Plein Air Paint-outs
The Plein Air Group meets Tuesday afternoons, weather permitting. If you want to be notified of upcoming outings, contact plein air co-ordinators Susan Lea Hackett at 209 965 0253 or Maureen Carden at 510 388 3516.
Spring has sprung and it's prime plein air painting season . . . but this year, MLAA can't recommend painting in groups. We care about our members' wellbeing in this pandemic season and will not be scheduling plein air outings until restrictions on gatherings are lifted. Check back for updates and keep painting! Go to our Members' Gallery to see work members have done during the quarantine.

March 12, 2020: another great spring day in Columbia, where the trees are in bloom. On a Thursday afternoon there were few visitors and the charms of this old Gold Rush town were fully apparent. There's a painting everywhere you look here. Whatever the artist's style and no matter what their preferred medium, the Gold Rush era buildings provide wonderful subjects.

March 3, 2020. We need rain . . . but the sunny and warm weather is so alluring. The plein air group was in Columbia for our first session of 2020. Columbia State Park was the perfect destination, with its traffic-free streets and gorgeously ramshackle buildings. The still-bare trees revealed new paintable scenes and garden trees were in bud or bloom. We made art. We had fun. We made plans to return on March 10, if it doesn't rain. Anyone can join us. All skill levels and art media are welcome.
January 6, 2020: It's winter, but we still get beautiful weather for outdoor painting. It's harder to schedule regular paint-outs, but we're still working outdoors. Susan Kendall painted on Washington Street in downtown Sonora (left), with the iconic Red Church. Maureen Carden painted the cypresses in the old City Cemetery (right).
Barbara Young painted at Crystal Falls Lake (below). She stencilled leave shapes onto water color paper and developed her sketch over that.

Paint-Out at the Twain Harte Canal, 11/12/2019
The Twain Harte Canal area offers a range of subjects for outdoor painters: the canal itself, the imposing trestle, woods, fields, a pond and, on this date, spots of brilliant fall foliage. The painters scattered. Different viewpoints -- and different painting styles -- always lead to different outcomes! That's part of the fun of plein air!
Paint-Out at Sierra Glen, 11/5/2019
Plein Air coordinator Susan Lea Hackett organized a special treat for the plein air group on November 5, 2019. Sierra Glen, formerly an apple orchard and berry farm, is situated high up in the foothills off Big Hill Road in Twain Harte. A record number of painters showed up in perfect fall weather to be inspired by the lovely setting and the paintable outbuildings and farmhouse. Below: works in progress!