San Gabriel Summer – California Impressionist plein air style Oil painting

San Gabriel Summer
5 x 7 oil on panel
SOLD

This quick impression of Hahmongna park captures the feeling of the San Gabriel mountains when summer thunderheads bring rain to the high desert. The weather has been hot and humid, and the thunderheads are the evidence. The heat is keeping people away from Descanso Gardens, much to our disappointment. But the weather is supposed to improve, and the weekend will be in the mid 80s … a big drop from the close to 100 degrees we’ve been experiencing.

Arroyo Seco Eucalyptus – Pasadena – Daily Oil Painting by Karen Winters

“Arroyo Seco Eucalyptus” 9 x 12 oil on canvas
SOLD

Not too long ago I did a plein air watercolor sketch of this beautiful eucalyptus which stands along one of the pathways in Pasadena’s Arroyo Seco. The morning light was bouncing off of the ground and causing some of the ragged hanging bark to glow with rich warm tones. A smaller shrub was struck by the sunlight and shimmered in pale chartreuse. Although my objective had been to paint the bridge, I couldn’t resist this combination, which I have now turned into an oil painting.

Tomorrow (Sunday, May 11) I will be painting en plein air at the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena (formerly the Ritz Carlton Huntington.) Look for me on the balcony near the Tea Room, enjoying the fresh air and beauty of the grounds. I’m hoping for blue sunny skies – and if they don’t happen, I’ll invent some!

Pasadena Arroyo Seco Paintings – new show for Art Night


Arroyo Pond – 11″ x 14″ oil on canvas – Click to enlarge

Under Autumn Skies – 11″ x 14″ oil on canvas – Click to enlarge
SOLD

New California Art Club Show

See more of my arroyo seco paintings here.

Yesterday I got official notification that these two paintings have been accepted into a special exhibition of the California Art Club featuring paintings of the Arroyo Seco area of Pasadena. These paintings are of the northernmost part of the Arroyo, near JPL and Devils Gate Dam, on the border of La Canada Flintridge, my home town.

The show will be hung in the Pasadena Public Library and will open Friday night, March 14 (this Friday) and continue through March 30.
Reception is from 6 to 10 pm and artists will be present to chat with. The show is part of Pasadena’s bi-annual ArtNight – a great event in which all of Pasadena’s many museums and concert venues are open, free, for the evening. Shuttle buses take art lovers around to all the locations so you don’t have to keep driving and parking. More information about ArtNight can be found here.

So, if you’re in LA or especially if you live near Pasadena, you should really get out and enjoy this special evening of art, music and more. And if you get by the Pasadena Library, stop by and say hi.

Earlier that same evening, I’ll be at the Chevy Chase Country Club for the opening of another show featuring paintings of the club, canyon and surrounds. More details about that (and pictures) in a day or two.

Now you know why I’ve been saying I’ve been crazy busy for the past month or so!

Arroyo Pond – Arroyo Seco Painting – Karen Winters

Arroyo Pond – 12 x 16 oil on canvas

When the rains come, a part of the upper Arroyo Seco (in Hahmongna Park) can fill up with water, creating a seasonal pond. Here’s how it looked on one overcast day in early spring. I’m wondering what the current rainstorm will bring (this was from a few years ago.)

Conventional wisdom says that there should be a vertical element in a composition for balance when it is primarily horizontal, but in this case I think the purely horizontal format helps to reinforce the feeling of peace and tranquility. This view is from above Devils Gate – looking southward in the early morning in the direction of the Colorado Street Bridge. The hazy mist is typical when there’s a lot of moisture in the air.

Arroyo Ramble – Pasadena Arroyo Seco

Arroyo Ramble 12 x 16 inches – oil

This is a part of the Arroyo Seco – a sandy river bottom that fills with water whenever there’s a big rain (like now.) One of these days soon I’m going to head over there and try to find some way to plein air paint while the waters are still flowing. I love it that we live in an area where wild nature is so close by (like 5 minutes away.) If you live in a rural area, that’s no big deal. But we live in a suburb of Los Angeles – so every bit of wilderness is treasured. Those are the San Gabriel mountains in the distance and they really are violet at certain times of the day. If the storm clears, maybe I’ll get over there tomorrow.

More later …

Spring Comes to the Arroyo – Karen Winters – Arroyo Seco daily painting

“Spring Comes to the Arroyo” – 12 x 16 oil on canvas
SOLD
Although this painting is sold, I’d be happy to paint something in a similar vein as a commissioned painting, in the size of your choice. Please write karen@karenwinters.com

Spring is first announced the the appearance of bright green grasses in the arroyo. These may emerge within weeks of the winter rain, covering the parched mountains and hillsides with brilliant chartreuse fuzz. Rosettes of mustard plants germinate and provide patches of darker green among the annual rye sprouts. Eventually the mustard grows tall , blossoms, and blankets acres of ground with yellow mist.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to see watercolorist Jerry Stitt demonstrate. He brings a great amount of energy and passion to his work, along with remarkable technique. One of the quotes that stayed with me was “I don’t paint what things ARE, I paint what they do.” He doesn’t want us to just see a boat, a lake, a hillside … he wants us to FEEL the sweep of the windblown tree, the flatness of the desert, the weight of the mountains. I learned a lot not only from what he painted by how he painted it as he put his whole self into his work with large gestures. Someone once said if he had a native American name it should be “Dances with Brushes” and that’s not far from the truth. He is also a trained ballroom dancer and that elegance and confidence comes through in the way he paints as well. A fascinating and talented painter. If you have a chance to see him demo (he lives in Sausalito) don’t miss it.

San Pasqual Stables – South Pasadena – Arroyo Seco

“San Pasqual Stables in the Morning” 9 x 12 – oil
SOLD

This morning I had the wonderful opportunity to visit the San Pasqual Stables in South Pasadena, California for a group paintout. The location was challenging because I don’t frequently do architectural subjects, and morning light is hard to catch because it changes so fast. So, I decided that I was mostly concerned about getting the “color notes” right for the barn, shadow, distant trees and foreground. If I happened to get those spots of color into good shapes, all the better, but I kept my expectations low just in case.

I liked how this came out and do think it represents the feeling of hazy light between 9:30 and 10 in the morning. After that time I worked on refinement of the image rather than trying to “chase the sun” and continue modifying the shadows, color etc. That means that the “bones” of this were laid down in 20 minutes, more or less, and then as I changed shapes and edges I mixed more of the same colors that I already had.

It would have been nice if there had been some people and horses standing around outside the stables, but mostly they were inside or moving through the scene quickly and I didn’t fancy trying to fake one, so I left it alone.

There were two somewhat exciting incidents while I was there 1) a golden eagle was spotted in the vicinity, slowly gliding over the area near a few crows and 2) a big male stallion got loose and came running right near where I was standing, at the side of a corral. Now I don’t know about horses, but I think they usually have people with them – they’re not like dogs that you can just let loose to find their way home. I saw this big guy running toward me and I just froze at my easel, not wanting him to see me as threatening in any way. In a few seconds he turned and went into a corral. A groom came running after him but was clearly keeping his distance so he didn’t spook him. The groom chained the horse in the corral and then he and a few other wranglers approached him gingerly and got a halter on him to lead him back to the barn. That stallion had a lot of attitude – I’m glad he didn’t decide that I was someone to have “issues” with.