d love to know what you think would make a good painting. It was a fun trip, but it is always good to be home.

John Deere Tractor, our Johnny Popper

May 18, 2025May 18, 2025 Diana Bennett | Artist | Interior Designer | Cook#JohnDeere, #PleinAir, #tractors, #Winters, 1956 Willys, Driving a tractor, Hollyhock, I love John Deere, John Deere laid to rest, John Deere Tractors, Johnny Popper, Learn to drive a Jeep, Learning to drive, Out on the farm, Painting tractors, Tractors on the farm, Willys JeepLeave a comment

I first learned to drive on a Johnny Popper, as my grandfather used to call ours. When I was small I would sit on my father’s lap and he would let me pretend to drive. I have wonderful memories of being out in the orchard among the walnut trees building “checks” to get ready for irrigation. Years later, he taught me how to shift gears. My brother learned the same way I did, but either he was more adventuresome, or more careless. One day, my father turned around and my brother was about to attempt to climb a tree while seated and driving our John Deere tractor. I watched as my father sprinted to the tractor, jumped and somehow got the tractor out of the tree. A few minutes more and my brother might have flipped the tractor and be crushed under it. My father did not use cuss words often, but I learned a few that day. My brother was not allowed to drive the tractor for quite a while.

I’ve always been fascinated by John Deere Tractors, but never really looked into their history. I have painted a few old ones over the years. I one above is not in use anymore, but beautifies a farm not too far from Winters. California. I was in a Plein Air paintout and when I saw these, I knew I wanted to paint it. It was the second full day of the event, so I was a little tired and had completed a landscape scene earlier in the day. A couple other artists were painting the tractor, so I decided to join in. It was a warm day and I got a good start, but did not finish in time to turn it in. Actually I finished it in my studio today.

At the event, both the Artist’s Choice and the People’s Choice were paintings of this tractor! I think people like tractors. I decided to do a little research on the history of the John Deere Tractor:

The history of the company began in 1837 when John Deere, a blacksmith, invented a steel plow that was successful in the sticky soil of the American Midwest. In 1843, he formed a partnership with Leonard Andrus, to produce more plows to meet the increasing demand for them. The company eventually expanded to include tractors, harvesting equipment and other farming tools. Deere & Company incorporated in 1868.

In the 1910’s the company expanded, entering the tractor and harvesting equipment business and acquired other companies to build a “full line” of farm equipment. In 1912 Deere preferred stock debut on the New York Stock Exchange. In the 1950’s to 1960’s Deere & Company became a global sales leader in agriculture and industrial equipment, focusing on innovation and expansion. They continued to grow, focusing on larger-scale farming equipment and expanding into construction, forestry and turf care. To this they remain a global leader in agricultural and construction equipment, while continuing to innovate and expand product offerings.

John Deere’s mission statement, “We Run So Life Can Leap Forward”, focuses on creating intelligent, connected machines and applications that help revolutionize agriculture and construction, enabling life to leap forward. This mission is supported by eheir core values of Integrity, Quality, Commitment, and Innovation. They strive to sustain lives and livelihoods everywhere, deliver purpose-driven technology, and run with nature, while prioritizing sustainability and ethical business practices.

I love their tagline: “Nothing Runs Like a Deere”.

John Deere’s first tractor was the WaterLoo Boy, introduced in 1918. This tractor, initially designed for large farms, was a result of Deere & Company’s acquisition of the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company. The first tractor to bear the “John Deere” name and be built, marketed, and named by John Deere was the Model D, introduced in 1923.

John Deere has come a long ways since this first tractor.

John Deere Tractors | 6 Series Utility Tractors | John Deere

Our John Deere Tractor on the farm in Colusa, California was more like the one pictured below. I don’t know whatever happened to our farm Johnny, but assume it was sold when my father died at age 53. My mother sold the farm, and bought her first ever new car, and cute little house in a new housing development not far from town. I left that year to go to college and only go back for an occasion class picnic and now as I have grown older go back for more “Celebrations of Life”, (funerals) than anything else.

1950 John Deere A Tractor For Sale | 100 Mile House, BC, Canada | 10384210 | MyLittleSalesman.com

Not that it has much to do with this post, but the next car I learned to drive was our 1956 Willy Jeep in bright yellow. It had no cover, so when not being used on the farm I would drive it to High School. Lots of great memories.

Share your John Deere memories!

Kindred ?

May 7, 2025 Diana Bennett | Artist | Interior Designer | Cook#death, #helen mirren statements, #kindred, #painting death, critics, death, kind, love, paint for yourself, painting what you love, what is kindred to you, who is a critic of your art1 Comment

This painting called “Saying Goodbye” was done for an organization I am actively involved in for a show about death. It was rejected for the show, as they were looking for pieces more universal in nature and dealing with the figurative aspects of death, not something so explicit.

When I painted this piece, although I did use people I know and love (and loved) I did not see it as being specific to these two people. Death is something we all face eventually in life; and my piece is intended to share the emotion of the moment of death. It references the tenderness of loss, not of any individual, but of many who have lived this experience.

My artist friends have described the painting as poignant, powerful, capturing a real moment in life, deep with sharing a sadness that makes you think about the life you are living now. It was painted to reflect how people who have undergone loss may feel, and how it affects their life going forward. The painting captures “the moment” you no longer exist.

The local art gallery had originally asked if the organization had reached out to me to ask if I had been contacted about art of the exhibit. I had not been asked about art for it.

