Grand Canyon plein air oil painting by Karen Winters
Maricopa Point View
Grand Canyon Maricopa Point south rim plein air oil painting
8 x 10 inches
Oil on linen plein air panel
Available
See more Grand Canyon paintings here
http://www.karenwinters.com
http://www.karensblog.com
Just a few days ago we returned from a holiday trip to the Grand Canyon, one of the great natural wonders of the world. I had never seen it covered in winter snow, and I had planned ahead with all my plein air gear. It was near freezing that morning on the South Rim, which kept the snow crisp and fresh. Later in the day a cold wind moved in and I had to layer up even more. It’s surprising how cold you get when you aren’t hiking or moving around.
I set up my easel near Maricopa Point, on the South Rim, along the Rim Trail. In the distance you can see a bit of Wotan’s Throne, an enormous mesa that is adjacent to the north rim at Cape Royal. My husband shot some video of me working on this painting, which I’ll post when we get it edited.
Because I’m almost as passionate about nature and learning as I am about painting, I found it fascinating to know that the top layers of the Grand Canyon (from the Jurassic period) have already been eroded away, so the only fossils embedded in the rocks are from the pre-dinosaur era. One finds trilobites, ferns, dragonflies, etc. but no T-rex bones.
San Luis Obispo Creek Oil Painting
San Luis Obispo Creek
9 x 12 inch oil painting
Available.
(this view features a bridge over the creek. I chose an angle that did not show the cement walkways, as I prefer the natural look.)
Interested in this painting? See more of my California Central Coast paintings here
See more of my paintings on my website
San Luis Obispo Creek winds through the Central California city of San Luis Obispo, before emptying into the Pacific Ocean near Avila Beach. Numerous restaurants line the banks of the creek, and if you eat on one of their patios during the summer, you’ll be treated to the sounds of a chorus of frogs. Occasionally steelhead trout can be seen in the waters. An annual cleanup day keeps the creek in good condition, a source of pride for the community.
Chasing Clouds – Carmel Valley Road landscape oil painting
“Chasing Clouds”
8 x 10 oil
Carmel Valley Road landscape,
Monterey Peninsula
Available
On our way back from the San Luis Obispo Plein Air Festival this year, we drove up highway 1 through Big Sur, spent a night in Carmel, then returned via Carmel Valley Road. This beautiful “back road” features wonderful hills covered with oaks. The day we passed through, the clouds were spectacular, so I decided to focus on them in this painting.
If you look to the left side of the blog, you’ll see I’ve gotten around to updating my sold painting list. I haven’t put my new sold paintings there since January, and this year’s almost 50 sold works are now featured. I sort of wish that I could see a pattern in what appeals to my wonderful collectors, but it appears that their tastes and interests are as broad as mine. Some paintings are large, some very small. There are seascapes, animals, genre paintings, flowers, fruit, landscapes … and the subject matter is from every part of California.
Tournament House Rose Garden Oil Painting Pasadena Wrigley Mansion commissioned painting
SOLD
Tournament House Rose Garden painting
(Home of the Tournament of Roses Association, Rose Parade organizer)
11 x 14 oil
Painted on commission
This new painting is intended as a Christmas gift from the lovely woman who commissioned it, for a very special gentleman. The rose garden was where they first met. Built in 1906, the Tournament House was purchased by chewing gum magnate Wm. Wrigley in 1914. The home was given to the city of Pasadena in 1958 for use by the Tournament Association. The centennial rose garden (seen here) is spectacular in full bloom. The painting represents it in early morning light.
Don’t you just love romantic stories? I know I do, and I get a special joy from making paintings that commemorate special events – like first dates, first meetings, places where proposals happened, and so forth.
If you’re considering giving a painting as a holiday gift, this is a very good time to get in touch as things get busier as the season draws closer.
Interested in commissioning a painting?
