Mooonstone Beach Sunset Oil Painting, Cambria, California

Moonstone Beach, Cambria
Oil Painting
“The Wind from the Sea”
10 x 20 inches

More Cambria, California Paintings
More California Central Coast paintings

This panoramic painting of Moonstone Beach, in Cambria is a larger piece based on the field study I did several months ago. Moonstone Beach is one of our favorite places to go when we’re in the Central Coast area. The Hamlet Restaurant has wonderful jazz performances, and walks along the beach are so romantic. I would imagine it’s been the site of countless weddings and marriage proposals.

If you enjoy visiting the Cambria area, you should discover the Milford Haven books of my friend Mara Purl who writes wonderfully about a fictional Central California town with a strong resemblance to Cambria.

Yosemite Falls Merced River Swinging Bridge Oil Painting

Yosemite Falls from the Swinging Bridge
11 x 14 oil painting
SOLD

See more of my Sierra Nevada Paintings
More of my Yosemite Paintings at this link.

The Swinging Bridge across the Merced River in Yosemite connects the two sides of Yosemite valley. From the bridge, or a little south of it, where I was, you can see Yosemite Falls cascading down the granite face. Yosemite Falls is the highest waterfall in North America. When we visited, in the summer, it was not at its most intense flow, but it was impressive all the same.

Montana de Oro Spooners Cove San Luis Obispo oil painting

“Montana de Oro – Spooner’s Cove”
Oil painting
14 x 18

See more of my California Central Coast Paintings

This painting came out of one of our recent San Luis Obispo trips. I had often wanted to visit Montana de Oro, having heard about its beautiful seashore. Finally, I had the chance to paint it. The stormy sky added to the drama of the incoming surf, pounding the sharp shale rocks. The name of the park, Mountain of Gold, derives from the golden wildflowers that cover the hillsides in the spring. Can I resist the mental image that conjures up? I think a springtime painting trip will be a must.

California Seascape – Dogs on Beach Painting – Pet Portrait Offleash dog beach

“Beach Pals”
12 x 16 oil
Dogs playing on a leash-free beach in Santa Barbara
SOLD

This is another of the paintings that I did for the “Art for the Animals” show at Gale’s Restaurant in Pasadena, which sold yesterday. The show closes this coming Friday night, August 27. So if you’re in Los Angeles there are still a few days to see it. A portion of the proceeds go to benefit the Pasadena Humane Society and SPCA.

Painting animals is such a pleasure, I should really do it more frequently. These two buddies were having a good time chasing a tennis ball around in the surf. The little Corgi was pretty fast on his or her feet. I took a lot of photos that day, including some of an English bulldog romping in the surf. I’ll probably be painting that one, too.

The holidays are coming soon. If you’re thinking about a painting as a gift for someone special, this is a good time to make plans.

Interested in commissioning a painting?
Click this link to write me.
See more of my paintings on my website

Los Osos Valley Road – For the Love of the Land – California landscape oil painting – Central Coast

“For the Love of the Land”
Los Osos Valley Road, California Central Coast
12 x 16 inches
California landscape oil painting

See more of my California Central Coast paintings here

This painting is one of the works that resulted from my spring trip to the San Luis Obispo area with the California Art Club. I just got the news yesterday that it has been selected for inclusion in a special exhibition at the CAC gallery at the Old Mill in San Marino. The show, named Capturing California’s Preserved Lands and Historic Districts: Gems from the Central Coast will open August 31 and run through January 2, 2011. All of the paintings are for sale.

There will be an artists reception Thursday, September 2 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. This is the first time that I’ve been eligible as an Artist member to submit work for this gallery and I am delighted that this piece was chosen for the show.

The painting depicts a spot along the Los Osos Valley Road, toward sunset. The green grasses of spring were drying out and starting to turn that characteristic California gold.

I have more paintings which came out of that trip, and will be posting them here soon.


Click this link to write me.

California Landscape Painting – Cambria Farm – Central Coast California small format oil painting

Cambria Farm
6 x 8 oil painting on linen panel
Plein air field study

See more California Central Coast paintings here

An old farm building is surrounded by lofty eucalyptuses in Cambria. The marine layer had started to roll in, softening the contours of the landscape that day. Another quick study from our Central Coast California trip, with the California Art Club.

Interested in this painting?
Click this link to write me.
Or write karen at karenwinters.com See more of my paintings on my website

California Wildflower Landscape Cambria Lupine Flowers Plein Air Field Study

Cambria Lupine Flowers
8 x 6″ oil

Last spring, when we were in Central California with the California Art Club, we wandered through the countryside in search of wildflowers to paint. We came upon this beautiful hillside just covered with lupine and small orange flowers. The scent of the lupine was heady and I think the bees must have been drunk with it. As I painted this small study there was a constant buzzing sound around me. This study will provide information for a larger painting.

-Interested in this painting?
Click this link to write me.
See more of my paintings on my website

California Landscape Oil Painting – Orange Grove – Santa Paula Art Museum Juried Show

The Scent of Citrus
12 x 16 oil on linen panel
Citrus grove in Santa Paula, California

Accepted into the 3rd annual Art about Agriculture exhibition
Location: Santa Paula Art Museum, Santa Paula.

Artists reception: August 21, 4-6 pm

I painted this scene of a wonderful area along highway 126 – in the Santa Clara River Valley. This agriculturally rich area is probably what the San Fernando and other regional valleys were like a hundred years ago. But I’m just guessing at that. Avocados, citrus as well as row crops are abundant, and in the springtime the colors are rich. My objective in this painting was to capture the feeling of velvety green on the distant hills where the light broke through the clearing storm clouds.


To subscribe to my newsletter

Sespe Creek – Ventura County California Sespe River Oil Painting

Sespe Creek Ventura County - Where the Sespe Flows - Sespe Landscape Oil Painting

Where the Sespe Flows
16 x 20 oil on canvas
Sespe Creek Campground, Ventura County

This beautiful little creek, cut so deeply into the surrounding land, provided an opportunity to work out on trees, water, reflections and eroded land masses, all in the same painting. What a treat to paint. The Sespe, 25 miles long, is not interrupted by dams and is one of the main sources of water of the Santa Clara River. The Sespe originates in the Sierra Madre mountains and is part of a condor sanctuary. According to wikipedia, it’s one of the last wild rivers in California. Long may it be so, for campers and artists alike.

Newport Back Bay Twilight – Newport Beach California estuary marine oil painting

Back Bay Twilight
(Upper Newport Bay – “Back Bay,” California)
9 x 12 oil on canvas panel
Plein air oil painting
SOLD

This is sold, but you can see more of my Newport Beach paintings here

This was one of the paintings that I took to the Newport Back Bay show last weekend, one of several which went home with new collectors. What a great weekend it was meeting so many new people and sharing my love of art with them. The weather was beautiful. Good times all around.

Now I’m painting for several upcoming shows but my outdoor show schedule will settle down until early September when I do the Montrose Artwalk again, followed by the Bowers Museum Invitational show. It’s good to have a few weeks off to regroup, get out and paint some new work for fall exhibitions.