Warm sunny skies and spring blossoms guaranteed a good turnout for our paint out at the National Arboretum in Washington, DC. Some members and guests apparently never got past the beautiful azaleas located near the park entrance. They just drove in the gate, stopped, and started painting, satisfied they had found what they wanted. Other members drove around and around the various roads through the Arboretum first to get an overview and then to examine all the creative possibilities before deciding where to paint. There were miles of roads and many different environments from which to choose a subject. Several times I passed Louis Escobedo going in the opposite direction as he was looking in one direction and I was looking in another. We both eventually found our subject.

After finishing my painting I set out to find other artists to take their photos for the archives. I drove around but couldn't find anyone. The Arboretum is large and heavily wooded. Since it was approaching critique time, I decided instead that it would be best to hurry back to the picnic area and reserve a table for our critique. When I got to the picnic area I found that Barbara Nuss had already claimed several tables. Soon more and more people joined us. Fortunately Daniel Wise had taken photographs of some of the artists at work. We had lunch and the critique.

The members present were Tim Bell, Adrienne Burrows, Marietje Chamberlain, Edward Cooper, Bernard Dellario, Louis Escobedo, Bruce Handford, Margaret Huddy, Mary Kokoski, Andrei Kushnir, Christine Lashley, Barbara Nuss, Bill Schmidt, Meg Walsh, and Daniel Wise. Guests were Gray Dodson, Brenda Kidera, Sarita Moffatt, and Vince Neraoka.