Windy Vineyard – Temecula Vineyard Landscape Oil Painting
“Windy Vineyard”
12 x 9 oil on canvas laid on panel
Plein air landscape, Temecula,
Falkner Vineyard. November 2010
SOLD
See more of my vineyard paintings here
This was the third painting I worked on last year at the Falkner Vineyard paint out. I can’t say it was the third painting completed, because the light had changed so completely late in the afternoon (and a cloud bank rolled in) so I knew it was time to call it a day.
I finished it up back in the studio where there was considerably less wine, and a lot less wind.
The folks at the vineyard had a nice reception for us after we all finished painting for the day. After a glass of “Luscious Lips” I erroneously declared this one to be titled “Vindy Wineyard.” The alternate name stuck. So you can call it Vindy Wineyard or Windy Vineyard, depending upon how much Luscious Lips you’ve imbibed.
Have I ever mentioned here that I love to paint eucalyptuses? Only about a hundred times, right?
San Mateo Creek, San Clemente – California Plein Air Landscape Painting by Karen Winters
San Mateo Creek, San Clemente
9 x 12 plein air oil painting on linen panel
This overlook of the San Mateo Creek in San Clemente was painted last summer during the San Clemente Plein Air paint out.
I liked this location with its expansive vista of land and sea in the distance. The famous surfing spot, Trestles, is on the other side of that railroad bridge.
Grand Canyon Oil Painting – Sculpted by Time – Yavapai Point – by Karen Winters
“Sculpted by Time”
Yavapai Point, Grand Canyon
9 x 12
oil painting on linen panel
Available from Hueys Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Feb. 11 – March 2011
I was happy to be learn that this painting, Sculpted by Time, will be included in the 2011 Canyonlands Show at Hueys Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico. The show celebrates the beauty of the Grand Canyon and Canyon de Chelly.
I’m looking forward to visiting the canyon again sometime this winter season – perhaps combining it with a trip through northern Arizona and/or Utah. I love California but there’s a whole lot of west to explore and paint, with new vistas and new painting challenges.
One of the many things I love about the Grand Canyon is the way it naturally provides complementary colors to work with – from the red rock chiseled cliffs to the blue of the sky and distant mountains.
California Central Coast Plein Air Oil Painting – Farm near Nipomo
“Farm Near Nipomo”
8 x 10 oil painting
Central Coast, California, San Luis Obispo County
• SOLD
to a collector in Buffalo, NY
See more of my California Central Coast paintings here
This is the 2nd of three plein air paintings I did last spring in Nipomo, near the Dana Adobe. If you look at my previous painting posted a few days ago, you’ll see some trees and buildings in the distance. This is a “closeup” of one of those clusters of habitation. Because I wasn’t inclined to move my whole setup, I simply changed my point of view to “zoom in” so to speak, and continued with a new field study.
California Landscape Plein Air Painting San Luis Obispo County – Nipomo
SOLD
Golden Hillside
(near Nipomo San Luis Obispo County)
9 x 12 plein air oil painting on linen panel
See more of my California Central Coast paintings here
This is a plein air painting that I did last springtime with the California Art Club in San Luis Obispo. We were at a historical location, the Dana Adobe, in Nipomo, and the weather was perfect. I got three paintings done that day. The next day a rainstorm moved in from the north. The fields of mustard liked it, but it wasn’t hospitable to painters. The day after this was painted we went to Moonstone Beach in Cambria (see earlier posts for those paintings.)
Paso Robles Vineyard Oak California Landscape Oil Painting
SOLD
“Paso Robles Vineyard Oak”
8 x 10 oil painting on canvas on hardboard
See more of my vineyard paintings here
See more of my California Central Coast paintings here
See more of my landscapes here
The Paso Robles wine growing area has developed so much over the past few years. Every time we take a trip through there we see new vineyards and new plantings. Oaks seem to be iconic in these vineyards. Although it appears that most of the barrels are actually made in France rather than from domestic oaks, I like that some are preserved to add their beauty to the landscape.
Mt. Whitney Portal Lone Pine painting – Eastern Sierra Nevada Landscape oil painting by Karen Winters
“The Way to Mt. Whitney”
(Lone Pine, Eastern Sierra, Mt. Whitney Portal)
18 x 24 inches
Oil painting on canvas
SOLD
Although this painting is sold, find more Sierra Nevada paintings here
These days I’ve been completing some of my Sierra paintings that I’ve been working on for awhile. During the holidays things got so busy that I didn’t have the time to bring them to finish.
Interesting facts about Mt. Whitney and the Lone Pine area:
Mt. Whitney (slightly right of center in the painting) is the highest mountain the lowest 48 states, and is the most-climbed peak in the Sierra and one of the most climbed mountains in the US. It is composed of granite and is a “jointed” formation. Looking at Whitney from its east face, a formation known as “The Needles” is directly to the left.
There is little rainfall most of the year, so the eastern slopes reflect that climate. Below there are alpine forests, but at the higher reaches greenery is scarce, dominated by gray granite.
Sierra Light – Mt. Whitney Portal -Lone Pine, Sierra Nevada landscape oil painting
“Sierra Light”
Mt. Whitney Portal, Lone Pine
20 x 24 ” oil painting
Oil on linen
More Sierra Nevada paintings here
This is a painting from last fall’s trip to the Sierra. I did some studies on site to capture the light conditions on that day where a storm was moving in … and this was painted in studio from those references. Because the clouds were moving rapidly, occasionally there would be a break where a shaft of light would hit the high desert below. I found that “spotlight” very intriguing.
Cambria Ranch – California Central Coast Plein Air Oil Painting by Karen Winters
“Cambria Ranch”
12 x 16″ oil painting
Oil on linen panel
See more of my California Central Coast paintings here
Eucalyptuses, how I love them, with their multicolored patchy bark like a coat of many colors. When I saw this stately old tree I knew I wanted to take some time with it, to appreciate the many grays along its flanks. The transparent underlayers of burnt sienna and red peek through here and there, just as underlayers of color are visible as outer bark layers peel off. I think that I will never tire of painting these majestic trees that seem to glow when side lit. We have a lot of them around LA but they are at their best when given a setting like a spring field, bathed in light. I want to paint another really large one, soon. My to-do-list grows daily …
Some of my other favorite eucs:
Rose Bowl Pasadena January Painting by Karen Winters
SOLD
Rose Bowl, with San Gabriel Mountains, in January
8 x 10 inches
oil on linen panel
See more Pasadena paintings here
The Rose Bowl is an imposing structure any time of year, but when the San Gabriel Mountains are dusted with snow, as they often are in January, it provides an extra-special backdrop. When the air is cold enough, the snow falls at altitude, but down in the Arroyo Seco, it provides welcome rain. Welcome except on January 1, that is.
I thought about putting in some people in red or purple or gold or blue jackets, but it occurred to me that if someone wanted this painting as a keepsake of a special bowl game that they might prefer to have a few people in THEIR colors, rather than the, um, rival team. Sound fair?
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