Yosemite Falls Painting Art – Sierra Nevada landscape by Karen Winters
Yosemite Falls
(waterfall view from Yosemite Valley Floor)
8 x 10 oil painting on linen panel
See more of my Yosemite paintings here
More Sierra Nevada paintings here
My husband and I have been visiting Yosemite since we honeymooned there (a very long time ago) and it never fails to captivate me, no matter the season or the weather. One of my favorite views is that of Yosemite Falls from the valley floor. The water is roaring more than ever this year, with the melting snow waters. With autumn on the way, it won’t be long before these peaks are snow clad again. We were told that many of the trees are going to be removed from the valley floor because their growth is obscuring the geological features that people come to see. I hope they don’t remove too many, though. The stately pines and deciduous trees add to the overall beauty of the park.
Interested in this painting?
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Eastern Sierra Bishop Cottonwood Oil Painting Art by California landscape painter Karen Winters
Cottonwood Road, early autumn
9 x 12 inches
Bishop, eastern sierra nevada oil painting
SOLD, but I have more Sierra and cottonwood paintings, see link below
More Sierra Nevada paintings here
Interested in this painting?
Click this link to write me. See more of my paintings on my website
September is just around the corner, and soon the cottonwoods of the Owens Valley, in the shadow of the Sierra, will be starting to turn from green to gold. This transitional period provides an interesting color palette as the warm colors overtake the cool leafy shades.
Lone Pine Afternoon – Mt. Whitney Sierra Landscape Oil Painting by Karen Winters
“Lone Pine Afternoon”
(Lone Pine Mountain, Mt. Whitney Portal, Eastern Sierra)
14 x 18 inches oil painting on canvas
As fall approaches, my thoughts turn to the color of the eastern Sierra, one of my favorite places to paint. I’m hoping I’ll get away for more Sierra painting this year, but show commitments might prevent that. We’ll have to play it by ear.
California impressionist oil painting Chapparal Bloom by Karen Winters
“Chapparal Bloom”
San Gabriel Mountains
8 x 10 inches oil on plein air panel
California is colorful all year long, not only in the springtime. Summer and fall wildflowers include buckwheat and other chapparal natives. It’s an earth-tone palette, full of greens, russets, umbers and golds. The buckwheat, when it dries, is a good match for burnt sienna.
I never tire of painting the tapestry of plant life that covers our rolling hills and mountains. The California Native Plant Society is a good resource for learning about our drought tolerant beauties.
Here’s how the painting might look in a dark frame that picks up the colors in the painting, with warm touches of coppery-gold.
I haven’t talked about framing too often here, but it’s true that the frame can have a big impact on how a painting looks. Compare how the same painting, on the same colored background appears in a gold carved frame. The dark frame creates a more rustic look, which might be appropriate for a home with western accents. The gold frame creates a lighter, more elegant appearance. Which do you think works best? Do you like seeing one of my paintings with framing suggestions, as opposed to just seeing the painting by itself?
Return to Golden Pond (On Golden Pond) California Tonalist Landscape Oil painting by Karen Winters
“Return to Golden Pond”
14 x 18 inches
Oil on canvas
SOLD
Central California – Western Sierra Foothills painting
This painting was done for an upcoming exhibition at the Colony Theater Gallery in Burbank, in conjunction with the performance of “On Golden Pond.” In addition to a dozen or more other paintings which will be exhibited, I painted this one to tie in very specifically with the theme of the play. Although the play is set in the eastern United States, I decided to do my own take on it, as a California landscape painter. The location is a pond bordering the western foothills of the Sierras. I don’t usually paint in a tonalist/monochromatic style, but it seemed perfect for this project.
More details on the show will follow as the opening approaches.
Mt. Boney (Boney Mountain) – Conejo Valley Painting by California Impressionist Karen Winters
Mt. Boney (from Satwiwa Park viewpoint, Conejo Valley)
16 x 20
Oil on canvas
Interested in this painting?
