Pasadena Federal Court of Appeals Painting – Karen Winters

Pasadena Court of Appeals – former Vista Del Arroyo Hotel
11 x 14 acrylic
SOLD

This stately building has become the federal court of appeals in Pasadena, California, but it was formerly the Vista Del Arroyo Hotel. I’ve painted it once before in my sketchbook, but this was an opportunity to portray it from a different angle and at a different time of day. In the distance the San Gabriel Mountains catch the late afternoon light. The foreground sycamores are starting to turn color, an early sign of fall.

Arroyo Trail – California Impressionist Oil Painting by Karen Winters


Arroyo Trail
11 x 14 oil

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The Arroyo Seco continues to be one of my favorite subjects for landscapes. In the distance are the San Rafael Hills, part of the communities of La Canada Flintridge and Pasadena.

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.

Pasadena afternoon – Cityscape urban oil impressionist oil painting – Karen Winters

El Molino Afternoon
11 x 14 oil on board
SOLD to a collector from Pasadena

Strong sunlight streamed through the alley just south of the Pasadena Playhouse in the Playhouse District.
I enjoy the feeling of painting on board. Although it lacks the “spring” of stretched canvas, the paint glides on smoothly and can be pushed around in different ways.

Thanks for all the comments left here in support of my 5 years in blogging. Connecting with others through Facebook is another new and interesting direction that promises to bring other opportunities to be creative and connect with other creative people. I’m really enjoying it a lot. It’s not just for college kids, anymore! There are groups based around common interests (like art) as well as other relaxing activities like playing Scrabble and organizing get togethers. So much fun!

California Impressionist Oil Painting -La Canada Memories – San Gabriel Mountains – Karen Winters

12 x 16 oil on canvas
“La Canada Memories – Oak Grove Park”

This one is not for sale but was a last Christmas gift to my daughter. But it wasn’t really practical for her to schlep it back on the plane to Northwestern U. so we agreed I’d get it framed up for her to take to her new place in the SF Bay area. So, it’s all finished up and here it is.

This is a scene of Hahamongna Park looking northward to the San Gabriel Mountains. (Formerly Oak Grove Park.) It is right across the street from the high school where Kelly and her brother went to school, as well as right next door to their preschool. So this truly is a hometown painting. Hahamongna Park is also known as the northern part of the Arroyo Seco, an area I’ve painted often and will again in the very near future!

Pink Magnolia painting – Huntington Gardens Art – Karen Winters

Pink Magnolia – Huntington Gardens
16 x 20 oil on canvas

This is another new painting I’m taking to the Huntington for Art Matters (see yesterday’s post for information on the event this coming weekend.

In the spring, the Huntington magnolias are a sight to behold. Their delicacy reminds me of the inside of pink conch shells. They are the very emblem of the new season. My objective in this painting was to focus on one unfolding blossom – a plant portrait, so to speak. By using different edge softness and manipulating color it was my goal to make the bloom look as though it was 3D, breaking through the picture plane, enticing the viewer to draw closer.

One of these days I’m going to have to get a small pink magnolia for our garden. We used to have a huge tree that bore white blossoms, but it died due to an oak fungus that must have been dormant in the soil.

So, magnolias are very dear to my heart. I hope this one will go to another magnolia lover.

Magnolia Flowers – Huntington Gardens Oil Painting by Karen Winters

“White Magnolias” 16 x 20 oil on canvas
SOLD at the Art Matters show

The moment I saw these beauties at the Huntington Gardens and Library, I just knew that I had to paint them. They were luminous in the morning light – exactly the kind of subject matter that excites me. This will be one of the paintings that I am bringing to the Art Matters show, which opens this Friday night, May 2 at the Huntington in San Marino. Friday night is a special ticketed event. The show will be open to the general public with gardens admission on Saturday and Sunday. This is also a lot “tighter” than many of the paintings I’ve been doing of late, but the subject matter seemed to require it. I have another botanical which will be there for the show and I’ll post it soon, along with some other paintings.

Last Saturday night I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the Gold Medal show of the California Art Club at the Pasadena Museum of California Art. What an exquisite treat to be around such beautiful works. I will be returning many many times in the next few weeks to savor the show while it is still hanging. A number of my painter friends have works in the show. Almost everyone who attended said it was the best one ever.

A Spring Walk – Karen Winters Daily Painting

A Spring Walk – 9 x 12 – watercolor sketch

This one is a little bit from real life, and a little bit from imagination. I embellished the wildflower strewn meadows just a tad beyond reality, but if you don’t tell, I won’t.

Ah, springtime. Our peach tree is in bloom, magnolias are covered with blossoms and the mustard is starting to blanket whole hillsides in a warm yellow glow. I’m looking forward to getting out and painting again soon, now that the rush to deliver paintings to shows is almost over. I have more deadlines ahead of me for other shows yet on the horizon, but there is a bit of a breather, at least.

And speaking of shows, the “Warm Welcome” watercolor of the Chevy Chase clubhouse garden and front door was purchased today, two days before the opening reception. I am very pleased and hope that the new owner enjoys it as much as I did painting it, although it will hang for the duration of the show. I hope this is a good omen for the rest of the show.

Someone asked me the other day if I felt stress painting to deadlines for shows and competitions. I thought for a moment and realized, yes, I feel stress, but it doesn’t feel like a negative pressure – just busy-ness. It causes me to focus and be deliberate about what I’m doing, but it’s not a bad feeling. Quite the contrary!

Did you know that there are actually two kinds of stress? One, the one we think of commonly, is actually distress. It makes us feel bad. The other kind of stress, associated with good things, is called “eustress.” Here’s a link, look it up! So when I’m painting to a deadline, I feel eustress and it actually energizes me. I think this is the kind of stress people refer to when they say “I do my best work under pressure.” Distress, on the other hand, tends to paralyze you and make you lose focus and confidence. That kind of stress makes you avoid the project instead of looking forward to the next one. So, as a long way of answering, I do feel stress, but it’s the kind that makes me want to jump out of bed in the morning and get to work, not to pull the covers over my head!

And since it’s past midnight right now, I think I’ll go pull the covers over my head and hopefully dream about walking down that spring path.

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!

Eaton Canyon Stream – Karen Winters Daily Painting

Eaton Canyon Stream – 9 x 12 oil on canvas on board

Eaton Canyon, in Altadena (near Pasadena, California) is running with water this time of year. This painting is of the east side of the riverbed, looking southward.