Harvest Time – California Vineyard Oil Painting – Plein Air Landscape by Karen Winters
Vineyard Eucalyptus
8 x 10
oil on linen panel
SOLD – but I have other vineyard paintings at vineyardpaintings.com
Visit my gallery site for an archive of available and sold paintings
If you have a question or or would like to find out if a painting is still available for sale…..
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Two of my favorite subjects – vineyards and eucalyptus trees – symbols of California’s rich beauty. This painting was done in November at the Falkner Winery in Temecula, but I am just now getting around to photographing and posting it.
Here’s the work in progress
Take a break from last minute shopping this weekend to stop by Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge where I’ll be showing about 8 of my paintings in the Birch Room, a classroom near the main entrance area
Arroyo Seco Trail, Colorado Street Bridge painting, revisited
“Arroyo Seco Trail”
9 x 12 inches, oil on canvas
SOLD (commission)
I like to paint new things, as a rule, because it’s fun to interpret new subject matter and challenge myself – but from time to time I get a request from a client to paint a new version of a previous painting. In this case, a gentleman saw the painting I used on my postcard of my solo show this spring (sold during the show) and asked it I would paint another version for his daughter as a Christmas present. The family used to live in Pasadena and had fond memories of the Arroyo Seco and their walks together. I was happy to do this for him. Of course, no two paintings are ever exact copies, due to different shapes of the canvas as well as differences in creative interpretation. He was delighted with this treatment and I hope that his daughter will be, too.
Saturday I had a great time with the California Art Club during a paint out at Randy Higbee’s gallery in Costa Mesa. We were painting models dressed as gods and goddesses from Wagner’s Ring Cycle.
Soaring – California Landscape Oil Painting – Karen Winters
“Soaring”
16 x 12 oil on canvas
We’re finally getting rain in Southern California – a welcome change from the excessive drought of this past year. I hope that it is sufficient to sink down deep and nourish the parched root systems of all of our plants. They could use a good long drink. I’m optimistic that it will bring rushing water to our local canyons and snow to the mountains, for purely painterly reasons. Landslides we can do without and I suppose in keeping with the old adage that you have to break eggs to make an omelette, you have to suffer the consequences of rain to benefit from the bounty. Now it’s time for me to get back to the easel, finish up my Christmas commissions and get busy on some new work.
This past weekend was enjoyable in every way. Every night I had a different reception to go to where my work and the work of fellow artists was being shown. Friday night provided a good turnout at Carter Sexton Gallery on Laurel Canyon Blvd. near Magnolia. The paintings will hang until the beginning of January. Saturday night took us to the Segil Gallery in Monrovia, where I was thrilled to see that my Arroyo Reflections painting sold during the reception. Sunday night was a treat in every way at the California Art Club show at the Women’s City Club of Pasadena. Seeing old friends and making new ones is always delightful and among the reasons that I love being in that show.
Next week, I will be exhibiting a collection of paintings with the Pasadena Society of Artists at the Artists Choice Exhibition (ACE) in Silver Lake. [Citibank Art Space 2450 Glendale Blvd. (Northeast corner of Glendale Blvd and Silverlake Blvd.) There will be salons associated with the event where you can meet the artists – date TBA – and the closing reception will be Saturday, January 16, 2010 – 6pm to 8 pm.
I will also be showing and selling new work at a mini Descanso Gardens show December 19-20 (Sat-Sun) from 9 am to 4 pm, in the Birch Room, close to the entrance of the gardens.
Fishing on the Kern – California landscape oil painting – Karen Winters
“Fishing the Upper Kern”
14 x 18 oil on canvas
Not for sale – gift
This painting, a gift for our son, was painted from a photo reference he took last summer on a backpack and fishing trip to the Upper Kern River, near Johnsondale, California.
We have rafted on the Kern many times and might again, some day. I’m not crazy about class 4 and 5 rapids any more, but the little ones are just fine. I understand that this part of the river is in the Golden Trout Wilderness. I don’t know how many golden trout they caught, because the wild ones are pretty wily.
Scotland Oil Painting – Blackfaced Highlanders
Blackfaced Highlanders
14 x 18 oil on canvas
Gift, not for sale
This painting depicts one of our family’s ancestral homelands – the Isle of Skye looking toward the mainland of Scotland on the southeastern part of Skye. Many years ago we had the opportunity to visit there and, looking up the records in the Clan Donald museum, located the place where my 9g grandfathers and mothers lived and worked in the 1700s. The blackfaced sheep is one of the most common in the UK, and they still graze on these lands once occupied by crofters. Nowadays tourism is also a thriving industry.
In the 1730s, there was a large migration from that part of Skye to America, primarily to the colony of North Carolina, where our forbears, the McIvers, settled and married McKinnons, McClouds, McKenzies and many other immigrant Scots. If you come from that area, we are probably distant cousins.
This painting is a birthday gift to our daughter.
