Moonstone Beach Surf – Central Coast Cambria Oil Painting – with video – Karen Winters, artist
Moonstone Beach Surf
Cambria, California
11 x 14 oil on linen panel
SOLD
This was painted last April (2010) during a California Art Club paintout. The rain came down where we were painting at San Luis Obispo Land Conservancy sites, so some of us headed for the coast nearby. It was incredibly cold and windy, but I had a really good time
This is a video my husband shot and edited – some highlights of me painting there. Please let me know if for any reason it doesn’t play for you. It is hosted on the Facebook server, not YouTube.
Cambria Ranch – California Central Coast Plein Air Oil Painting by Karen Winters
“Cambria Ranch”
12 x 16″ oil painting
Oil on linen panel
See more of my California Central Coast paintings here
Eucalyptuses, how I love them, with their multicolored patchy bark like a coat of many colors. When I saw this stately old tree I knew I wanted to take some time with it, to appreciate the many grays along its flanks. The transparent underlayers of burnt sienna and red peek through here and there, just as underlayers of color are visible as outer bark layers peel off. I think that I will never tire of painting these majestic trees that seem to glow when side lit. We have a lot of them around LA but they are at their best when given a setting like a spring field, bathed in light. I want to paint another really large one, soon. My to-do-list grows daily …
Some of my other favorite eucs:
Rose Bowl Pasadena January Painting by Karen Winters
SOLD
Rose Bowl, with San Gabriel Mountains, in January
8 x 10 inches
oil on linen panel
See more Pasadena paintings here
The Rose Bowl is an imposing structure any time of year, but when the San Gabriel Mountains are dusted with snow, as they often are in January, it provides an extra-special backdrop. When the air is cold enough, the snow falls at altitude, but down in the Arroyo Seco, it provides welcome rain. Welcome except on January 1, that is.
I thought about putting in some people in red or purple or gold or blue jackets, but it occurred to me that if someone wanted this painting as a keepsake of a special bowl game that they might prefer to have a few people in THEIR colors, rather than the, um, rival team. Sound fair?
Interested in this painting?
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Moonstone Beach Tide – Cambria Seascape Plein Air Oil Painting by Karen Winters
Moonstone Beach Tide
11 x 14
Oil on linen panel
SOLD
See more of my Cambria paintings here
This painting was actually completed on location last spring on a paint out with the California Art Club, and due to an overload of work (and probably some forgetfulness on my part) it has been sitting in a dry box waiting to be discovered. In the process of cleaning up and organizing for the holidays I have uncovered more than a few paintings which I’ll be posting over the next few days/week.
This painting of Moonstone Beach was done on a day when it was raining heavily inland in San Luis Obispo. One of our fellow painters, Karl Dempwolf, told us that the beach was clear up in Cambria, so we loaded in the car and headed for the beach. The wind was blowing heavily and my new EasyL easel had to be weighted down to keep from blowing over. It all worked out.
Happy New Year to everyone. We’re staying in and staying safe tonight. It’s a very cold day in So. Cal, which is unusual even for December, so I’m catching up on my record-keeping and looking forward to some TV-watching later. Our kids gave us a beautiful new widescreen TV for Christmas and we’ve been completely entranced with it!
Mammoth Snowcreek Landscape Oil Painting – California impressionist oil painting snow scene
Snowcreek at Mammoth
6 x 8 inches oil on canvas
More Sierra Nevada paintings here
The combination of autumn russets and deep mountain blues at Mammoth was a compelling late fall image to paint. The soft scattering of melting snow brought an interesting texture that reinforced this transitional season. Soon the glittering golds will be gone and all will be covered in a gentle white quilt. I’ll have to return to paint that scene, too.
Willows are blazing with color everywhere there is a stream or creek in the Sierra. The Inyo National Forest is glorious to behold right now.
Autumn Enchantment – La Canada Flintridge – California landscape oil painting
Autumn Enchantment
11 x 14 oil on canvas
SOLD
See more La Canada area paintings here
Autumn. My favorite time of year. It reminds me of back to school, fresh pencils and crayons, an imminent coolness in the weather, Halloween, football games and the bluest skies of the year. Here in southern California, at least when I was growing up, the summer heat trapped a layer of haze in the sky. But spring and fall were crystal clear. When you put the blue of the sky against the warm complements of orange and gold – well, it’s just magical, and who could resist painting it. By December, the sycamores have turned and the first rains bring forth new green grass. Autumn comes late around here.
Update: This painting was done a few years ago, but I just drove through the area a few days ago and it looks exactly like this.
Colorado Street Bridge Painting, Pasadena, “Below the Arch”
“Below the Arch”
Colorado Street Bridge, Pasadena
11 x 14 painting
oil on canvas
SOLD
See more Pasadena paintings here
This painting of our iconic Colorado Street Bridge went home yesterday with a new collector. I always enjoy painting the bridge, and hope to appreciate its beauty from many new angles in the coming year. This was a larger painting based upon a 5 x 7 study I did a few years ago.
Lone Pine Plein Air Study – Sierra Landscape painting
Lone Pine (study)
6 x 8 oil on linen panel
More Sierra Nevada paintings here
I had hoped for a sunny day when we visited Lone Pine on one of our many Sierra trips last fall. But that time a storm was on its way in, wrapping the majestic peaks in shades of gray. But I was there and I wasn’t about to be discouraged. The muted tones actually added some interesting color that I wouldn’t have had any other way, and provided a soft contrast to the vivid yellow rabbitbrush which blooms that time of year.
I’m working on Sierra studio paintings based on this and other fall studies, and they’ll be posted over the next month or so.
By far the most annoying part of that day’s paint out was the swarm of flies that appeared as soon as I set up. I’m guessing there must have been free range cattle out there at some time – or where did they come from?
Sierra Landscape Oil Painting – Bishop Windbreak, Owens Valley by Karen Winters
“Bishop Windbreak, Owens Valley”
California Sierra Landscape Oil Painting
16 x 20 oil on canvas
More Sierra Nevada paintings here
The first time that I painted this stand of trees, I thought they were aspens. The leaves were similar in shape, but the trunks are not the characteristic aspen white. The trunks looked more like cottonwoods – but the silhouette of the shape was more poplar like, and didn’t have the rounded tops.
A little net searching led me to discover that the the tree is actually a Lombardy poplar – and it is a variation of the black cottonwood. The whole botanical name is Populus nigra sp. Italia. So it’s both a black cottonwood and a poplar – and I think now my curiosity is satisfied. Whatever they are, these stately trees form excellent windbreaks along pastures near Bishop.
Twin Lakes Bridgeport Sierra Oil Painting – Autumn Cottonwoods
“Twin Lakes, Bridgeport, California – Autumn Cottonwoods”
12 x 16 Sierra oil painting
oil on canvas
More Sierra Nevada paintings here
These backlit cottonwoods at Twin Lakes in the Sierra Nevada were a perfect frame for the cool blue scene beyond. Although we didn’t take the time to fish (too many things to paint!), there were a lot of fishermen out in boats and fishing from the shore. An absolutely beautiful spot, and popular, I’m sure, with many looking for rainbow and brown trout. We checked out the little village at Twin Lakes Resort and will no doubt be back for a longer stay.
This has been an exciting few weeks with openings of several small works shows, at the Segil Gallery in Monrovia and the Silvana Gallery in Glendale, California. Our local sycamores are now turning color and it’s time for me to get out and paint some studies while waiting for layers to dry on my commissioned paintings.