Click this link to write me. See more of my paintings on my website
Sweet Springs Oil Painting – The Sweet Spot – Los Osos, California
SOLD
The Sweet Spot
Sweet Springs, Los Osos
14 x 11 oil painting on linen plein air panel
This painting is now in a private collection but I have other Central Coast paintings.
Click this link to write me. See more of my paintings on my website
See more of my California Central Coast paintings here
See more of my Morro Bay and Morro Rock paintings here
More painting at the San Luis Obispo Plein Air Festival. This lovely spot is Sweet Springs, a 24 acre nature sanctuary in Los Osos, California. Towering eucalyptus groves shelter a quiet pond where flocks of birds feed and rest from their migratory flights. I understand the grove is sometimes a shelter for Monarch butterflies, too.
Sycamore Shimmer – California landscape tree oil painting by Karen Winters
Sycamore Shimmer
8 x 10 oil on linen plein air panel
SOLD
Interested in this painting?
Click this link to write me. See more of my paintings on my website
See more of my sycamore paintings here
See more of my California Central Coast paintings here
This painting was painted for the 2012 San Luis Obispo Plein Air Festival and hung in the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art.
The official festival stamp is on the back side. Sycamores are among our most beautiful California trees, and in the fall they are especially radiant as the colors change.
The active brushwork indicates the way the breeze stirs the leaves of the tree. The use of transparent color creates a luminosity that makes the leaves glow as though light was shining through them.
One Golden Moment San Luis Obispo Plein Air Festival Invitational
One Golden Moment
12 x 16 oil on linen panel
Painted at the 2012 San Luis Obispo Plein Air Festival
SOLD opening night
I returned a few days ago from a wonderful week long event at the San Luis Obispo Plein Air Festival. Over the next week or so, I’ll be posting the paintings I did there, many of which have already gone to new homes. Others, however, are still available.
This beautiful eucalyptus tree in Los Osos begged to be painted. Silhouetted in the late afternoon light, a field of flowers lay at its feet. The flowers are a seed crop, and I think they may have been marigolds.
If you are in the Southern California area this weekend, please visit me at the Pasadena Artwalk on El Molino Street on Saturday. I will have a booth quite near the Pasadena Playhouse, with a wide assortment of my current paintings. The address is El Molino Street, between Colorado Blvd and Green Street in the Playhouse district. The show opens between 10 and 11 (I’ll probably be set up early) and goes until 5 pm. This is a great opportunity to pick up a Christmas present – hope to see you there.
See more of my California Central Coast paintings here
Before the Harvest – California Central Coast Oil painting
Before the Harvest
12 x 9″ oil on board
San Luis Obispo area
California Central Coast
See more of my California Central Coast paintings here
Interested in this painting?
Click this link to write me. See more of my paintings on my website
I’m getting warmed up for the San Luis Obispo Plein Air festival with this study of some of the agricultural areas, under splendid skies. I love the skies over the Central Coast.
Pt. Dume Zuma Beach California seascape oil painting by Karen Winters
Pt. Dume, Zuma Beach
Giant Coreopsis
18 x 24 oil painting
To see more Malibu paintings, please visit Malibupaintings.com
This painting was done in the springtime when the giant coreopsis are in bloom on Pt. Dume. There are a few small paths you can walk on amid the billowing plants. It’s a spectacular sight.
Eaton Canyon Hike – California impressionist oil painting by Karen Winters
SOLD
“Eaton Canyon Hike”
Eaton Canyon, Altadena – San Gabriel Mountains
9 x 12 oil painting on linen plein air panel
This painting is now sold, but I have more at Pasadenapaintings.com
Click this link to write me.
See more Pasadena paintings here
In fall, when the sycamores turn, Eaton Canyon reveals its dusky side. We’ve recently had some beautiful cloud formations – it’s an early harbinger of fall. Soon the chaparral will put on its own fall finery. This trailhead starts near the parking lot, skirts the west side of the canyon and continues northward for several miles.
