Defiance of Brunhilde – Female Portrait – Wagner Ring Cycle Festival

“Defiance of Brunhilde”
12 x 16 oil on linen panel

This portrait was painted in conjunction with the performance of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, which is in its final week in Los Angeles. The model for this painting was a high school student in Orange County, who may have been about the same age as the noted Valkyrie.

Unfortunately the lighting on the model in my position was flat front-lit, and I was unable to move nor make changes to the lighting. Still, it was a good exercise and I”m satisfied with the outcome of the project. My portrait of Wotan (below) is currently hanging at the Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels until July 16.

Pasadena Arroyo Seco Oil Painting — Morning Swim in the Arroyo

“Morning Swim in the Arroyo Seco”
16 x 12 inches
oil on canvas
SOLD

Ducks gently paddle in the pond beneath Pasadena’s Colorado Street Bridge … a scene of rural tranquility in the heart of Pasadena’s Arroyo Seco. Readers of this blog will remember the great duck adventure a few years back, as we watched a mother lead her ducklings up the flood control channel to the safety of the pond – including scaling a 45 degree incline covered with moss. But all the ducklings made it eventually, safe from hawks and owls. Perhaps some of these paddlers are those little ducks, all grown up with families of their own.

Sold at the Art for the Animals show at Gale’s Restaurant in Pasadena this past week, benefitting the Pasadena Humane Society and SPCA.

His Eye is on the Sparrow – baby bird oil painting

“His Eye is on the Sparrow”
11 x 14 oil

SOLD

This painting is a tender subject that I have painted before, in watercolor, but this time I decided to paint it in oil for the Art for the Animals show at Gale’s Restaurant. (452 S. Fair Oaks, Pasadena.) The reception is this Sunday, June 27, from 3-6 pm. A portion of the proceeds of sales will go to benefit the Pasadena Humane Society and SPCA. The SPCA will also be bringing their adoption wagon with lots of lovable animals looking for forever homes.

For those field biologists who are interested in technical accuracy, I think the bird is actually a baby robin. But the familiar spiritual hymn is “His Eye is on the sparrow” so there you go (disclaimer.)

Thirteen artists are participating in the Art for the Animals show. I have 8 paintings hanging and am also happy to discuss commissioned animal portraits. If you attend, please mention that you read about the show on my blog.


If you are interested in this painting, click this link to write me.

Cat Portrait – Show me the Scampi – Pet portrait

“Show me the Scampi”
9 x 12 oil
SOLD

This charming cat is named Pita, and I don’t think it refers to mediterranean flatbread. The kitteh haz attitude – but then, don’t all cats? I’ve painted a lot of animals in preparation for the Art for Animals show at Gale’s Restaurant in Pasadena. The reception is this Sunday, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Pasadena Humane Society and SPCA. Come enjoy the animals, animal lovers, animal art. The SPCA will have pet adoptions as well.

Interested in a portrait of your cat or dog?

Write Me

Sunset Surf – California seascape oil painting

SOLD

“Sunset Surf”
8 x 10 oil

This painting is sold, however I have more seascape paintings at Karen Winters Seascapes

California seascape … dramatic clouds make colorful accents to this Southern California marine seascape. Whenever there is a marine layer with breaks for the sun, the sunsets are spectacular. I’m getting ready to do some plein air painting one day this week at the San Clemente Plein Air Festival, as I did last year. If we don’t have days of June gloom it should be fun!

If you have a question or or would like to find out if a painting is still available for sale…..

Write Me

Roses and Hollyhocks Floral Painting

Roses and Hollyhocks
6″ x 8″ acrylic on canvas
Floral botanical painting

A miniature painting, 6 x 8″ – of some hollyhocks which are currently blooming near where I live. Ruffles and flourishes in a summer mood. I’ve been experimenting with acrylic and doing some plein air painting with it, too. Although it handles much differently from oil, there are similarities with both oil and watercolor, two media that I feel comfortable with. I especially like the brilliant color which doesn’t seem to muddy as much as oil does.

Peters Canyon Meadow – California Landscape Oil Painting – Orange County impressionist painting

Peters Canyon Meadow
14 x 18 oil on canvas
commissioned work
SOLD

This painting was based upon a plein air study which I did earlier this spring
posted on my blog awhile ago.

When I scaled it up for my client, I added more detail and refined certain shapes that were only roughly suggested in the plein air work. What works in 9 x 12 doesn’t necessarily work in 14 x 18 (or larger) sizes.

