My interview on Creative Liberty
Pomegranates and sunflowers
11 x 14 oil on canvas
I was interviewed yesterday on Creative Liberty, a wonderful blog about living creatively. Liz Massey, the blog owner and a creative coach asked me some good questions for her “In the Studio” series, and I enjoyed the opportunity to talk about my work flow, staying “unblocked” and keeping my creative fires lit. Click the “creative liberty” link to read it.
California Sycamore – Tranquility – Ink Brush Painting
“California Sycamore – Tranquility”
18″ x 18″
SOLD (commission)
This is the matching painting which pairs with the California Live Oak which I posted yesterday. Together, the two frame the dining room door of gentle lady who commissioned their creation. There is always some serendipity with painting. You never know exactly what is going to happen when you put brush to paper, and this is no exception. I knew that I was going to do an ink brush drawing with wash, but when the ink separated on this particular type of paper, the component elements of the black ink separated into shades of gray and taupe … and the taupe is the exact shade of the paint under the wainscoting in her room. I took advantage of this characteristic of the ink to simulate the gray, white and taupe patches which are so characteristic of the California sycamore, but maintaining the feeling of an ink drawing.
Conceptually, the oak tree (seen yesterday) represents strength, stability, fortitude, structure, endurance. I painted the sycamore to represent shelter, grace, resilience and flexibility.
This Saturday night I’m looking forward to going to her Christmas party and seeing them hung in the room, all decked out and lit by candlelight.
California Oak Tree – Strength
“Strength”
18 x 18 ink and ink wash on paper
SOLD (commission)
This painting was done as a commission for a client and I have posted it here to show an example of my work.
Please do not use it without my permission. It is protected by copyright and is not “free” to use as you wish.
If you wish to use it commercially, it may be possible for you to license it.
Descanso Gardens Path – California Impressionist Landscape
Descanso Gardens Path
9.7 x 7.6 inches
Acrylic on paper
SOLD
People often ask me what the word “Descanso” means. It comes from the Spanish verb, descansar meaning “to repose or rest”. So, Descanso Gardens suggests a place of rest and relaxation.
To counteract today’s politically and economically charged climate, I thought I’d paint something that you would find restful and energizing. A place of repose and calm. A place to recharge and restore your soul. My friend Ruth told me the other day that she likes the ‘paths of light’ that I put into my paintings. It made me happy that she noticed that because they are a prominent feature of many of my landscapes. So today’s painting features all the restful elements I can conjure up … a cared-for well-tended garden, a place of rest and a path of light, beckoning to brighter times ahead.
Matilija Poppies – California Impressionist Botanical Flower Oil Painting
Matilija Poppies Trio
11 x 14 oil on canvas
These papery white beauties were growing near the Serra Center in Malibu one blustery summer day. The exciting thing about painting white flowers is enjoying all the colors they pick up from their environment.
This painting blurs the line between abstraction and realism and I hope that it is successful in that effort. I was impressed by something I read recently by Marilyn Simandle (watercolorist and oil painter.) In her book “Contagious Enthusiasm” she says ““If a painting has too much detail it is as if someone is dominating a conversation and if a painting is too abstract it is like someone speaking in a foreign language.†I thought that was such an interesting metaphor for finding the “sweet spot” between realism and abstraction. The thought inspired me as I worked on this painting.
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Cottage – Central Coast California Watercolor painting by Karen Winters
Thanks to EBSQ for picking my painting, “Santa Barbara Cottage” for Art of the Day this past Saturday
This 11 x 15″ painting, when matted, will fit perfectly into a 16 x 20 frame.
Rosarium Sunset
“Rosarium Sunset” 8 x 10 oil on canvasboard
On the heels of yesterday’s plein air outing at the arroyo, we went to Descanso Gardens at sunset today for some more painting and photographing. Descanso is open Thursday nights for the months of July and August. I wait all year for this opportunity to see the beautiful gardens at “golden hour” – the loveliest time (other than dawn.)
This represents one of the paths lined with rose bushes. Roughing in the painting took about an hour, from 615 t0 715, and I added finishing touches (such as the sky) after I got home. At that time of day the light was changing so rapidly there was not much point in painting after an hour had elapsed. I finished it off at home, refinining edges, adjusting things. The above painting represents the colors as they really are under room light conditions. The photographs below are more bluish, representing shady daylight conditions.
