San Luis Obispo Flower Fields – California impressionist painting – Central Coast
San Luis Obispo Flower Fields
9 x 12
oil on linen plein air panel
SOLD
See more of my California Central Coast paintings here
This is one of the paintings that I did for the San Luis Obispo Plein Air Festival, sponsored by the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art.
It was painted the first day of the paint out, bright and early Monday morning, along a rural road. A photographer for SLO City News saw me painting by the side of the road and spent some time taking pictures of the work in progress. It was a nice surprise to find out that it made the cover of the paper …

Pasadena’s Pride – at the Pasadena ArtWalk Saturday
SOLD Pasadena’s Pride
(Colorado street bridge oil painting)
14 x 18 oil on canvas
See more Pasadena paintings here
I’ll be exhibiting about 30 paintings Saturday, October 13 at the Pasadena Artwalk on El Molino Street from 11-5.
This one day annual event attracts large crowds from all over Southern California.
Look for me in booth 9, just a little north of the Pasadena Playhouse, near Zona Rosa coffee, on the west side of El Molino, between Colorado Blvd. and Green Street. There’s plenty of parking nearby.
I’m down to the wire on framing and packing … See you there!
One Golden Moment San Luis Obispo Plein Air Festival Invitational

One Golden Moment
12 x 16 oil on linen panel
Painted at the 2012 San Luis Obispo Plein Air Festival
SOLD opening night
I returned a few days ago from a wonderful week long event at the San Luis Obispo Plein Air Festival. Over the next week or so, I’ll be posting the paintings I did there, many of which have already gone to new homes. Others, however, are still available.
This beautiful eucalyptus tree in Los Osos begged to be painted. Silhouetted in the late afternoon light, a field of flowers lay at its feet. The flowers are a seed crop, and I think they may have been marigolds.
If you are in the Southern California area this weekend, please visit me at the Pasadena Artwalk on El Molino Street on Saturday. I will have a booth quite near the Pasadena Playhouse, with a wide assortment of my current paintings. The address is El Molino Street, between Colorado Blvd and Green Street in the Playhouse district. The show opens between 10 and 11 (I’ll probably be set up early) and goes until 5 pm. This is a great opportunity to pick up a Christmas present – hope to see you there.
See more of my California Central Coast paintings here
Eaton Canyon Hike – California impressionist oil painting by Karen Winters
SOLD
“Eaton Canyon Hike”
Eaton Canyon, Altadena – San Gabriel Mountains
9 x 12 oil painting on linen plein air panel
This painting is now sold, but I have more at Pasadenapaintings.com
Click this link to write me.
See more Pasadena paintings here
In fall, when the sycamores turn, Eaton Canyon reveals its dusky side. We’ve recently had some beautiful cloud formations – it’s an early harbinger of fall. Soon the chaparral will put on its own fall finery. This trailhead starts near the parking lot, skirts the west side of the canyon and continues northward for several miles.
Western Watershed – San Gabriel Mountains oil painting by California impressionist Karen Winters
“Western Watershed – San Gabriel Mountains”
SOLD
9 x 12 oil painting on plein air panel
See more of my Pasadena area paintings at http://www.pasadenapaintings.com
Click this link to write me. See more of my paintings on my website
The last remnants of spring storms course through the upper Arroyo Seco, which separates La Canada from Pasadena. Just weeks before the sandy riverbed was overflowing with a coursing river. Now, the willows and sage will take over, until winter rains come again.
At the Hacienda – Mission San Antonio de Padua Plein air painting by Karen Winters
“Meanwhile, at the Hacienda”
9 x 12 oil on linen panel
plein air painting – painted at Mission San Antonio de Padua
California Central Coast area
During the California Art Club paint out at the mission, I came upon this small guest house which intrigued me as a painting subject. In the late afternoon light, I could imagine it as an old California adobe, cool inside in spite of the surrounding heat. Some early model chickens miraculously appeared where a late model car had been.
California Mission San Antonio de Padua, landscape oil painting by Karen Winters
Mission San Antonio Morning
(San Antonio de Padua, California Central Coast, northwest of Paso Robles)
9 x 12 inches
Oil on linen plein air panel
In early June 2012, I joined a group of other California Art Club artists to paint at Mission San Antonio de Padua, a California mission that is the most “untouched” of the chain. Although some outbuildings and residential quarters have been added, the setting is very much as it might have been hundreds of years ago. This side of the building, the facade where one enters the church, remains much as it was in the early years. By mid day this was all in shade, so morning is the time to catch it. We were up before dawn getting set up to capture the light. We were warned several times to watch out for rattlesnakes. It’s easy to become so focused on what you’re painting that you might not notice one that’s emerged from a hole while you are painting. I didn’t see one, thankfully, but I was certainly careful where I stepped.
Tejon Ranch California Oak Landscape Plein Air Painting – Welcome Shade
SOLD
“Welcome Shade”
9 x 12 oil on plein air linen panel
Painted at the Tejon Ranch, May 2012
See more of my oak tree paintings here
In the middle of a warm spring day, just about high noon, a mighty Tejon Ranch oak spreads its limbs to offer shade to all who visit. Cattle, mostly, but most likely some other critters, too. This majestic tree was silhouetted against the rolling hills and mountains of the ranch. Wherever you look, beauty surrounds you, making it a real treat for plein air painters – even during the part of the day when the light is less than dramatic. (That’s why we get up at dawn and stay painting until moonrise, when we can.
Below, a photo of my work in progress. There were occasional gusts of wind which threatened to topple my umbrella. A road hazard sawhorse came in handy. Sometimes you’ve just got to improvise.














