Leo Carrillo Beach Oil Painting – Pelican Rock – Malibu seascape art
SOLD
Cormorant Rock, Malibu,
Leo Carrillo State Park Beach
5 x 7 oil painting
At Leo Carrillo Beach, I came across a rock that had a flock of cormorants roosting briefly before their next fishing mission. Their silhouettes against the fading sun intrigued me, and I thought they made a nice composition. A wedding was underway just the other side of a big rock structure, a beautiful sunset setting. I thought at first they were pelicans, but I was mistakden.
This limited palette painting was fun to do. The rocks take on different colors depending upon the lighting conditions and time of day, which presents a lot of creative possibilities.
California’s Brown Pelicans have been in the news recently as sick and dying birds have been found a distance from usual home. Their feathers are often discolored with some unknown substance. Whether is the result of red tide (algae bloom) or some other pollutant is unknown. A similar die-off happened around February of 2009. One supposition is that weather and oceanographic influences may disrupt the pelicans usual feeding patterns, causing them to starve and weaken. El Nino conditions may be a contributory factor. These birds were on home turf and looked well-feathered and plump. I love to watch them flying just over the waves, single file.
Malibu Surf Sunset Painting – California Seascape Oil Painting
Malibu Surf Sunset
6 x 8 oil
This little study of the surf at Malibu gives you some idea of the subtle range of colors that emerge on even a somewhat hazy day. The water can appear silvery and opalescent under the right conditions. And those conditions change from moment to moment. California impressionist and Laguna painter Frank Cuprien was especially adept at capturing those fleeting tones in his oil paintings. There’s a lot to be learned from studying the masters, first-hand. I’ve enjoyed seeing his works at both the Laguna Museum of Art as well as the Irvine Museum.
See more of my marine paintings here
For more information about this painting, please write.
Big Sur Oil Painting – California Garrapata Beach seascape
Garrapata Beach, Big Sur
16 x 20 oil on canvas
The state park on a beautiful clear day with just a little mist hovering over the distant headlands. A look so typical of the area. I’ll bet that this location has been the scene of many marriage proposals, it’s so beautiful.
Last weekend, I attended the artists’ reception for the Pasadena Society of Artists ACE Exhibition, and was delighted to learn that my painting of the LA County Fair, “Fun Zone,” had won an Award of Merit. This has been a really exciting week for me – first learning that I am a new Artist Member of the California Art Club, and now this honor from PSA. I can hardly wait to find out what surprises this new week will bring.
Karen Winters at the Pasadena Society of Artists ACE Awards
Carmel Point Lobos California Marine Seascape Oil Painting – California Art Club Blinn House show
“Gift from the Sea”
Pt. Lobos Tide Pool – Carmel
18 x 24 oil on canvas
Over the weekend I got the good news that this painting, Gift from the Sea, which I painted over the summer, has been juried into the California Art Club’s Blinn House show at the Women’s City Club of Pasadena. This is the first seascape that I’ve submitted to the biannual show (the others have been landscapes or portraits) and I am delighted and honored that it was chosen for this exhibit.
The theme of this show is Precious Gifts, and I have entitled this painting “Gift from the Sea” both as a tip of the hat to the Anne Morrow Lindbergh book, which I have enjoyed reading repeatedly over the years, and as a tribute to the bounty that the oceans provide, both in resources, recreation and natural beauty.
The reception will be Sunday, December 6, from 5 – 7 pm at the Historic Blinn House, 160 N. Oakland Ave., Pasadena, CA
The Carmel area holds special significance for us at the Winters household because it was one of the places that we went on our honeymoon. Whenever we return there it brings back wonderful memories. It’s a location that I will always enjoy painting and was certainly a popular location among the California impressionists, notably Guy Rose.
More art show news tomorrow, and I’ll be posting my plein air paintings from the Falkner Vineyard Invitational Plein Air paint out after that.
Cabo San Lucas Los Arcos – mini painting
Los Arcos – Lands End – Cabo San Lucas
5″ x 7″ miniature oil painting
SOLD (commission)
This painting has a romantic story to it. The young woman who commissioned it, who I’ll call Stacy, is going to be married very soon. As a wedding present to her fiance, Stacy is going to give him five original paintings of different places they have been and want to return to. She saw my large commissioned painting of Los Arcos online and asked if I could paint a small version of it for this multi-part gift. I love romantic notions, so of course I was happy to oblige. I can hardly wait to hear how her husband likes it.
If you have a special occasion coming up, or are thinking ahead about holiday gifts, this is a good time to put in your order for an original painting. I get busier as the holidays approach.
