MANZANAR WORKSHOP - Warm Up Day 1 - Dirty Socks and Diaz Lake

I attended the 5 day Henry Fukuhura Manzanar Workshop this year. I have wanted to go for many years.

"Henry Fukuhara, the Nisei watercolorist who painted vibrant landscapes of Manzanar and served as a teacher and mentor to a generation of artists. He passed away a few years ago at 96.
Fukuhara’s abstract landscape watercolors are represented in the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the San Bernardino Museum of Art, and the Japanese American National Museum. He is listed in “Who’s Who in American Art” and is a member of the prestigious National Watercolor Society, as well as an honorary member of Watercolor West.
“I enjoy myself when I paint. I’m in another world, I forget everything,” Henry Fukuhara said at the 2005 Manzanar Paint Out, a watercolor workshop he led every year to the Owens Valley. “If you are a painter, you can move mountains, you can move trees.”

The first day of the trip we painted around OLANCHA According to wikipedia:

Olancha (formerly, Olanche) is a census-designated place in Inyo County of the U.S. state of California. Olancha is located on U.S. Route 395 in California, 37 miles (60 km) south-southeast of Independence, at an elevation of 3658 feet (1115 m). As of the 2000 census, the CDP population was 134.
Located in the Owens Valley next to the now mostly dry Owens Lake, the arid settlement is home to a major bottled water plant for Crystal Geyser Natural Alpine Spring Water

DIRTY SOCKS HOT SPRINGS (near Olancha)

"At one time a nice county park established for the enjoyment of hot springs devotees, this area is now more attractive to migrating birds - and birders. (If you don't mind a little slimy algae, the cemented pond might be enjoyable still for some.) The small natural pond will often host shorebirds and other waterfowl. Walk to the north and look for rails in the extensive reeds"

These are some Notan paintings I did around the site
These are (2) 6" x 8" that I did using limited palettes one with a cool red and one with a warm red although it's hard to tell the difference.

DIAZ LAKE

According to wikipedia:

The lake was formed by the 1872 Lone Pine earthquake on Tuesday, March 26 of that year when 18 mi (29 km) of the Owens Valley dropped approximately 20 feet (6 m) (see graben) and a new spring opened, causing water to fill the lowland.
The lake was named for the Diaz family who established a ranch here when brother Rafael and Eleuterio Diaz emigrated from Chile in the 1860s. They owned and operated a successful cattle ranch until the land was sold to the city of Los Angeles.

These are some small Notan Paintings I did at Diaz Lake.

This is a limited palette 6" x 8" painting I did using Phthalo Blue, Phthalo Green, Black and White as a Monochrome Palette. I want to do some more paintings with this palette.