Arroyo Seco Pasadena Painting – Beneath the Bridge – Karen Winters
“Beneath the Bridge” – 5 x 7 oil on panel – Pasadena’s Arroyo Seco – under the 134 freeway bridge
SOLD
Remember the story of the ducks in the arroyo that I told several months ago. This is where it happened – in a dammed up area under the bridge of the 134 freeway. This little pond is home to frogs, fish, ducks and many other kinds of waterfowl The painting represents how it looks at sunset.
I can hardly wait to get back there and do some plein air painting again. The cottonwoods must be yellow by now.
Today we had a great time at the Watercolor West meeting where we were treated to a slide presentation by the juror in which he explained what he chose for the show. We all dropped off our paintings yesterday and I had a chance to look at the work of the other painters. There’s some excellent work there!
Huntington Gardens San Marino – November Dawn – Karen Winters Daily Painting
November Dawn (Scott Gallery -Huntington Gardens) 12 x 16 oil on canvas
This studio painting depicting dawn in the Shakespeare Garden is based on plein sketches and photos I’ve taken at the Huntington. In fact, I’ve never been there at dawn, but I’ve taken some liberties with a noon photo (below) to imagine how it must look at the peak of fall bloom.
Changing the time of day and angle of the sun was a real exercise in thinking about color, shadows and so on because I had no reference to rely on. I remembered that white marble often glows pink in the morning, but there are touches of warm, too. To break up the wide expanse of the wall I invented shadows, but then I had to think about what color they would be. The same is true of the shadows of the side of the building – where would they cast shadows? The sky is different at dawn. Darker at the top than at the horizon (as usual) but it is warmer in the direction of the sun. So those colors needed to be softly blended to suggest the right atmosphere for that time of day.
I find this kind of exercise a lot of fun because it helps me to break out of painting that is just copying. This can be useful for plein air painting, too. For example, if you are a distance from your subject and you know there’s a shadow there but you can’t see it, you can use imagination and logic to decide what color to paint it.
Huntington Gardens Teahouse Plein Air – Karen Winters Daily Painting
Lions at the Gate – 8 x 10 oil on canvas on board
The truth in advertising part of this program compels me to confess that this was all painted from life at a paintout except for the sky – because I inadvertantly left the house without my tubes of paint – and there was insufficient cerulean and cobalt on my palette to do the deed without running out. So I used what skimpy blue I had to fill the area with the right color thinned with mineral spirits, but the thicker paint had to be applied after I got back home. There. I feel so much better.
Frankly, I might repaint that tree that has already shed its leaves, but I sort of liked the fact that it represented fall at the gardens. So I’ll have to think on that for awhile. The story of this painting is mainly about light – how it falls on the facade of the teahouse and the lion(s) that guard its entrance. The other lion is obscured by the front one so I left it out.
OK, and here’s some art news.
On Sunday I took the below painting to the San Gabriel Fine Arts Association meeting – which I’ve missed attending due to being at Descanso and other commitments, and I was thrilled to get first prize among the paintings displayed for competition, and to be chosen as artist of the month. The painting will go into the SGFAA gallery on Wednesday for a month and will compete in December for artist of the year.
And this painting got an award at the Verdugo Hills Art Association fall show. All in all, a good month!
Pasadena – Colorado Street Bridge – Arroyo Seco – Karen Winters Daily Painting
Colorado Street Bridge 5″ x 7″ oil on canvas panel
SOLD
The Colorado Street bridge, which spans the Arroyo Seco was the inspiration for this small impressionist painting. I’ve done plein air paintings in the arroyo many times and it is always a joy to be there. The beautiful sculptural arches frame a wide variety of California flora and fauna. (Remember the duck family?) Cottonwoods are turning color now and the eucalyptuses are as green and graceful as always.
Many years ago we needed a film shot representing falling in a nightmare and we lowered a small camera off the bridge. The effect was dizzying! If the bridge police are reading this, I can assure you it was at least 20 years ago and no eucalyptus trees were harmed in the process. And you can bet that the camera was safely tethered off, too. So that bridge will always have a special meaning for me.
University of Redlands Plein Air Painting – Admin Bldg and Rose Garden
Redlands Roses – 9 x 12 oil on canvas panel – Available
Here’s another painting from the Redlands paintout in Riverside, part of the centennial celebration, a view of the Admin building featuring the sculpture “American Deposition” and the Chancellor’s Rose Garden. This was painted on October 20, between 1 and 2 o clock when the sun was quite high in the sky.
Sunny Afternoon French Chateau European Original Oil Painting – by Karen Winters
8 x 10 oil on canvas panel
Here’s one from the archives as I’m getting ready for a client project tomorrow and running late. We have another client who manages castles and estates in Europe and often shows us pictures of the surrounding area. This little painting is a little bit of fantasizing about that beautiful part of the world. What a treat it would be to do some plein air painting around the Mediterranean.
Tuscan Sunset – Karen Winters Daily Painting
Tuscan Sunset – 5″ x 7″ oil –
SOLD
I like to paint sunsets. At that time of day the colors can be stronger and the lengthening shadows add interest to the composition. This is romanticized impression of a scene in Tuscany.
I am busily getting ready for the Montrose Artwalk this Saturday. If you’re in LA, please stop by. If you’ve been to the show at Descanso this one will contain mostly new work only some of which have been previewed here on this blog. Montrose is adjacent to Glendale in the Crescenta-Canada valley, northeast of downtown Los Angeles.
Impressionist waterlilies – daily painting
Pink waterlilies – 9 x 12 inches – oil on canvas
I had such a good time painting the reflections on “Drifters in the Stream” that I decided to paint another “reflections” painting but this time with brighter subject matter. These bright waterlilies provided exciting subject matter to practice with.
Saturday night’s opening at the Pasadena Women’s City Club (Blinn House) was a wonderful event and I was so honored to be able to participate with a painting in the show. The show features 40+ paintings of streams, rivers and harbors and I was happy to see many of my painting friends there. We also had the distinct pleasure of meeting Lewis MacAdams, poet and co-founder of Friends of the LA River. His enthusiasm for stewardship of the river was contagious and we found ourselves captivated by his “word paintings” as well as his wealth of information about this beautiful resource. It’s just another beautiful place to paint in LA.
There aren’t any waterlilies in the LA River (that I’m aware of) but there are fish such as tilapia, catfish and carp and abundant crawfish which the herons and egrets adore. Steelhead salmon used to run in the LA river, although those days are past. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the river could be restored to the degree that it was possible again? To the untutored eye, the LA River seems to be completely encased in concrete — yet there are miles and miles of stretches where the river has a natural sandy bottom and where plant life abounds. Yes, I am a natural history geekette as well as a paint and botany fan. I could listen to stories of our local environment for hours and thankfully my dear husband feels the same way – we are both inveterate information junkies.
Haystack Rock – Daily Painting
5″ x 7″ oil on canvasboard
Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach, Oregon.
Painted in a plein air style from a reference provided at Wet Canvas.
Sunset Oaks – Karen Winters Daily Painting
“Sunset Oaks” 12 x 16 oil on canvas
SOLD
This studio painting, based upon plein air references is a companion piece to Evening Glory (sold) which can be seen in the sidebar to the left. Painting “oaky goodness” as my husband and I refer to it, is one of my favorite things to do. Our coast live oak trees are simply magnificent any time of year. The dried grasses glow in the sunset giving yet another reason why we’re called The Golden State.
This painting will most likely be included a week from tomorrow at the Montrose Artwalk from 9 – 4 on Honolulu Avenue in Montrose. Look for me near the Citibank bank building.
