Toluma Farm 2012

April 29, 2012
Our group had the pleasure of warm, sunny skies and a summer-like day at Toluma Farms, Tomales.

"Goat Love" by C.Proppé © 2012

Toluma Farms is a Marin County (Tomales) family owned Grade A dairy and organic farm, just twenty minutes west of Petaluma.  They are developing a line of fine artisan hand crafted goat cheeses.  In addition, Toluma supplies goat milk to Redwood Hill Farms of Sonoma County.   An interesting fact about goat milk is that worldwide, more people drink goat's milk than cow's milk. Toluma's goat’s milk, like any good goat’s milk, has a delicious slightly sweet taste. The goats are milked twice a day and produce a gallon of milk each day which translates into one pound of cheese.  They can identify every one of the 200 goats by name! They have Nubian, Saanen, Alpine, La Manchas and Oberhaslis goats at Toluma Farms.

I arrived mid-day to put up our sign and several artists had already arrived and began painting plein air.  Donna Solin, Catherine Moreno, and Daphne Gerlach were well on their way already.  See photos, below.

The start of a barn painting, by Donna Solin.

Mill Valley artist, Catherine Moreno, beginning a painting of the largest barn.

Goat tries to nibble Daphne Gerlach's supplies.

This goat had a LOT of character!

 

The goats were so friendly.  They paraded down a trail to meet me and my sons, and the other artists.  This is when I learned from Eric Butler, Herd Manager, that they all had very cool names.  This is a beautiful farm, not far from Dillon Beach.  My family ended up at the beach this day, but I am so glad we got to come out and photograph and see the other artists hard at work and enjoying the gorgeous views.  Hopefully, some of the paintings and photographs from today will end up at our year end exhibits that bring funds back to the farmers.

Beautiful, late afternoon light on the new barn, goats + sheep.  C.Proppé©

Cerini Ranch Visit 2012

Click here to visit Ann Brooks Photography Blog with some great photos from this first trip.

Our first visit of 2012 brought our group out to Cerini Ranch, just North of Hog Island Oysters.  It was a gorgeous day, with puffy clouds and sunshine.  I opened up in the morning and put our signs out for the group.  I also enjoyed bringing my 9 year old son, Blake, out to the farm to paint for the first time.  He did a decent job painting, but mostly preferred playing iPad in the warm car, watching mom paint.  It was nice to have him along for the visit.

Blake Costello on his very first "Art on the Farm" visit, age 9

When we arrived, we were greated by Vicki- Victoria, a real English gardener, who has lived and cared for the property for years.  She was a very nice hostess and came out to see what we were painting mid-day as she strolled the property for a walk.  There were about 10 artists on the property throughout the day.  We left by 4pm when Patti Elliot and Ann Brooks showed up for afternoon light.  Ann has written a terrific blog post about her first time visit with "Art on the Farm".  Enjoy!

Art on the Farm Weekly... Clark Summit Farm

Sunday, August 24, 2008


The Art on the Farm group ventured out to Tomales for the day, and were greeted by the most friendly farm animals yet. Clark Summit Farms boasts "twin" dogs, and goats, coming right up to say hello, and some rolling over right away for a belly scratch.

There were baby pigs in all different colors.

A plethora of chickens were dancing around and jumping on top of a bright blue bathtub at the top of the hill, overlooking the valley.

There were many different old barns of all different shapes and sizes. The painters settled right in and the animals roamed around us, often coming over to check on our work. I met a new artist this week, Dianne Hull (pictured below), and she had a very nice painting in progress by the time the wind drove me down the hill. I am including some photos of the artists and farm residents at work, and many of the great animals at Clark Summit.



To view more of my favorite shots from this outing, click here.