California Landscape Painting – Cambria Farm – Central Coast California small format oil painting

Cambria Farm
6 x 8 oil painting on linen panel
Plein air field study

See more California Central Coast paintings here

An old farm building is surrounded by lofty eucalyptuses in Cambria. The marine layer had started to roll in, softening the contours of the landscape that day. Another quick study from our Central Coast California trip, with the California Art Club.

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Or write karen at karenwinters.com See more of my paintings on my website

California Landscape Oil Painting – Orange Grove – Santa Paula Art Museum Juried Show

The Scent of Citrus
12 x 16 oil on linen panel
Citrus grove in Santa Paula, California

Accepted into the 3rd annual Art about Agriculture exhibition
Location: Santa Paula Art Museum, Santa Paula.

Artists reception: August 21, 4-6 pm

I painted this scene of a wonderful area along highway 126 – in the Santa Clara River Valley. This agriculturally rich area is probably what the San Fernando and other regional valleys were like a hundred years ago. But I’m just guessing at that. Avocados, citrus as well as row crops are abundant, and in the springtime the colors are rich. My objective in this painting was to capture the feeling of velvety green on the distant hills where the light broke through the clearing storm clouds.


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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.

Wildflower Sunset – San Luis Obispo Pastel Painting near Santa Margarita

Wildflower Sunset
12 x 16
soft pastel on archival paper

SOLD

See more of my wildflower paintings here

I just found out that this painting, Wildflower Sunset, will be exhibited with the Segil Fine Art Source First Annual Works on Paper show, with opening reception Saturday July 10, 2010. This landscape is from my recent trip to San Luis Obispo County, on the road to Lake Santa Margarita, just before sunset. The lupine and yellow flowers were mixing in the warm sunset light – incredible color. Nature has a way of bedazzling us with the most wonderful complements.

My posting of paintings has been less lately because it’s difficult to post while on the road. But I’ve been doing a lot of work which will all be shared in due time.

This Sunday, if you’re in town for Memorial Day, come see me at La Canada’s Memorial Park (Foothill Blvd. at La Canada Blvd.) where I’ll be showing my work, and most likely painting, from 11-6. I’ll have original paintings, cards, prints, and so on.
The following weekend, June 5-6 I’ll be exhibiting work at Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden in Claremont. If you think you might be able to attend, please email me for a special invitation that gives you a break on the admission price.

California tonal landscape oil painting – Tin Roof, Bishop

Tin Roof, Bishop
9 x 12 oil on panel

Just north of Bishop, California there is a ranching area where the barns have tin roofs that have weathered wonderfully through the years. This scene attracted me as a subject to paint, but the cool light of the afternoon I was there didn’t appeal to me – it made the scene look cold and sad. I wanted a warm look that suggested the radiant beauty of fall, and which struck less melancholy notes.

This painting takes the basic elements of the scene, but translates them to a warm (monochromatic) color palette consisting mostly of yellow, ochre, and small amounts of burnt sienna, tempered with gray. These small studies with varying color experiments have been useful in thinking of alternate ways of painting a scene. What you see isn’t necessarily all there is.

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

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The Red Barn – California Landscape Oil Painting

“The Red Barn” – near Visalia, Calif
9 x 12 inches, oil on linen panel

This painting was an experiment using a very limited palette of primarily viridian and burnt sienna. A little yellow ochre was used in the sky, and a dash of cadmium red highlighted the top of the barn, but all of the rest was done with those two complimentary colors (viridian and burnt sienna)

The barn is on a ranch near Visalia, California, a Sierra foothill area known for cattle ranching as well as fruit orchards.

I have a busy reception weekend coming up and I hope you can join me at one of three new shows where my work will be displayed.

Friday night – reception 7 pm – Carter Sexton Art Gallery –
5308 Laurel Canyon blvd.
North Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA 91607
(818) 763-5050
This is a group show featuring California landscapes.

Saturday evening reception 5 – 7 pm Segil Fine Art Source gallery
Holiday Small Works Show
110 West Lime Avenue
Old Town Monrovia CA 91016
(626) 358-5563

Sunday evening reception 5 – 7 pm – dinner following with reservation
California Art Club Associates Show “Precious Gifts”
Pasadena Womens City Club – Historic Blinn House
160 North Oakland Avenue
Pasadena, CA 91101-1714
(626) 796-0560

Oh, and Sunday from 11 – 1 I’ll be painting at the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena on Oak Knoll Road (S. Lake turns into Oak Knoll) – if you’re in the area.

Fallbrook Ranch Afternoon

“Meanwhile, back at the ranch”
10 x 12 oil
plein air painting of a ranch in Fallbrook, California

Late afternoon light casts long shadows across the pasture of this peaceful ranch in Fallbrook, California. When I was there painting, the peepers had already started their songs in the nearby irrigation canals. Spring grasses have turned to summer gold, perfect for grazing.

This weekend, June 27-28, I’ll be at the San Clemente Art Association Annual Show and Sale on the lawn by the community center. Dozens and dozens of plein air painters will be there, so I hope you can stop by if you live in that vicinity.

Fallbrook Landscape Oil Painting by California Impressionist Karen Winters

fallbrook california oil painting

Spring to Summer in Fallbrook
9 x 12 oil painting on canvas
A country ranch road in Fallbrook, California
SOLD


This painting is sold but I have others from the area. Please write me.

Here’s another little landscape inspired by my Fallbrook trip. There were several mornings when the marine layer had moved in and was cloaking the hillsides with a gauzy look. Around 8 o clock the mist would start to burn off. You can see where the grasses on one part of the field have already started to turn golden. Other foliage still maintains the fresh spring look.

I haven’t posted in a few days because it’s been very busy getting ready for my show at Gale’s Restaurant, celebrating Mothers’ Day and taking care of other family responsibilities.

Did you know that if you want to see all of my paintings in any one category – such as all Fallbrook paintings, or all mountain paintings that you can filter these posts by categories? Look for the pulldown menu in the left sidebar.

Windbreak – California landscape oil painting – Karen Winters


Windbreak
10 x 12 oil study
SOLD

This little windbreak was interesting with its varied heights and shapes. It reminded me of a group of kids lined up for their school picture, or perhaps an a capella group getting ready to perform. I had a good time capturing the top light on the trees, which suggests the middle of the day. The short shadows communicate the time of day as well.

Studies are useful for many purposes – we learn about how to render certain types of plant life, how to capture the quality of light at a certain time of day, how to describe distant and near objects, even how the sky looks under different weather and lighting conditions.

The Meadow Wakes – California landscape painting – Karen Winters

“The meadow wakes”
(Sierra foothills, east of Visalia)
6 x 8 oil on canvas

SOLD

When the first strong rays of light hit a meadow filled with fiddlehead flowers, the mist was still rising from the nearby hills, providing an interesting contrast of saturated and desaturated colors. The statuesque valley oak was just starting to put out its new foliage, creating that lacy effect that is only characteristic of earliest spring. I wonder what it would be like to live on a farm like this, with so much beauty to see in every season.