Sunday, April 18, 2010

Aragon Alpacas and the Plein Air Painters



I Alpacas


The Plein Air Painters of Lane County had a paintout that was a real hoot (lots of fun) at Aragon Alpacas. The Alpaca farm is not far from our home and we had no idea it existed before we went.


The house is beautiful to look at ...


... and everything a farm home should be from subtle trim to a great porch...


... and farm implement yard art. We were greeted by Ann & Mike Dockendorf the owners and while Mike got back to work...


... Ann showed Sharyn and I around the farm.


Ann told us how they had moved here from Santa Barbara and she was originally from Tyler, Texas ...


... which explains the Texas star on the side. Then she told us about the barn that was close to ruin when they moved in and was now in tip top shape.


We had a chance to meet these wonderful animals like these two who I gave the title "The Twins."


The first Plein Air artist who arrived just before Sharyn and I was Kerri who walked out to a great spot in the field...


... and immediately started her work.


Then along came Victoria with her trademark baseball cap (she may call it a Plein Air cap) who also set up and talked about technique with Kerri.


The third arrival was Leigh who was working with ...


... Pastels.


So there they were and you may ask, where are the Alpacas?


They were all around



In herds and ...


... all over the place. On this property we are the minority.


Leigh's pastel was looking great...


... Victoria's hills were taking on a real mystical quality.


I can't tell you how relaxed the atmosphere is for an outdoor painter and how much I enjoy seeing the creating as I do the ...


... the creations like Kerri's landscape that was vibrant and as warm as the day.


There is a magical atmosphere on the farm with old growth trees...


... hops for home brewing...


... gadgets for spinning ...


... and bags of Alpaca hair ...


... and even an avocado plant.


The stars of the show are the Alpacas.


The big guy here, however, is a Llama but all the camelid's (you look up the word) are stars.
* Actually I .looked it up and Camels, Bactrian Camels, llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, and guanacos are in the Camelid group

Elegant,


sometimes comical,


or beautiful


they remind us the true gifts of nature and it's kinder gentler side.


Then we are brought back reminded there are a lot of turkeys still running around.

Scrabble Score - Scrabble Queen 348 - The Contender 327

Quote of the Day ~

2 comments:

sbvpav said...

thanks Dockendorfs for your warm hospitality and beautiful farm. loved the texas star on the restored barn, the colors on your beautiful farm house are perfect, the alpacas were precious and the view spectacular. p.s. looked up "barn quilts" and love the idea, perhaps even on the side of our "city" home :)

Anonymous said...

What lovely animals.
~~PF~~

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