California Landscape Los Olivos Oak Tree Sunset by Karen Winters

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“Reaching for the Sunset”
Los Olivos Oak Tree
California Central Coast wine country oil painting
8″ x 16″
oil on canvas

See more of my California Central Coast paintings here

When we were recently driving through California’s Central Coast Wine Country (made more popular by the movie “Sideways,”) we happened to be near Los Olivos at sunset. I saw this beautiful oak tree and loved the way it looked surrounded by sunset clouds. But not the westward clouds, but the pink tinged ones in the east.

California plein air seascape Morro Bay Cuesta Cove – A Walk by the Bay

“A Walk by the Bay”
(Cuesta Cove, near Morro Bay and Baywood Park)
12 x 9″ plein air oil painting on linen panel
Central California

This painting was started en plein air last springtime, and I am getting around to finishing it up. A beautiful little inlet near Morro Bay is the setting. Of course there are eucalypti, which was what attracted me to the setting to begin with. At this time of day the tide was fully in the estuary. Other times, it looks like a mud flat – not a lot of reflected blue sky, then.

California Landscape Wildflower Stream – Eucalyptus and Poppies impressionist original art

Wildflower Stream
6 x 8 inches
oil

Two California icons – eucalyptuses and California poppies, gathered together around a quiet stream. One historical account recalls that in the springtime the hills of Altadena (above Pasadena) were covered with soft green grass and poppies. Streams flowed out of the hills to merge with the San Gabriel River at its confluence.

California Landscape Oak Painting – Oaks by a Country Road – Southern California



“Oaks By a Country Road”
9 x 12 oil on canvas laid on panel

Late afternoon sunshine touches the soft foliage of California live oaks, growing by a country road. There are many parts of the state that still have rural charm, not far from the city. When I was growing up, my father liked to take us for a ride in “the country” on weekends. I think he missed where he grew up, in the Southeast US. Sometimes we’d go up small roads surrounding the San Fernando Valley. When I was a child I couldn’t understand the appeal of Sunday drives. But when you’ve been cooped up in a workplace all week, I now understand how it must have restored him. Plein air painters are fortunate folk. Our workplace is along the byways and backroads. We are blessed to be here.

California Landscape Painting – Central Coast- Sycamore Breezes

Sycamore Breezes
8 x 10 inches oil on linen panel
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See more of my California Central Coast paintings here

A fully leafed out sycamore dances with the passing breeze in California’s Central Coast ranchland, near Jolon. A distant barn provides shelter for the herd. But if I were a cow, I’d rather be lazing around under one of these big, beautiful trees.

High Sierra California landscape ranch painting- Bishop, California


Grazing in Paradise
8 x 10 oil painting

More Sierra Nevada paintings here

A herd of cattle grazes peacefully in a region called “Paradise” near Bishop, California, in the shadow of the Eastern Sierra.
If I were a cow I’d think this was a pretty heavenly place to graze, especially in the late afternoon when everything is warm and mellow.

California Wine Country Vineyard Oil Painting – by California impressionist Karen Winters

“In The Vineyard Hills”
9 x 12 oil on wood panel
original oil painting
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California’s rich Central Coast wine country was the inspiration for this tranquil scene.

Late afternoon light, and a fog bank drifted in from the sea brings moisture to the thirsty vines. Oaks and eucalyptus trees punctuate the hills with their stately beauty.

See more of my vineyard paintings here
See more of my California Central Coast paintings here