California high desert Valyermo oil painting “High Desert Color”
“High Desert Color”
9 x 12 inches, oil painting on plein air panel
Valyermo, California
Antelope Valley High Desert area
After our welcome rains that came a few days ago, my husband and I saw the sky was still filled with beautiful cumulus clouds – the kind we see around here too infrequently. So we decided to take a drive up to the high desert to see the wide open spaces. It was a picture perfect day and we found ourselves in the small community of Valyermo. Although the wind and rain may have taken away some of the glory of the cottonwoods, there was still some color left, and the paint brush took care of the bare spots.
This is a view of one of those cottonwood groves. I liked the contrast of the yellow golds against the blue violet mountains in the background. Those happen to be the San Gabriels, the closest range to our home. So now I’ve painted them from ‘both sides, now’.
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Moonstone Mist – Cambria beach seascape oil painting miniature
Moonstone Mist
Moonstone Beach, Cambria
6 x 8 inch miniature oil painting
Seasons come and go, but Moonstone Beach seems to look pretty much the same through the year (with the exception of some of the dune foliage, that is.) This is a place that I love to paint often. The first time I came here was during a paintout with the California Art Club, and I’ve returned many times through the years.
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Batiquitos Mist – miniature California lagoon landscape oil painting
Batiquitos Mist
5 x 7 inch oil painting on plein air panel
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This miniature oil painting features a part of the Batiquitos lagoon near Carlsbad, California. The mist was hanging around the water on this cool day, and I loved the atmosphere it created. Miniatures make great Christmas presents.
See more of my small works miniature paintings here.
High Water at Devil’s Gate Dam – California landscape oil painting
High Water at Devil’s Gate Dam – Arroyo Seco
20 x 24 oil on canvas
Available
I painted this to memorialize an area near and dear to me, not far from where I live. This is the boundary between La Canada Flintridge and Altadena – the upper Arroyo Seco, once known as Oak Grove Park and now known as the Hahamongna Watershed Area. Because of the silt that has accumulated above the dam, the dam has lost much of its capacity. There are plans underway to dredge this entire area, but one of the plans will remove not only the silt, but a great number of the trees and habitat that has grown up in the area. To read more about the devastation that will be caused by the County plan, visit It makes me sad to think that views such as this may soon be gone, and probably won’t return in my lifetime, unless a more thoughtful, conservation-oriented plan is adopted.
#arroyoseco #hahamongna #watershed #DevilsGateDam #lacanada #oilpainting #landscape #california
Gold Rush Country Ranch California landscape oil painting
Gold Rush Country Ranch
20 x 24 inches
oil on canvas
SOLD, but I have more paintings of California’s rolling hills at karenwinters.com
This new painting depicts a ranch on highway 49, not far from Murphys, California. There was something about the sculptural mass of the big oak tree that really spoke to me. Although I most commonly paint eucalyptus, I find live oak trees irresistible as well. I haven’t spent as much time painting Gold Rush country as I have the eastern Sierra and California’s Central Coast, but it’s really starting to grow on me. Maybe it’s all that gold?
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La Jolla palms seascape oil painting
La Jolla Palms
8 x 10 inch seascape oil painting
With the hot weather we’ve been having, painting this was a cool refreshing treat. The location for this is along the La Jolla, California, shore, a little bit south of the main city.
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#oilpainting #lajolla #seascape #ocean #palmtrees #impressionist #california
Yosemite Falls California landscape oil painting
Yosemite Falls in Summer
18 x 24 inches, vertical
Oil on canvas
At more than 2400 feet high, from the top of the upper falls to the base of the lower falls, Yosemite Falls is the tallest waterfall in the continental United States. Peak water flow comes in late spring to early summer, the time that this was painted. The falls are fed by Yosemite Creek, and after the water leaves the falls, it joins the Merced River on its course out of the valley.
The challenge in painting a waterfall is to capture the soft edges of mist that perpetually rise from the thundering flow. Paint the edge too hard and the falls look like a cutout. Paint the edge too softly, and it looks like a big cottonball.
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California vineyard landscape oil painting – A Taste of Sonoma
“A Taste of Sonoma”
Original impressionist oil painting of a Sonoma vineyard
18 x 24 inches
SOLD
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This is another in my series of vineyards from around California. This time, Sonoma is the featured area. Some time this fall, I’ll be traveling to the mother of all beautiful vineyard-covered countrysides … Tuscany. And yes, I’ll be bringing the easel. I can hardly wait.
California impressionist landscape “Oaks Guarding Oranges” backroad oil painting
“Oaks Guarding Oranges”
9 x 12 oil painting
California Central Coast, near Cayucos
Available
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Through the years, some of our most enjoyable travels have been along the many backroads that criss cross California. This small road goes inland from Cayucos, just a little north of Morro Bay. Closer to the water, the marine layer softens all the edges. The fog is soft and gray. As we drive inland, the fog burns off and takes on other colors. There are many orange and avocado groves along these country roads, which proves that the area does not often get frost. But it is hot as blazes in the summer. We will commonly see eucalyptus trees used as windbreaks to protect orange groves, but along this road the California live oak trees were doing the job.
Maui Hawaii oil painting, Napili Bay Waves
Napili Beach Waves, Maui, Hawaii
16 x 20 inches
oil on canvas
Available
This painting comes from our vacation in Hawaii last year, where we enjoyed some time on Maui as well as Kauai. Napili Bay is a lovely lagoon on West Maui, a little north of Lahaina. It features a beautiful soft sandy beach, tide pools, shallow water for wading and excellent snorkeling. Across the bay you can see the island of Molokai, which I featured in this painting. I’m guessing that this is a popular wedding destination, it’s so beautiful.
What attracted me to this scene, other than the gorgeous turquoise water, was the huge thunderhead which was building up over Molokai.
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