San Luis Obispo Flower Fields – California impressionist painting – Central Coast
San Luis Obispo Flower Fields
9 x 12
oil on linen plein air panel
SOLD
See more of my California Central Coast paintings here
This is one of the paintings that I did for the San Luis Obispo Plein Air Festival, sponsored by the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art.
It was painted the first day of the paint out, bright and early Monday morning, along a rural road. A photographer for SLO City News saw me painting by the side of the road and spent some time taking pictures of the work in progress. It was a nice surprise to find out that it made the cover of the paper …
Sycamore Shimmer – California landscape tree oil painting by Karen Winters
Sycamore Shimmer
8 x 10 oil on linen plein air panel
SOLD
Interested in this painting?
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See more of my sycamore paintings here
See more of my California Central Coast paintings here
This painting was painted for the 2012 San Luis Obispo Plein Air Festival and hung in the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art.
The official festival stamp is on the back side. Sycamores are among our most beautiful California trees, and in the fall they are especially radiant as the colors change.
The active brushwork indicates the way the breeze stirs the leaves of the tree. The use of transparent color creates a luminosity that makes the leaves glow as though light was shining through them.
One Golden Moment San Luis Obispo Plein Air Festival Invitational
One Golden Moment
12 x 16 oil on linen panel
Painted at the 2012 San Luis Obispo Plein Air Festival
SOLD opening night
I returned a few days ago from a wonderful week long event at the San Luis Obispo Plein Air Festival. Over the next week or so, I’ll be posting the paintings I did there, many of which have already gone to new homes. Others, however, are still available.
This beautiful eucalyptus tree in Los Osos begged to be painted. Silhouetted in the late afternoon light, a field of flowers lay at its feet. The flowers are a seed crop, and I think they may have been marigolds.
If you are in the Southern California area this weekend, please visit me at the Pasadena Artwalk on El Molino Street on Saturday. I will have a booth quite near the Pasadena Playhouse, with a wide assortment of my current paintings. The address is El Molino Street, between Colorado Blvd and Green Street in the Playhouse district. The show opens between 10 and 11 (I’ll probably be set up early) and goes until 5 pm. This is a great opportunity to pick up a Christmas present – hope to see you there.
See more of my California Central Coast paintings here
Before the Harvest – California Central Coast Oil painting
Before the Harvest
12 x 9″ oil on board
San Luis Obispo area
California Central Coast
See more of my California Central Coast paintings here
Interested in this painting?
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I’m getting warmed up for the San Luis Obispo Plein Air festival with this study of some of the agricultural areas, under splendid skies. I love the skies over the Central Coast.
California Mission San Antonio de Padua, landscape oil painting by Karen Winters
Mission San Antonio Morning
(San Antonio de Padua, California Central Coast, northwest of Paso Robles)
9 x 12 inches
Oil on linen plein air panel
In early June 2012, I joined a group of other California Art Club artists to paint at Mission San Antonio de Padua, a California mission that is the most “untouched” of the chain. Although some outbuildings and residential quarters have been added, the setting is very much as it might have been hundreds of years ago. This side of the building, the facade where one enters the church, remains much as it was in the early years. By mid day this was all in shade, so morning is the time to catch it. We were up before dawn getting set up to capture the light. We were warned several times to watch out for rattlesnakes. It’s easy to become so focused on what you’re painting that you might not notice one that’s emerged from a hole while you are painting. I didn’t see one, thankfully, but I was certainly careful where I stepped.
Tejon Ranch California Oak Landscape Plein Air Painting – Welcome Shade
SOLD
“Welcome Shade”
9 x 12 oil on plein air linen panel
Painted at the Tejon Ranch, May 2012
See more of my oak tree paintings here
In the middle of a warm spring day, just about high noon, a mighty Tejon Ranch oak spreads its limbs to offer shade to all who visit. Cattle, mostly, but most likely some other critters, too. This majestic tree was silhouetted against the rolling hills and mountains of the ranch. Wherever you look, beauty surrounds you, making it a real treat for plein air painters – even during the part of the day when the light is less than dramatic. (That’s why we get up at dawn and stay painting until moonrise, when we can.
Below, a photo of my work in progress. There were occasional gusts of wind which threatened to topple my umbrella. A road hazard sawhorse came in handy. Sometimes you’ve just got to improvise.
Sunrise in the Oaks – Tejon Ranch California plein air Landscape impressionist oil painting by Karen Winters
“Sunrise in the Oaks”
11 x 14 oil on linen plein air panel
Tejon Ranch, May 2012
See more of my oak tree paintings here
REMINDER – Artists reception for my show at Gale’s Restaurant, Sunday, May 20 – 4-6 pm, 452 S. Fairoaks Ave., Pasadena
Good morning, Tejon. A small band of intrepid California Art Club plein air painters woke at 4 am to get to the ranch and queue up in our vehicles to be on site before the sun rose. I had found my perfect spot – on Sycamore Creek, looking eastward just as the sun peeked over the hills and made the leaves of the old oak dazzle with the backlight. I had to bundle up and dress in layers, knowing that before long I’d be peeling them off as the day turned warm. This, like all of the Tejon Ranch, is absolutely beautiful – a real treat for plein air painters. We appreciate the invitation and the privilege to be there.
The Yearling Sheep oil painting – San Luis Obispo
“The Yearling Sheep”
14 x 18 oil on canvas
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Interested in this painting?
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See more of my California Central Coast paintings here
This sweet young sheep was painted from a photo I took last year at the San Luis Obispo Plein air festival. I was near the grounds of the Cal Poly SLO Cheda ranch, and the animals moved close to the area where I was already painting Bishop Peak. The sheep, I read from their website, are managed by students in the Cal Poly animal husbandry program. Several students were out monitoring the flock. I found it interesting that small birds were perched on the backs of many of the sheep, presumably helping themselves to insects in the fleece. It looked like a mutually beneficial relationship. This particular young sheep (a ewe, I’m guessing) was quietly munching and looked up at me with curiosity.
Morro Rock Dunes – Morro Bay Oil Painting – California Central Coast Seascape Impressionist painting by Karen Winters
“Morro Rock Dunes”
9 x 12 oil on canvas
Interested in this painting?
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This is another of the plein air oil paintings which I did last fall at the San Luis Obispo Plein Air Festival. At the end of the day, as the sun headed for the horizon, the mist from the sea blew in, partly obscuring the large rock. Ice plant provided a colorful counterpoint to the grays and browns of this massive geologic feature.
Peaceful Waters California oil painting – California Art Club Gold Medal Show
SOLD
“Peaceful Waters”
9 x 12 oil on linen
Devereux Slough in Santa Barbara
This painting was accepted into the 101st annual California Gold Medal show, opening Saturday night at a gala party at the Autry National Museum in Los Angeles.
The slough is just on the border of the University of California at Santa Barbara. The morning I was there a marine layer was partly cloaking the beautiful eucalyptus trees, which made created wonderful reflections in the water.