I promised some people that the very next time I went out painting with my lightweight easel that I would take pictures of the shelf in closeup, so here they are. I made a cardboard mock-up to work out the dimensions, then gave it to my husband who cut it out of 1/4″ masonite. There are no supports underneath the shelf other than two little L brackets to reinforce the holes. It sits on the easel by a friction-fit.
Peonies Plein Air
Plein Air Peonies – 11″ x 15″ (quarter sheet) Arches 140# watercolor paper
SOLD
Well, the show was a success in every way and I have lived to tell the tale. Kudos to Lori and her family for not only organizing the event but offering their home as our gallery and creating an atmosphere of conviviality and creativity. We all arrived an hour before the studio tour began to set up our easels and help with last minute details … but everything was in perfect order so there was little we needed to do. Tour guests began arriving promptly at 1 and continued throughout the afternoon with only a few lulls and many surges. The organizing committee asked if artists might have some sort of demo set up at their studios, and several of were happy to oblige, setting up our easels around a beautiful still life arrangement artfully presented by painter Carolyn Jean. I haven’t done very many floral still lives but I loved the challenge of these peonies – which we cannot grow in Southern California. These buxom blooms came from Whole Foods market, and I understand from my artpal Nan that Trader Joes is carrying them as well.
The light changed quite radically during the hour or so that I was painting these, but I tried to keep the memory of the glow even while they slipped into the shade of the umbrella and grapefruit tree. I invoked the muse that speaks to Charles Reid to please give me a hand with the looseness – that is to say, to please stay my hand if I should try to get too fussy. Because I paint landscapes more than arranged flowers, this experience has given me the incentive to do more painting out on my back patio this summer.
All in all, we had a good day. I sold this painting of the garden at Casita Del Arroyo
to a lovely collector, and Robin, Ginny, Carolyn, Louisa and others in our group had sales as well. It was an auspicious beginning. But the best part was being in the company of good painting friends, family and art lovers on a perfect late spring day. Assuming the stars all align correctly, I can hardly wait until we do it next year.
Radiant Rose – Daily Painting
Radiant Rose – 9.5″ x 7.5″ watercolor.
Almost every day for the past five weeks or so, my dh and I have been taking walks of a half hour or an hour – within about 5-10 miles of our area. The benefits of this extra activity is many-fold. Not only do I feel healthier and more energetic (if that was possible – I was a pretty high-energy person as it was) but it takes us through different neighborhoods where we take time to smell the roses. No, I mean literally. If we see some really great roses in bloom we take a break from our walk to admire them. Because it’s impossible for me to go ANYwhere without a camera, I can often be seen with my new little digital hanging around my neck, and grabbing shots of things that I see when the light strikes them “just right.” I figure if it catches my eye, it might catch others’ too, when translated into watercolor. This is the result of one of those moments – caught about 10 am in some lucky gardener’s front yard in Glendale.
If you’re not a walker, I strongly recommend it. I used to walk a lot when I was in college – not only back and forth to class, but I’d take a 3 mile loop every day through the hills of Bel Air, just a few blocks off the Westwood campus. But I got out of the habit due to busyness and a few scary encounters while out walking alone. I’ve walked on and off through the years, but I realize now how much I’ve missed it. I envy those in walkable cities like New York and San Francisco. Here in LA we are so car-focused and things are so spread out that simply walking doesn’t occur to us.
If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, spring has arrived and it’s a good time to get out and smell, shoot or draw the roses on your daily walk. You’ll return home both creatively and physically charged up.
This rose was painted with WN Bright Red, Holbein Opera and New Gamboge, with a few touches of cadmium orange and perm. alizarin crimson.
Lil white mushroom
This is my entry for the Botanical Art month long “fungus” challenge. I’m sorry to say that here in desert dry Southern California we have a hard time keeping mushrooms fresh in our fridges let alone finding any growing wild … so this painting is from a photo I took of one harvested in January or so, after a very long rainy season. I’m sorry I don’t know the name of it, but I drew it in this position hoping that maybe someone can identify it. It had a few little brown “flaps” along the white cap.
This is watercolor with a very small bit of colored pencil and gouache for the white mycelium “root” (I think it’s mycelium, not sure.) This was painted with just two colors – van dyke brown and ultramarine blue. It’s 7.5″ x 11″