California Impressionist Plein Air Landscape Painting – A Very Good Year – Falkner Winery
“A Very Good Year”
8 x 10 oil on archival canvas panel
Plein air painting – Falkner Winery – Day 2
This is the second of the three plein air paintings I did during the paintout. Because I like to put some sharp detail into my paintings, and because that can be difficult to layer when painting alla prima, sometimes I like to let a painting set up for a few days and then add those finishing touches. For esample, I added some of the eucalyptus leaves overhanging the vineyard back in the studio. I had planned for it on site but knew that it would be easier to control on a surface that wasn’t soaking wet.
Arroyo Seco Landmarks – Colorado Street Bridge Pasadena painting
Arroyo Landmarks
12 x 16 oil on canvas
Original oil painting
SOLD
More Pasadena paintings at this link: Pasadena paintings
This is a painting I’ve been working on for awhile, and I thought it was time I finished it up while I continue progress with my fall Sierra series.
The Colorado Street Bridge (also known as the Suicide Bridge to locals) is a major Pasadena landmark, as is the Federal Courthouse, formerly the Vista Del Arroyo Hotel, which overlooks the arroyo. From a certain angle you can see both. The bridge is very tall, but surprisingly those pines are even taller.
Along with painting, I’ve been in the throes of migrating to a new computer system. My old Mac was getting slow and a few USB and Firewire drives weren’t mounting, leading us to believe that there was a problem with those buses. Fortunately I had all my files backed up, but when two of my backup hard drives went down I knew it was time to make a change. Coincidence or causality? I don’t know if the old computer could hurt the drives but I wasn’t taking any chances. Leo LaPorte (the tech guy on the radio) is fond of saying that if you don’t have your files in at least two places, you don’t have them. Even when some of my drives were heading south, I immediately backed up the data onto a new one, plus DVDs as well. I’m thinking of subscribing to Carbonite for another layer of offsite protection.
The good thing is that this new computer is much faster, which makes light work of editing photos of my paintings and organizing and cataloging my paintings.
Anyway, upgrades are a tedious and time consuming process, so I’m hopeful that now I’ll be back in the swing of posting new paintings more regularly. But you gotta do what you gotta do, right?
If you’re interested in adding this painting to your collection, please write karen@karenwinters.com
Malibu Pine – California landscape plein air oil painting
Malibu Pine
12 x 9 oil on canvas panel
Plein air oil painting
I’ve been so busy this past month with a flurry of shows and then two consecutive weeks painting and stomping around the Eastern Sierra, that I haven’t been posting as regularly as usual. That will change now that things sort of settle back to “normal.” (Whatever that is.)
Of course, I grab every opportunity to paint that I can, and sometimes those opportunities come at unusual times. This pine tree was painted during the Malibu Allied Artists show a week ago. I set my easel up by my display area and looked around for something paintable. Although the day was mostly gray, the sun came out a few times and illuminated a hillside behind this tree. There wasn’t much of a vista, so we’ll just call it a tree portrait. I was told by a man who does landscaping that it is an Aleppo Pine. Upon doing a little research about it I came upon a wikipedia article that claims that an Aleppo pine was the inspiration for one of Cezanne’s paintings. Their sculptural forms are certainly appealing.
Because the sky was an interesting combination of warm and cool lavender that day, I opted to borrow an impressionist technique of using complements of the same value in the sky area. Enlarge the image by clicking and you’ll see what I mean. When I’ve visited the Irvine Museum, I’ve seen this approach used to great effect by a number of the California impressionists. I like how it added a bit of a glow to the atmosphere.
I’ll be posting more new work soon. If you’ve been thinking of a commissioned painting for a holiday gift, now’s a good time to get in touch. I currently have three works in the queue, but there is plenty of time to create a portrait, house portrait, landscape or seascape for that special someone.
Some ideas for commissioned paintings … the place where he proposed and you got engaged … a still life representative of your spouse’s favorite hobby (fly fishing lures, a softball and glove, cut flowers for arranging) … a house portrait of your first home … a portrait of a beloved pet, from the present or past … your honeymoon spot … the place you and your spouse first met … a favorite camping or hiking spot … a favorite flower …
The ideas are just endless if you think about special moments, places, people and things.
Malibu Lagoon – California seascape oil painting
Malibu Lagoon
11 x 14
oil on canvas
This is one of the paintings I’ll be bringing to the Allied Artists Art Show and Sale this Sunday, October 18 at the Malibu Nature Preserve, 33905 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu.
It will probably be one of the last big outdoor shows of the season, so I hope that you’ll have a chance to come out and enjoy the weather at the coast. I was up in the Sierra last week, but we got rained out, so I hope to return again in a week or two, as we did last year.
Pasadena Skyline Oil Painting – Pasadena California City Hall complex
Pasadena Skyline
11 x 14 oil on hardboard panel
SOLD
Although this painting is sold, I have more Pasadena area paintings at this link:
See more Pasadena paintings here
I am also happy to paint on commission.
Click this link to write me.
