Twilight on Back Bay- Los Osos Twilight Central Coast oil painting by Karen Winters
Twilight on Back Bay
9 x 12 oil painting on canvas
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I’m still catching up posting some of the paintings I did during the San Luis Obispo paint out early in October. This is one of my favorite semi-nocturnes, painted while the sun was in a cloud bank and was in the process of setting. Within a few minutes the sun emerged from the clouds and the whole scene was bathed in warm rosy hues, which I captured very rapidly. Then the sun dipped below the horizon and darkness came quickly.
As you can see in the photo below, I am literally standing in the marshy estuary. The prominent mountain in the distance is Hollister Peak. This work in progress photo was taken while the sun was in the cloud bank.
California Central Coast oil painting “The Kitchen Garden” – Los Osos – by Karen Winters
“The Kitchen Garden”
9 x 12 oil painting
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While I was in San Luis Obispo County for the Plein Air Festival this year, I saw this charming rural scene down a side road in Los Osos. The red barn style house provided a beautiful contrast to the vibrant green eucalyptus trees, and I liked the small vegetable garden growing nearby. It took me back to early California days, a bit of the past still thriving in the present.
San Gabriel View – California impressionist eucalyptus painting – Oak Grove Park, La Canada
“San Gabriel View”
Original 9 x 12 oil painting of eucalyptus trees in
Oak Grove Park, AKA Hahamongna Park
between Pasadena and La Canada, CA
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The San Gabriel mountains provide a backdrop to a riparian environment where eucalyptus, willow and other trees and shrubs grow in the watershed area known as Hahamongna Park. Formerly known as Oak Grove Park, it is a popular recreation area for hikers, frisbee players and mountain lions. (Just kidding, but they have been spotted occasionally in the area.) This view features one of the beautiful eucalyptus trees and the wildflowers and grasses that flourish in the springtime.
Many thanks to my lovely collector who took home “All on a Fine Spring Day” today.
Mojave Desert Sunset Oil Painting – Abode of the Desert Rat by Karen Winters
“Abode of the Desert Rat”
Mojave Desert, somewhere off the beaten path between Tehachapi and Rosamond
9 x 12 oil on linen
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This painting was inspired by a trip back from Kernville a few months ago, coming back from a paint out with the California Art Club. The sun was starting to come out from under a cloud bank, and a storm was threatening. The brilliance of the sun contrasted with the dark shapes of the poplars. I imagined that some recluse was living in the trailer, enjoying the constantly changing weather patterns and quiet solitude. Not long after this the rains started coming. Those heavily rain laden clouds suggested a flash flood and we headed for high ground.
Here’s a closer detail shot:
Golden morning – Heritage Valley California impressionist oil painting
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Golden Morning in Heritage Valley
9 x 12 oil painting on wood panel
(near Santa Paula, highway 126)
Whenever we go up the coast to San Luis Obispo, we inevitably take the scenic drive through Heritage Valley, also known as California highway 126. This highway goes through beautiful peaceful farming land filled with strawberry fields and citrus groves. Eucalyptus trees serve as windbreaks along the way.
Catalina Harbor Cat Harbor California seascape oil painting by Karen Winters
Catalina Harbor
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10 x 20 oil on canvas
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The evening sun slips below the mountains of the isthmus of Catalina, separating the Two Harbors, a popular destination for sailing, hiking and other recreation. This painting was purchased by a family member in San Francisco, for another family member in Southern California as a birthday present. It was my pleasure to be in on the surprise, and I delivered the present in person this morning, to their delight.
A gift of art is something that will always be appreciated, and more than that – treasured – for many years to come. The giver doesn’t have to worry about the gift becoming outdated, or fret that Painting 2.0 will be released soon after the present is opened. Nor need they fret that the recipient may have just bought the identical item at Best Buy or Costco. A painting usually carries a message of deep emotion – a celebration of a special time together, a milestone, like an anniversary, or a meaningful shared experience like a wedding proposal or the birth of a child; the purchase of a first home. A gift of art is the making of an heirloom, and though it comes at a price, it is priceless.
When “fire season” comes in Southern California, I’ve heard people in Malibu interviewed about what they grab from their homes. The answers are always the same: First, the living creatures (people and pets); second – family photo and videos; third – original art. What does that tell you about art’s deep meaning and connectedness to our lives?
Alone in the Sunset – Sunset Tree Portrait – Placerita Canyon, Santa Clarita Plein air painting by Karen Winters
“Alone in the Sunset”
(Placerita Canyon, Santa Clarita Valley, CA)
10 x 8 plein air oil painting
Most of the time when I paint landscapes, the trees are part of a whole scene, rather than dominating it. In this case, the tree is featured as if in a portrait. An individual portrait is to a crowd scene as a tree portrait is to a grove. Some times, it’s fun to just study the branches and structure of a plant and to note its behavior – how it has been bent by the forces of nature. That was my objective in this painting, experimenting with the warms and cools and the way the light plays around the edges of forms at the end of the day.
California Golden Hills Landscape Plein Air Oil Painting by Karen Winters – Walker Basin Overlook –
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“Walker Basin Overlook”
8 x 10 oil on plein air panel
Plein air painting in Kern County at the Rankin Ranch, September 2011
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This morning view, painted on location north of Caliente, California, is in the very southernmost tip of the Sierra Nevada range. Although the mountains are small in this location, they will likely be much taller some day, as the plate boundaries move and continue to elevate the peaks. The rabbitbrush is in full bloom, a welcome sight every fall in this part of California. This was painted during a paint out with the California Art Club
Half Dome, Yosemite painting, from Glacier Point by Karen Winters
Half Dome, from Glacier Point, Yosemite
12 x 16″ original oil painting
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From the valley floor, Yosemite’s Half Dome is a lofty structure. But it is only from Glacier point, when you can look across the valley at it, that you see the true size of Yosemite’s massive landmark. This painting depicts the monumental formation in early summer, when there is still some snow evident on its flanks. Soon, the snows will come and shroud it in whiteness once again.
Sunset Palms in California – Impressionist Landscape Oil Painting
“Sunset Palms”
9 x 12 oil on birch ply panel
In Los Angeles you can look almost anywhere and see rows of palm trees in the distance, lining a street. This group just happens to be adjacent to my house, which comes in handy for painting. The sunset was spectacular a few nights ago – presenting a veritable rainbow of hues from blue violet through pink, yellow and orange. If there ever was a subject that said “California” – this is it.
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