California Golden Hills and Oak Trees oil painting

California Golden Hills and Oaks
18 x 24 inches, oil on canvas
SOLD, now in a private collection.

This is a theme and location that I will keep returning to — California’s beautiful rolling hills, studded with majestic live oak trees. The rain has been light this year, so the hills are not as green as we have seen them in the past; which means the swaying grasses will not be as tall this summer and fall. But it’s all a cycle and will be repeated again and again. I’ve even seen some of the local oaks starting to re-sprout that were scorched by last fall’s fire. Nature renews itself endlessly.


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Yosemite Chapel in Autumn oil painting California impressionist contemporary art

Yosemite Chapel in Autumn
10 x 8 inches
oil painting

Autumn is one of the most beautiful times of year at Yosemite, and this little wedding chapel is never more charming than when framed with fall color. The deep afternoon blues of the walls are a perfect complement to the warm colors of the trees. I wonder how many thousands of weddings have been celebrated here?


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El Capitan Summer Yosemite oil painting

El Capitan Summer
9 x 12 inches
oil painting on oil primed linen

The view of El Capitan from the Merced River is one of my favorite sights in Yosemite. I always enjoy returning to paint there, any time of year. One of these days I’ll brave the elements and do a winter painting with snow capping the rocks. For now, the summer greens decorate the scene.


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Cottonwood Breeze Owens Valley Sierra fall oil painting

“Cottonwood Breeze”
Owens Valley 14 x 18 inch oil painting
Eastern Sierra, California

Owens Valley was a blaze of color last fall. The cottonwoods fairly glittered in the sun. This is one of my favorite locations to paint, near Swall Meadow, Round Valley.
The blues and golds complement each other so well.

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Golden Panorama California rolling hills oaks oil painting

“Golden Panorama”
15 x 30 inches oil painting
SOLD

I don’t usually paint in series, but lately I’ve been focusing on different explorations of California’s golden rolling oak covered hills. This is the first wide-format one that I’ve done. The other most recent ones were both 20 x 24 inches.

This painting represents the California Central Coast region, near Cambria, Morro Bay, Cayucos and Paso Robles. I wonder how much the oaks have recovered this year following the several years of drought.

This painting is now sold, but you can write for information about others.
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Yosemite Sentinel Bridge Reflections – Half Dome oil painting


“Sentinel Bridge Reflections”
Half Dome, Yosemite Valley

16 x 20 inches, oil on canvas

This painting is quite special to me as it was the 1000th one I completed. I thought I had posted it on my blog last year, but discovered that I missed it.
If you’ve been to Yosemite Valley, you’ll recognize the view from Sentinel Bridge, with Half Dome reflected in the calm waters. With our current snowmelt, I’m guessing that the Merced River is anything but calm right now.

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See more Yosemite paintings at the link below:

Yosemite Paintings

Carmel Bay Shimmer – beach seascape marine oil painting

Carmel Bay Shimmer
8 x 10 inches, oil painting on plein air panel
Carmel Bay, Monterey County California

 
This new painting features one of my favorite ocean scenes – Carmel Bay on the Monterey Peninsula. This viewpoint is looking southward across the bay toward Monastery Beach. The Carmel River enters the bay on the left. I’m not sure what kind of rocks these are – they seem harder than sandstone or I think they’d be more worn away … but they are certainly rounded into interesting shapes via wave action. There’s something about them that reminds me of Henry Moore sculptures.

Rolling and Golden – California oak tree hill landscape oil painting

“Rolling and Golden”
Central Coast California oak covered hills
20 x 24 inches
Oil on canvas

I’m continuing my series exploring California’s beautiful rolling golden hillsides. This one is from the Central Coast, where the grass is currently long, lush and green. But very soon the rains will fade and the grass will turn the most beautiful shade of ochre and amber. According to historical accounts, California’s hills weren’t always like this. The golden color comes from wild oats which were imported to feed livestock during the Spanish colonial period. Native species were edged out in the process.

Enjoy this painting in your own home and have golden California glory with you year round.

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To see more oak tree landscape paintings please also visit: Karen Winters Oak Tree Paintings

Colorado plein air landscape painting – cloudy day

“Colorado Cloudy Day”
8 x 10 inches, oil on plein air panel
Available.

I painted this as we were on the way from Monte Vista, Colorado to Gunnison. It was just a turn off the highway into a campground, but when I saw it I knew I had to stop. The sky was clear when I started blocking in the scene, but before long large clouds starting rolling in and completely filled the horizon. I had just finished when raindrops started to fall, so we scrambled to get everything under cover and into our car. Not long after, the storm blew through and the sky was sunny again. Then more clouds and raindrops, more sun. It was like that for our whole trip. I guess that’s what they mean by Monsoon Season!

California desert wildflowers landscape painting – Anza Borrego

“Desert Wildflowers”
14 x 18 inches, oil on canvas
Anza Borrego State Park, California

Down a dusty desert road and up a canyon in Anza Borrego State Park, we came upon a beautiful scene tucked out of the way. The desert was blooming with color. Although the rain had not been plentiful it was enough to germinate the seeds that brought these flowers. And they were fun to paint …

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