The Woods in White – Karen Winters Daily Painting
“The Woods in White” – 8 x 10 – oil on canvas on board
High in the mountains above Los Angeles (near Big Bear) we are finally getting snow. Of course it’s the snowmaking equipment at Snow Summit and Bear Mountain, but hey, we’ll take what we can get. I would love to ski again like I did when we were raising our family, but I’m more than a little concerned about falling and breaking something. If I did ski I’d have to stick to the green bunny slopes. More likely I’d find a place to paint the snow instead.
Scenes like this one – partly from an old reference photo and partly from imagination – have a lot in common with abstract paintings. This was painted with a limited palette of ultramarine blue, thalo blue, yellow ochre and a small amount of alizarin crimson. And titanium white, of course.
Snowy field – Karen Winters Daily Painting
9 x 12 acrylic on paper
Freshly fallen snow – a moment of quiet winter beauty. In this sketch I’m using acrylic in a watercolor manner.
I’ll write more later – things are busy right now.
Snowy Creek – Karen Winters Daily Painting
“Snowy Creek” – acrylic on canvas on board – 9 x 12 inches – SOLD
I needed something on a holiday theme to take for show and tell to an art association meeting, and there was no time for oil to dry, so I painted this in acrylic in a very loose, impressionistic method, using watercolor technique also.
I really have artist Dory Grade to thank for demonstrating some of the wonders of acrylic. I had misconceptions about it – not the least of which was believing that it dried too quickly to be blended. Not so! If you work quickly (and I do) and use some matte medium, you can blend as easily as in oil. And a few minutes later it’s dry. Don’t like the colors? Paint over it and blend again.
Most of this was painted with a small one inch flat brush. A rigger was used for finishing touches of twigs and limbs.
Live Oak and Aloes – Huntington Gardens Plein Air Painting
Oak and Aloes – 9 x 12 oil on canvas
In the desert garden area of Huntington Botanical Gardens there is a mature live oak tree surrounded by exotic desert and tropical plants, many of which have an origin in South Africa. Winter is the time for aloes to bloom – and their red flower stalks are holiday cheerful amidst the green of succulents and cacti. Nature puts on a fabulous show every day of the year.
An epiphyllum (orchid cactus) nestled between the trunk and the branches – but they will bloom much later in the year.
In Southern California we are finally in the middle of autumn. Liquidambar trees are turning, the gingkos are fully yellow, sycamores are a blend of green and gold and some trees are already bare. It takes us a long time to get around to the seasons, but we try to do a good job with it when we do.
California Country Road – Karen Winters
California Country Road 9.5″ x 7.5″ watercolor on paper
A spontaneous sketch of an out of the way byway in California’s beautiful hills. Around the bend may be a tired old barn or a vineyard. You just never know what to expect when you go for a drive.
Desert Sunrise – Palm Springs – Karen Winters Daily Painting
“Desert Sunrise” oil on canvas 14 x 18
SOLD
But you can find more of my desert paintings and other landscapes at Karen Winters Gallery Site
This Friday, December 8, I will be exhibiting some paintings again at Descanso Gardens in La Canada, and this painting may be among them. (I’m still deciding which four I’ll bring for the group exhibition, and my final selection will probably be made that morning.) This painting was inspired by the warm beauty of the sunrise in Palm Springs.
On another topic, last Friday night we attended a lecture at the Norton Simon museum in Pasadena on the landscapes of Renoir. His painting continued to evolve through the years, and there were some startling examples of contemporaneous paintings executed in very different styles, depending upon the subject matter. This came as a surprise to me because I think we are used to seeing a great deal of consistency in the bodies of work of the masters. It’s refreshing to see how they experimented and explored new techniques with a variety of interesting results.
Tranquil Lake – Karen Winters Daily Painting
“Tranquil Lake” 5 x 7 oil on canvas on board
Cool and serene. A place to retreat to when the world’s cares weigh on the soul.
Oh Golden Hills – Karen Winters daily painting
Oh Golden Hills – 8 x 10 oil on canvas
SOLD
California’s central coast area is full of beautiful areas like this – golden rolling hills decorated with passages of live oak trees that characteristically seek the gullies and crevices where water is most plentiful. This vignette is from a roadside on the way to Lompoc, California, an area known for fertile flower fields and rich agriculture.
This painting will be dry in a few days, and ready for shipping!
The blue dome of the sky arched over this tranquil scene, and the late afternoon shadows were tinged with violet. I didn’t see any cattle resting in the shade of those oaks, but they were likely there.
Fall at Huntington Gardens -Karen Winters daily painting
Fall at the Huntington – 9 x 12 oil on canvas on hardboard
In Southern California sometimes our seasons get all mixed up. Summer flowers are still blooming while deciduous trees have already lost their leaves. This tree stands outside a gallery at Huntington Gardens, and is in the process of losing its finery. Evergreens will keep the gardens looking lush and beautiful year round – from the tall conifers and deodars to cypresses and olives, like the little olive tree that stands guard on the other side of the doorway.
I’m still not feeling well, but it hasn’t put a damper on my desire to make art. I just have to do it indoors rather than painting en plein air for now.
University of Redlands Original Plein Air Oil Painting of Larsen Hall by Karen Winters – November 2007 Centennial
“Larsen Hall” – 9 x 12 oil on canvas on board
University of Redlands original plein air oil painting
Thanksgiving has come and gone and we are thankful for the blessings of home, family and freedom from want. I am decidedly NOT thankful for the nasty cold I came down with during the day, which has absolutely knocked me for a loop today. I’m hoping that by tomorrow I’ll start to recover somewhat.
I have been working on a winter painting which may be our Christmas card this year, so in the meantime here’s a painting from October’s plein air paintout at University of Redlands which I had not posted earlier. It was done at about 9:30 am at Larsen Hall on Saturday, October 20, just a day before the winds and fires came to So. California.
This isn’t the front of Larsen Hall, which may be a more popular angle, but I chose this one around the side because it provided a good view of the dome as well as the beautiful violet mountains, deodar trees and the blooming sago palm – all images which are iconic of the campus.