I’m looking forward to painting the scene in a larger size, and perhaps a more panoramic horizontal format, too. Now, the park grass has turned a soft yellow gold color – the scene looks very different. I’m thinking about going back for some new plein air studies.

This Saturday and Sunday, please join me for more plein air painting at Descanso Gardens. If you are a member of Descanso, the LA Arboretum in Arcadia, South Bay Botanical Gardens, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens, or one of many other American Horticultural Association affiliated gardens, your admission is free. We have enjoyed our Descanso membership for many many years … as well as gardens as far away as Santa Barbara and Phoenix. These reciprocating memberships are a great benefit of supporting our horticultural institutions.

La Canada Landscape Oil Painting – Memorial Day Concert – California impressionist genre painting

Memorial Day Concert, 2010
(La Canada Flintridge, featuring Captain Cardiac and the Coronaries)
8 x 10
plein air oil painting

This painting is now SOLD but I have many others for sale…..
Write Me

Ah, the beginning of summer, and the summer Music in the Park series in my hometown, La Canada Flintridge. I enjoyed painting this scene while visiting with picnickers and others who were out savoring the warm day. The first act, Misplaced Priorities, energized the audience and set the stage for the second act, Captain Cardiac and the Coronaries. Both 50s-60s rock bands were enthusiastically received. In front of the gazebo/bandshell, dancers of all ages found their groove.
When I was growing up, I couldn’t imagine having fun dancing to the same music my grandparents liked. But old time rock and roll was appreciated that day by 70-somethings and 5 year olds alike.

It was good to see so many friends and neighbors out relaxing. Thanks to the LCF Chamber of Commerce for making Fiesta Days a wonderful event once again.

Sierra Oil Painting – Grazing at Lone Pine, California

Grazing at Lone Pine
(Eastern Sierras, California, near the city of Lone Pine)
12″ x 16″ oil on linen panel
Sierra Nevada oil painting

SOLD

See more of my Sierra Nevada Oil Paintings at this link.

This new painting will be exhibited at Gale’s Restaurant in Pasadena beginning tomorrow as part of the Art for the Animals Group Show and Sale. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Pasadena Humane Society and SPCA. A select group of artists were invited to explore the theme of animals for this special event. The reception will be June 27 from 3-6 pm. I hope that some of my local friends will be able to attend. The animals show will be on exhibit until September.

The eastern Sierra is a subject that I am especially fond of, and most particularly in the fall when the cottonwoods and aspens turn into deep shades of orange and gold – the perfect complement to the blue-violets of the Sierra under cloud shadows. I had been wanting to paint this scene for awhile, and Gale’s animals show gave me the perfect incentive. Between the Sierra range and the foreground (Owens valley ranch in Lone Pine) lie the Alabama Hills. The weathered reddish-brown rock formations are volcanic in origin, but have undergone metamorphosis. Scientists suggest they’re between 150-200 million years old. Early California miners named these hills for the warship, the USS Alabama.

Thanks to those of you who came out to Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden this past weekend for the annual Artists in the Garden show and sale. I enjoyed seeing old friends and collectors and making new friends, too.

California Landscape Oil Painting – Claremont Wilderness Park Trail

Claremont Wilderness Park Trail
(featuring Potato Mountain – and the Angeles National Forest – San Gabriel Mountains)
18 x 24 oil on canvas

If you have a question or or would like to find out if this painting is still available for sale…..

Write Me

This painting is brand new and features a viewpoint from a trail in the Claremont Wilderness Park. Depending upon which way you’re hiking on the trail, it’s either the beginning or end of a loop that goes way up into the mountains. On the day I was there and did a small on-location study, there were spectacular clouds in the sky, making interesting shadows and bright spots on the ground – a painter’s delight.

I’m taking the painting tomorrow to the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens show in Claremont for their annual juried Art in the Garden show. This will be my third year participating in this wonderful location. I would love to see you there, so if you plan to attend, please email me and I will send you a flyer you can print out – good for free admission this weekend only.

Please make a calendar date: Next weekend, June 12-13, I will be painting in my home territory, Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge during a 2-day Art in the Garden event. Look for a number of painters painting around the pavilion in the International Rosarium. I will be bringing a selection of works for sale also.

More later … now I’m back to getting my last-minute framing done.