Bill Cone

I've been trying to get out on the weekends and paint for the Napa Valley Art Festival that is happening at Copia on May 31st. The show runs from 10-4, and I'll be there, along with a few fellow Pixarians, Ernesto Nemesio, and Sharon Calahan, as well as a lot of the Sonoma Plein Air Regulars, including Paul Kratter, Randy Sexton, Kevin Courter, and Kim Lordier, to name a few. It should be fun, and there will be plenty of great art to browse. Here's some of my recent pieces that I'll be exhibiting in the show.

Late Spring
10.5 x 10" Pastel on Canson paper

Off Season
8 x 13" Pastel on Canson paper


Bystanders
10 x 10.5" Pastel on Canson paper


Dry Creek Crossing
8 x 12.75" Pastel on Canson paper


Diablo Afternoon
10.5 x 10" Pastel on Canson paper


March Morning
10 x 14" Pastel on Canson paper

I spent a few days in Cabo San Lucas with family over spring break. I didn't bring my pastels, as I was intending to sit under an umbrella on the beach and read. However, just in case of boredom setting in, I took some watercolors with me and a small
(5.5 x 8.5") sketchbook. These were all done sitting on the beach, and turning in different directions, sometimes with a margarita nearby. I'll not blame the beverage for the results, though. While I enjoyed painting as a focused diversion, the realities of lack of brush control, and color mixing, set in. It was a struggle, but I still had fun. Here's a few pages, and pieces from that trip. It is humbling to realize how hard it is to control watercolors.

I'll be in a group show up in Napa at the end of May, and I'll be posting some pastels I've done for that show soon.