Laguna Beach Oil Painting – Laguna Romance – Daily Painting
Laguna Romance
8 x 10
oil on canvas on board
SOLD
Several of my friends have been incorporating palette knife techniques into their work, or painting entirely with the knife. I thought it sounded like fun to experiment with, so I took one of my photos with a lot of clouds that I thought would lend itself to that expression, and this is the result. The location is Heisler park in Laguna Beach, a little north of the art museum. Clusters of fan and sago palms decorate the promenade and make interesting shapes against one of Laguna’s radiant sunsets. Everytime we visit we see lovers gazing at the sea. On one occasion a wedding was being held in a small gazebo along the walkway.
So this is my tribute to Valentine’s Day – a little romance along the seashore, as wild and tempestuous as love itself.
Owens River Fishing Spot – California impressionist oil painting
“Owens River – A good day for fishing”
14 x 18 oil on canvas
SOLD to a lovely couple relocating to Montana
This new panting features what I’ve been told is one of the best fishing spots on the Lower Owens River. It’s near Highway 168 close to a place known to the locals as “Black Rock.” In the background you can see the Eastern Sierras and the Alabama Hllls, the choclatey brown lower range, still glowing in afternoon light. For many years, the water in the Owens River was diverted for Los Angeles. Now, some of the water flows again through local steams in the Owens Valley, and the landscape is recovering. I understand that some of the best bass fishing in California can be had in this spot. The day we were there a fisherwoman was doing well. I don’t have much experience with freshwater fishing, but this place looks like a little bit of heaven.
Because the painting is wet, it’s hard to get the look of the clouds without excessive reflection. There is detail in them; it’s just hard to see. I’ll try shooting this again when it dries.
Here’s a detail of just some of the native grasses:
Lake Casitas California Impressionist Landscape Oil Painting
Lake Casitas Sunset
16 x 20 oil on canvas
Available
For more information about this painting, please write
One of the best bass fishing spots in California, so I’ve been told, is Lake Casitas in Ojai, not far from the Pacific Ocean and Carpinteria. The lake is formed by Casitas Dam and offers year round camping and other recreational activities. The day we were there it was late fall and more than a little crisp. I’m looking forward to returning again to be inspired by a different light and season.
What appealed to me about this location were the soft muted colors, slightly warmed by late afternoon light. Just an hour before or after it would not have revealed these jewel like tones.
Carpinteria Bluffs Sunset Oil Painting – California Impressionist Karen Winters
Carpinteria Bluffs Sunset
16″ x 16″
oil on canvas
SOLD
This is one of the paintings inspired by our recent trip to Carpinteria, on California’s central coast. The late afternoon marine layer had come in, shrouding the Channel Islands in a misty glow that reminded me of those tales of Arthurian Avalon. The sky colors were both delicate and intense their various layers, and this stately eucalyptus tree was bathed in all that glorious light.
I had not had the pleasure of visiting Carpinteria Bluffs before, but it’s a place that I want to return to, especially late in the day. So many beautiful vistas to enjoy.
High Sierra Landscape Painting – Bishop, Owens Valley
High Sierra Fall Color
(a ranch near Bishop, in the Owens Valley)
14 x 18 oil on canvas
SOLD
As I continue with my High Sierra fall series, this painting portrays a tranquil pasture land, which I’m pretty sure is named Round Valley. It’s near Bishop. The peaks may be Mt. Morgan and Mt. Abbot, or perhaps the one on the right is Mt. Tom. I’m not too good with my geography of that region, so I’d appreciate knowing the names so I can be accurate.
Langham Huntington Hotel Wedding reception – plein air painting – Karen Winters
Courtyard Wedding Reception, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2008 at the Huntington Langham Hotel
Original plein air painting, 9 x 12 oil on linen on board
SOLD
This past Saturday I had the pleasure of painting at the Huntington Langham Hotel in San Marino as a participant in an “artist in residence” program. I was the participant sponsored by the Segil Fine Art gallery in Monrovia. Because a wedding reception was planned for the early evening, I passed the afternoon painting indoors and brought a photo reference to work from. As night fell, wedding guests filtered in from the ceremony which was held in the garden. Although my painting time was up, I couldn’t leave, transfixed by the beautiful party. Within a short period of time it became very difficult to see the guests, so I used a little imagination to fill in the spaces and to make up for my myopia.
