Descanso Gardens Lily Pond – California Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting
Descanso Lily Pond
9 x 12
oil on canvas – plein air painting, Sept. 2009
I can’t believe that in all the time I’ve been painting Descanso Gardens that I haven’t painted this lily pond which is near the front gate. There used to be two sculptural fishes that formed a fountain, but I have been told that they are no longer in service due to drought issues. I hope that they will return some time in the future, although they may not have been too visible at this angle.
What I loved about this view was the crepe myrtle (pink flowering) tree which was in full bloom and casting its reflection in the pond. The bench awaits a person to come for a moment of meditation.
My thanks to Ed F. for taking this picture and sending it to me. I appreciate it! Note to self, after taking off straw hat, remember to use hairbrush before photo op. [grin].
This Sunday, I’ll be showing my work at the Redondo Beach Art by the Sea Artwalk, specific details to come. Artists will be setting up along the boardwalk/bike path at the parking lot level. I’ll try to get some better instructions. It’s in the general area of the pier, but not on the pier.
Cabo San Lucas Los Arcos – mini painting
Los Arcos – Lands End – Cabo San Lucas
5″ x 7″ miniature oil painting
SOLD (commission)
This painting has a romantic story to it. The young woman who commissioned it, who I’ll call Stacy, is going to be married very soon. As a wedding present to her fiance, Stacy is going to give him five original paintings of different places they have been and want to return to. She saw my large commissioned painting of Los Arcos online and asked if I could paint a small version of it for this multi-part gift. I love romantic notions, so of course I was happy to oblige. I can hardly wait to hear how her husband likes it.
If you have a special occasion coming up, or are thinking ahead about holiday gifts, this is a good time to put in your order for an original painting. I get busier as the holidays approach.
Now for the less than cheerful news …
For those of you who are regular readers of this blog, you hear the names Angeles Crest, San Gabriel Mountains, La Canada Flintridge, Pasadena, Altadena, La Crescenta and other location names quite frequently. I live in La Canada, now the flashpoint of what has become the infamous “Station” Fire which is raging through the Angeles Crest forest in the northeast part of Los Angeles County. It is named the Station fire because it began near a forest ranger station up Angeles Crest Highway.
We are fine, since we live a mile or so from the forest/residential interface, but the mandatory evacuation area came within about 2000 feet of our home. Today, the skies are blue above La Canada, a far cry from four or five days ago. For us, at least, I think the worst has passed. But we have many friends and neighbors in the surrounding areas who are still in the path of the conflagration. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
It is comforting to see the snorkel helicopters and other fire fighting aircraft in the skies above us, hauling water and fire suppression materials to hot spots.We are SO LUCKY that this happened in August, not during Santa Ana conditions. In a strange way, I am grateful that this happened at all. I heard an interview with a fire chief who said that if this happened during Santa Ana season literally hundreds and hundreds of homes would be lost (including ours, I’m sure) and there’s nothing they could do to stop it.
Counting my blessings in La Canada,
Karen
California Landscape Oil Painting – Pasadena San Gabriel View
Overlooking Pasadena
14 x 11 oil on canvas
SOLD
Although this painting is sold, you can see more Pasadena paintings here
Stately eucalyptus trees line a path overlooking Pasadena/Altadena, looking east and north toward the San Gabriel Mountains. The branches catch the early morning light.
Descanso Gardens Train Station – Plein air California landscape oil painting
“All Aboard” – Descanso Gardens train station at sunset
9 x 12 oil on canvas panel
Plein air landscape oil painting
SOLD
Late Thursday afternoons at Descanso Gardens always bring opportunities for things to paint. Yesterday I enjoyed the view of the little train station where the engine and engineer wait to take people on a magical trip through the camellia forest. Maybe one of these days I’ll actually take the train ride, camera in hand, and see the garden from a different (low angle) point of view. An alizarin crimson underpainting (done very rapidly) imparts a warm glow to the scene.
I thought I left my big roll of brushes at home and consequently painted most of this with a medium sized filbert. Some of the fine detail on the engine and engineer was done later when I had the appropriate tools. Last week’s Descanso painting has been purchased by a lovely new collector from So. Pasadena, but this one is still available.
Reminder: the photos I post are low resolution so that they load quickly for those on slow connections. If you are interested in purchasing a painting, please ask and I will send a higher quality image.
Descanso Sunset Path – California Plein Air Painting
Descanso Sunset Path
8 x 10
oil on canvas on birch panel
Plein air painting
SOLD
This evening there was strong color in the sky because of some brush fires in the area. When that happens it means spectacular sunsets. I enjoyed painting in the warm glow, while listening to the rehearsal of the Pasadena Pops, which will be playing tomorrow night.