Click this link to write me. See more of my paintings on my website
My latest painting, finished just in time for the Artwalk in Thousand Oaks next weekend in the Conejo Valley.
Mt. Boney is part of the Santa Monica Mountain range, and is an imposing formation with sheer faces. I think it looks especially nice in afternoon light when the late sun reflects off the faceted planes of the rocks.
Big Sur, Bixby Bridge Wedding Gift Commissioned California Seascape Oil Painting
“Big Sur, Bixby Bridge”
16 x 20 oil on canvas
SOLD – painted on commission
Interested in commissioning a painting? Please write.
This painting was commissioned as a surprise wedding gift for a very lovely bride to give to her bridegroom to commemorate the exact place where he proposed to her. She and I worked closely together to identify the exact spot where he popped the question. Then, after the painting was finished, approved and drying, the unexpected happened. The bridegroom, who also knew of my work, contacted me separately looking to buy a painting of the same location to give to the bride. Suddenly I had an O’Henry “Gift of the Magi”-type situation on my hands! I couldn’t tell him I wouldn’t sell him this painting he saw on my site– he’d think that odd. And if I told him it was sold, but he might buy somewhere else, so immediate was his need. Honesty and open communication always being the best policy, I contacted the bride and let her know about his urgent inquiry and she handled the situation gracefully with her betrothed. So he knew that there was a painting by me in their future but would have to wait to see what it was.
The painting was shipped last week and they opened their gift to each other last night —with champagne, strawberries and candlelight, I hope. Today there are two very happy nearlyweds, with a painting created with love, just for them, so they can always remember that very special day. And everyone lived happily ever after.
Pride Mountain Vineyard – Napa California Vineyard Oil Painting by Karen Winters
“Pride Mountain Vineyard, Autumn 2010”
9 x 12 vineyard oil painting on plein air linen panel
Private Collection (sold)
This painting is sold, but you can see more of my vineyard paintings here
Last autumn, while visiting our children over Thanksgiving, we had the pleasure of visiting this wonderful vineyard on Spring Mountain near St. Helena, above Napa Valley, California. The wines were superb and we thoroughly enjoyed the tour which was given by a very knowledgeable and entertaining man who was also a refugee from the advertising business, like me. The day was magical in every way. We picnicked on a hillside overlooking the vineyard fall color. Bread, wine, cheese, sausages, more wine, fall color, crisp air … ahhhh.
This commissioned painting evolved out of that delicious fall inspiration. I’d love to go back there again to paint in another season – maybe while the grapes are still on the vines.
Show reminder: The California Art Club 100th Annual Gold Medal show continues at the Pasadena Museum of California Art – through April 21. Check the museum website for days and hours. Be sure to see my painting, “Gaviota Springtime.” It’s in the side room where the smaller works are hung.
Central California Sierra Foothills Oil Painting “The Hay Barn” by Karen Winters
“The Hay Barn”
6 x 6 inches
Central California Sierra Foothills (western side)
Original Oil painting on plein air panel
SOLD
More Sierra Nevada paintings here
While attending a California Art Club paint out in the Sierra foothills a few years ago, I came upon this scene of an old hay barn framed by eucalyptus with wildflower hills in the background. I thought the setting was a perfect representation of some of my favorite California things. Eucalyptus, of course … wildflowers in the hills … and rural agriculture. This small study will be a starting point for a larger painting on the same theme.
La Canada La Crescenta View – Cherry Canyon Trail California Landscape painting
“Trail through the Foothills”
9 x 12 oil painting
See more La Canada area paintings here
The sunlight floods the Crescenta Canada Valley in the early morning. Oak trees and other chapparal scrub frame a view of tranquility. Down below, people are gearing up to get to work. Up here, it is a reminder of how the valley used to look before it was developed, back when the early California impressionists painted. it. Remnants of buckwheat provide a warm contrast to the cool blue shadows.
Interested in this painting?
Click this link to write me. See more of my paintings on my website