Now for the less than cheerful news …
For those of you who are regular readers of this blog, you hear the names Angeles Crest, San Gabriel Mountains, La Canada Flintridge, Pasadena, Altadena, La Crescenta and other location names quite frequently. I live in La Canada, now the flashpoint of what has become the infamous “Station” Fire which is raging through the Angeles Crest forest in the northeast part of Los Angeles County. It is named the Station fire because it began near a forest ranger station up Angeles Crest Highway.
We are fine, since we live a mile or so from the forest/residential interface, but the mandatory evacuation area came within about 2000 feet of our home. Today, the skies are blue above La Canada, a far cry from four or five days ago. For us, at least, I think the worst has passed. But we have many friends and neighbors in the surrounding areas who are still in the path of the conflagration. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
It is comforting to see the snorkel helicopters and other fire fighting aircraft in the skies above us, hauling water and fire suppression materials to hot spots.We are SO LUCKY that this happened in August, not during Santa Ana conditions. In a strange way, I am grateful that this happened at all. I heard an interview with a fire chief who said that if this happened during Santa Ana season literally hundreds and hundreds of homes would be lost (including ours, I’m sure) and there’s nothing they could do to stop it.
Counting my blessings in La Canada,
Karen
Laguna Surf – California Marine Seascape Oil Painting
Laguna Surf
8 x 10 inches
Oil on canvas
Laguna is one of my favorite painting locations and when the sun gets really low, it’s magical.
Point Lobos – Monterey Peninsula
Pt. Lobos Rocks
9 x 12 acrylic on paper
We’ve been having a great time seeing some of the natural beauty of Northern California, and this is one of my recent studies from a few days ago at Point Lobos. I’m updating from the road so I don’t have quite as much time for blogging – there’s too much to see and do.
This scene is from Pt. Lobos State Park, on the Monterey Peninsula. It’s a breathtaking place and I could spend days there. We’ve also spent some time in Big Sur, San Francisco and around Paso Robles and the central coast.
I don’t have Photoshop with me on this computer so I can’t tweak the colors to get them exactly like the original, which is a bit frustrating. IPhoto does an ok job, but it doesn’t have the control I’m used to with PS.
Last night we went to see Wicked, a Christmas present from our kids. It was fantastic and I recommend it to anyone who hasn’t seen it yet. A great musical and one that will surely become a classic in American musical theater.
Painting a kildeer from life in Dana Point California – oil painting study
Kildeer on ground nest – plein air painting
“6 x 8” oil on canvas board
The paintout continues in San Clemente. Today, I had a rare opportunity, very unexpected, to do an oil painting of a bird from life. We were walking along a bluff in Dana Point and suddenly saw a kildeer guarding its nest – only a few feet from where we were walking. The brave little bird stood its ground even though we were very close. I found a place to sit down about 6 feet away and my husband brought me a small 6 x 8 inch canvas panel and a palette and my plein air bag. I didn’t want to take the risk of standing up at an easel and scaring it – and besides, I was closer to it on the ground. For more than an hour the bird sat motionless except to occasionally turn its head. Eventually it stood up and called to its mate for a break. It is a kildeer behavior to take turns incubating the eggs. I have never had the privilege of painting a wild animal (not caged) from life before and hope that sometime it will happen again. Although the eggs were completely under the bird, I took the liberty of showing one partly exposed. They are speckled black and gray and blend in perfectly with the rocky sandy ground where they are laid in a shallow depression.
I won’t be entering this painting in the San Clemente competition although I will have it for sale in my booth. I doubt that anyone would believe it was “plein air” – imagine a bird sitting still for an hour. And yet, it happened!
Windblown Cypress Tree – California beach seascape oil painting
“Windblown Cypress Tree”
(Southern California seacoast)
11 x 14 oil on canvas
SOLD
If you’re interested in this painting, please write.
From the moment I saw this California cypress tree I knew I had to do an oil painting of it. Most of my tree experience comes from the big four: eucalyptus, oaks, sycamores and palms. Cypresses only seem to grow natively near the ocean and they are almost always sculptural in form and are icons of California art. The iceplant growing at its roots, in the sandy dunes, provided an interesting textural contrast.
Westward Waves – Southern California Art – Marine Seascape Oil Painting by Karen Winters
“Westward Waves”
16 x 20 oil on canvas
Interested in this painting? Please write
This painting was done in anticipation of the San Clemente paintout and sale, which will start a week from Saturday and continue through the following Saturday and Sunday, June 27 and 28.
This will be my first year participating and I’m really looking forward to it. I have painted before in the San Diego County area, most recently for a week in Fallbrook, and I think the country is beautiful. I’m not sure yet whether I’ll be doing ocean scenes or some of the lovely inland areas, but I know it will be a great experience either way.
The small Laguna Tide Pool study sold last week at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Gardens show, and this larger painting, based upon that study, was already under way.