If you are familiar with Descanso, this is the path where tulips are usually planted in the spring. It goes by the little train station, which is just to the right. Because the light was going fast this is a little looser than some of my garden paintings. I like the effect.
California Oak Plein Air Landscape – Descanso Gardens Oak Pathway
Descanso Oak Pathway
9 x 12
oil on hardboard panel
Oh, I am trying hard to catch up and post paintings that I’ve been working on. I know it’s been a little spotty lately but more are coming. I have been working on a lot of commissions and getting ready for some upcoming shows. Add that to travel all over California and a new passion for daily walking and I’ve been a very busy lady. Yesterday, in fact, I spent a lot of time at Redondo Beach and Palos Verdes. When the weather is hot, we flee to the coast for art and recreation.
This was painted a week ago at Descanso Gardens in the very late afternoon as the sun was setting and back-lighting the oak trees. Although the light and shadows changed by the minute, I blocked in the lights and shadows at one moment in time and then continued with it.
I’ll be at the Montrose art show again September 5 (exact spot to be determined) but I will post it here when I know. I’ll be bringing new work, including plein air work from my recent Central/Northern California trip.
California Oak Plein Air Landscape Oil Painting – Descanso Oak Trio
Descanso Oak Trio
8 x 10
oil
Another warm twilight evening, another chance to paint some Descanso Oaks. I picked a different view this week and did a little rearranging of the shrubberies to create a path where there was none.
You can see the work in progress below. As should be evident from the photo, which my husband took for me, the leftmost trunk is very straight in reality and I painted it that way. When I got home and put the panel in a frame, I didn’t like the effect at all … it was a like an arrow shooting right out of the frame. So I repainted the trunk to give it some bends and curves and had to use my imagination to think through how the light would wrap around the bends. I also lifted the San Gabriel Mountain range to make it peek through the distant foliage, and created a variety of patterns in the foreground which was just shredded wood bark in full shade, very drab. So even though the colors of the actual scene were rather subdued there was salsa music playing and I painted an emotional response to the scene, not a literal rendering.
For more information and pricing, please write.
Casa Romantica San Clemente Garden Plein air California Landscape painting
SOLD
Casa Romantica Garden oil painting
San Clemente
11 x 14
oil on linen panel
Although this painting is sold, I have others.
Click this link to write me. See more of my paintings on my website
I have been meaning to post this painting which I painted at Casa Romantica, a beautiful old Spanish building which is now used for weddings and meetings. This was painted on Thursday of the San Clemente paint out, in late June.
This particular part of the garden is called The Butterfly Garden. Host plants like buddleia, milkweed, cosmos and many others are planted to attract the insects. A trellis is placed on the wall to the right where the caterpillars attach themselves and create their chrysalises (chrysales?) If you look at these precious ornaments very closely you can see the monarch wings in various states of metamorphosis. Among the flowers, I have suggested a number of butterflies in the garden. Can you find them all?
In the distance is the San Clemente pier, a local landmark. By the time I finished this, in the afternoon, the June gloom morning fog had burned off.
Laguna Surf – California Marine Seascape Oil Painting
Laguna Surf
8 x 10 inches
Oil on canvas
Laguna is one of my favorite painting locations and when the sun gets really low, it’s magical.
El Capitan Yosemite Valley – California Plein Air Oil Painting – Sierra Landscape
El Capitan
Plein air oil painting
9 x 12 inches
SOLD
See more of my Yosemite paintings here
This was painted en plein air Friday, July 17 in Yosemite Valley.
If you’re interested in this painting, please write
Well, I’m back from our whirlwind tour of Northern California. I didn’t have the time or energy to upload paintings every day, but now that I’m back I’m going to try to catch up. This was painted on the last day of our trip, late in the afternoon. If you are a new visitor to my blog, one of the people who saw me painting this in progress, welcome! Now you know how it turned out.
Yosemite Valley was spectacular, as always, but it was very hot, as it currently is in Los Angeles. But just looking at the cool water of the Merced River seemed to help. Those distant thunderheads, which rose as I painted, tell you how much moisture and humidity there was in the air.
As always, people gathered around to watch me tackle the scene. They are always very polite and ask if they can watch. I let them know that if I wanted to be alone, I’d be in my studio! I truly enjoy having observers, as long as they are ok with me continuing to work as we chat. My husband took the picture below as I wrapped up. You can see by the painting compared to the final photo how much the light changed during the time I was painting. But it’s a no-win game to keep chasing shadows. You just have to draw them in at the beginning and then stick with the plan.
