Leslie Landers

The sunken garden area at Filoli in Woodside has been converted to feature succulent plants and cacti and they’ve pulled it together beautifully. It was fun painting the opuntia (prickly pear). The pink flowers are calandrinia. I scratched their stems in rather than painting them which seems to work well in this context. This painting won second place as part of the Coastal Arts League annual painting show in Half Moon Bay.

I don’t remember seeing as many snowy white egrets in our area as I was growing up. While they are now quite common, I am always struck by their elegant movement.

I painted this on location and tried to catch the interplay of the eucalyptus trees with the reservoir beyond.

In this painting of quince blooms, I am in celebration of spring. I love the warm red-orange color of the blooms and their early arrival.

I tried to capture the feeling of idleness when painting this in Pillar Point Harbor near Half Moon Bay. Commercial crab season delays help safe passage of whales as the timing of migration coincides with peak winter Dungeness season. Still, it also brings hardship to those who depend on the winter catch.

Winters in the California foothills can be mistaken by turns for spring or fall. On overcast days the vibe can be moody which I endeavored to catch as I painted this at Santa Teresa Park in San Jose.

I painted this on incredibly windy morning. My goal in this piece was to capture the sense of the morning glare on the incoming surf.