The local art gallery is having a show called “Kindred”, so I asked if they thought this was appropriate for the show and they thought the piece showed love and caring and they are happy to have it in the show. On another note, I was in an arts festival this last weekend and I put this painting in the front of my space. Although I received many compliments on my other work, not one person said a thing about this painting. It was anniversary of my late husband’s birthday and I showed it to honor him. It made me think that people are afraid to talk about the inevitability of death.

I did a second painting for the exhibit at the art gallery from a photo I had taken when traveling with friends. I called it “The Best View of Life”. I posted the painting on Facebook, but my friend asked me to remove it, so I did. I took a photo of it, but the photo does not show up on my iphone or in my photos, so I guess the Cloud ate it.

You never know how someone will react to one of your paintings? I paint a wide variety of subjects, so I’m not surprised when some are not liked or appreciated, but I personally know I wouldn’t say anything to the artist if I felt something was wrong about the piece, but some people think criticism is acceptable. It’s kind of like, would tell a friend she looks fat in an outfit she selected to wear? I don’t think so!

Helen Mirren once said: At 70 years said, if I could give my younger self on piece of advice, it would be to use the words “F* off” much more frequently.

Too many years are wasted trying please, be liked, and fit into places never meant for us. We bend, compromise, bit our tongues – util one day, we realize that none of it ever really mattered. The opinions we once feared, the obligations we felt trapped by, the people we exhausted our selves for? They were never worth the weight we carried.

So, to my younger self: Speak your truth boldly. Don’t’ justify your decisions to those who have not place in your life. Stop explaining yourself to people committed to misunderstanding you. Protect your time, your energy, your peace. And if something doesn’t serve you, have the courage to walk away – without hesitation, without apology and without looking back.

I like how Helen Mirren thinks!!

Berryessa Gap Vineyards

April 9, 2025 Diana Bennett | Artist | Interior Designer | Cook#BerryessaGap, #PleinAir, #Winters, art, Art Fair, Art Stroll, artist, Berryessa Gap, creative energy, facebook, photography, Twitter, vineyards, WintersLeave a comment

Today I finished this 40 inch by 30 inch painting from a photo of the Berryessa Gap Vineyards. There is a wine stroll coming up in Winters on May 3rd and I was asked to have a booth. I will participating in the Plein Air get-together from May 1st to May 3rd. The third day I will be painting from my booth, probably from a photo I will have taken earlier.

When I was working on this, as it came to being close to being finished I felt it lacked the spark it needed. I decided to look online for ideas and was sadly disappointed. I could find no painting that really sang out to me. There were several YouTubes, but none of the finished work was inspiring. With that I realized that anyone can post a YouTube and it does not have to be that good to retain a pertinent number of followers.

Are there that many people that need help like that? I did not gain anything new from the ones I quickly viewed. Maybe I need to be more “gutsy” and do my own videos. I have looked online for recipes for several years and am amazed the long detailed “how to’s” that accompany most of the recipes. I skip to the recipe, read the ingredients and from that determine if it is worth cooking.

The problem with most videos, YouTubes and demos is that each shows one style or technique and in most cases it is no where near what you want to accomplish. It was pretty disappointing. I find the same with so many of the art how-to art books. I think why would you buy a book if you don’t like the art of the artist.

I’ve written a book on hand drafting that is still used in many schools throughout the world. Maybe it is time to do the same with an art book!

Journal of the Flowers in My Yard

April 6, 2025 Diana Bennett | Artist | Interior Designer | Cook#coloredpencils, #drawingflowers, #flowers, #garden journal, art, artist, colored pencils, creative energy, facebook, garden jounal, journal, photography, recording what is in your garden, TwitterLeave a comment

Our yard is full of wonderful flowers that bound into bloom every Spring and continue through the summer. My husband loves to work in the yard (if it’s not too hot), but never remembers the names of the flowers. When we are discussing an area in the yard he calls it by “the pink flowers”, or the “red flowers” and etc. I thought it might be fun to put together a journal of the flowers that grow in our yard.

What I am discovering is that it will take more time than I thought it might. I started to do the journal in watercolor, but quickly learned that my paper was not nearly thick enough for that. So I got out a pencil set that I purchased several years ago for a portraiture class. I took it to my sketching group and quickly discovered I needed to sharpen all the pencils and did not have a sharpener with me.

As you can see, sharpening all of these took a bit of time! So far I only have completed two drawings. The drawings are small in nature, but considering how many different flowers we have in our garden, it might take a bit.

The Chefs at Rutherford Grill

March 29, 2025 Diana Bennett | Artist | Interior Designer | Cook#chefs, #eating out, #restaurant art, #Rutherford Grill, #tomatoes, add some color, art, artist, chefs, chefs cooking, Cooking, creative energy, facebook, photography, restaurant kitchens, restaurants, Rutherford, Rutherford Grill, tomatoes, too much gray, what's for dinnerLeave a comment

I took this photo one day we were there for lunch a while back, and finally got around to painting it.

This is a small study of the two chefs busily at work in the kitchen. There was so much gray in the photo, it was a little hard to find color for a painting.

It is an old world wonderful place to have lunch and we have been there several times. I was attracted to take the photo, as the chefs were so intense in what they were doing. Having owned a restaurant when I was much younger, I know how much hard work goes into making a restaurant a success. Mine did okay, but after a year of owning it, running it and being the main chef I closed it, lost a lot of money and knew I would only cook for family and friends going forward.

I have so much more respect for anyone that works in a restaurant, as it is long and hard work. Trust me, I tip the staff a lot better having had my own restaurant experience.

diana bennett | artist | interior designer | cook

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