I don’t know the happy couple but perhaps some day they will google their wedding date and the name of the Huntington Hotel and find this memory of a very special occasion, and I hope it will bring them a smile. I think I heard someone say that the bride grew up in Shanghai, but that was only a snippet of a conversation overheard in passing.
And yes, I would love to do this again. So if you’re planning a wedding and want a plein air painter to create a unique fine art memory of your event – in a garden, a meadow, a beach or any special place, please feel free to ask.
Sierra Nevada Oil Painting Landscape – Heaven and Nature Sing – California Impressionist painting
“Heaven and Nature Sing”
16 x 20 inches oil on canvas
SOLD
Although this one is sold, you can see more Sierra Nevada paintings here
This is one of my favorite new paintings inspired by our High Sierra trip, and it represents a view of the Sierras in the afternoon, not far from Crowley Lake. In the afternoon, when a storm is in the air, the clouds hover around the top of the mountain to be backlit by the sun. The effect is nothing short of spectacular and truly expresses a feeling of spiritual joy. With that in mind, as I was searching for a title for this, I remembered a line from the Christmas carol, “Joy to the World.” The refrain is “and heaven and nature sing …” Being there and seeing this magnificent mountain crowned with light, I truly felt that heaven and nature were singing. So there you have it.
The most challenging part of this painting, to my surprise, was not painting the clouds and the light – it was defining the many gullies and ridges, all in deep shadow, that decorate the eastern slope. The values are very close but there needs to be enough definition for the eye to read it as a sculptured geological form … but not SO much definition that it appears that the shapes are light-struck. So much in that area has to be suggested rather than spelled out, lest it lose some of the air of mystery. And *that* is a constant challenge.
This painting will be among the select group of new works that I’ll be taking to Descanso Gardens on Friday morning for our Encore year end show. So if you are in LA and want to see it in person, that’s where it will be. If you are out of town and wish to purchase it, please let me know and I will replace it in the show with another of my recent works.
Sunset Soiree – California Impressionist Plein Air Genre Painting
“Sunset Soiree” SOLD
9 x 12 oil on canvas
Plein air painting
A few nights ago I had the pleasure of doing a plein air sunset painting while listening to the sweet sounds of The Crown City Brass Quintet. Wine, music, art, lovely people, gardens. It just doesn’t get any better than this!
And now, a few words about painting at sunset when much of the color has gone. What do you do? You invent it and you paint the color the way it might have been. Or, in the words of the late artist Milford Zornes “paint it the way you want it to be.” And so I did.
By the time I arrived at the event, around 6:30, the sun had settled behind the majestic pines and oaks. But what remained were hints of warm color that I exaggerated to create a mood. Painting in settings like this is a special treat for me because, unlike in a restaurant, cafe or on the beach, the people remain seated for the duration, so one’s painting isn’t ruined by the sudden rearrangement of of the models! This culture loving group gave me a rare opportunity to paint a genre scene in a leisurely hour and a half.
California Sunset Landscape Impressionist Painting – Karen Winters
California Sunset
5 x 7 inch oil on panel
In the wide open heartland of California’s Central Valley, the skies are big and the land is rich and bountiful. This plein aire style impressionistic landscape painting captures the glory of the waning day. I can’t pinpoint the exact location, but the surrounding names are picturesque, Buttonwillow, Lost Hill, Tranquility.
Just for fun, here’s a closeup of one part of the painting, showing the brushstrokes and delicate color:
Pasadena Federal Court of Appeals Painting – Karen Winters
Pasadena Court of Appeals – former Vista Del Arroyo Hotel
11 x 14 acrylic
SOLD
This stately building has become the federal court of appeals in Pasadena, California, but it was formerly the Vista Del Arroyo Hotel. I’ve painted it once before in my sketchbook, but this was an opportunity to portray it from a different angle and at a different time of day. In the distance the San Gabriel Mountains catch the late afternoon light. The foreground sycamores are starting to turn color, an early sign of fall.
