Sierra Breezes Oil Painting – California Sierra Landscape by Karen Winters KWinters
Sierra Breezes
11 x 14 oil on canvas
Sierra oil painting
SOLD
More Sierra Nevada paintings here
For the last few years, fall means visits to the Sierra and, at its feet, the Owens Valley. Not only do I love it for its serenity but also the exhilarating complementary color palette. This time of year everything is orange/gold and blue. Leaves tumble with every breeze that passes through. Sometimes a storm barrels through and turns a brilliantly colored tree into a sleeping skeleton in one night. My attempt in this painting was to capture a more gentle mood near Bishop – a lightly breezy day before the soon-to-arrive storms.
In a little less than 2 weeks, I’ll be taking some of my new work to the last Montrose Art Walk of the year. This will be my last outdoor show this season.
South Pasadena Arroyo Seco Eucalptus Oil Painting – Karen Winters – KWinters
“Arroyo Guardian”
9 x 12 inches
Pasadena Arroyo Seco oil painting
SOLD
This one is sold but you can see more Pasadena area paintings here
A stately old eucalyptus grows along Arroyo Drive in South Pasadena, standing guard at the edge of the Arroyo Seco.
October 2010 – exhibited in a California Art Club show at the South Pasadena Gallery, S. Pasadena, CA. The judge was the esteemed CAC Signature artist, Junn Roca.
Link to the So Pas Gallery
I have been painting like crazy here, and traveling to paint on location, but I always seem to run out of time to post what I’m doing. Some of the paintings are commissioned works which are surprise gifts for people, so I have to be a little careful about what I put where in this day of social networking and transparency.
We’ve made one recent trip to the eastern Sierra and hope to get a few more trips in soon. Southern California weather has been marked by the same June gloom/grayness that typified our summer. I’m looking forward to making a trip to Santa Barbara to see the Clyde Aspevig show before it closes in February 2011 – he’s among my favorite landscape artists – a list that is growing quite lengthy.
Pasadena Rose Bowl Painting – First Night Fireworks – Pasadena Pops
“First Night Fireworks
Pasadena Pops at the Rose Bowl”
16 x 12 oil on wood panel
See more Pasadena and Rose Bowl paintings here
This painting is the 2nd place winner of the 2010 Pasadena Artwalk Competition. The Artwalk will be held Saturday, October 9, from 10 – 5 pm on El Molino Street in Pasadena, between Colorado Blvd. and Green Street.
The theme of this year’s Artwalk competition was “Art and Culture in Pasadena.” Because the Pasadena Pops and Pasadena Symphony orchestras bring so much cultural richness to the city, I decided to paint the closing act of the first show of the 2010 season. This year, the Pops is at a new venue on the lawn next to the Rose Bowl and fireworks provided an exciting finish to the June concert. I have not painted fireworks before (and this was a studio painting, not from life) but it was a lot of fun to do. Who knows, there may be other explosions in my future. Look closely and you’ll see that of course, there are eucalyptus trees in it – silhouetted by the pyrotechnics.
In 2008, this painting of mine, “El Molino Afternoon,” took First Prize and went home with a nice family who lived on the street.
Avalon Harbor Catalina Painting – Taking the High Road
“Avalon Harbor – Taking the High Road”
9 x 12 pastel painting
Avalon Harbor, Catalina Island
(Available at Segil Fine Art beginning August 28 for the “Colors of Catalina” Group Show)
A high road winds up, up, up around Avalon Harbor. At every turn, stately eucalyptus trees provide foreground interest for the tranquil scene below. I have been enjoying doing some pastel paintings along with my usual oils. This one was painted on archival museum board and framed like an oil painting using anti-reflective museum glass. I used to mat my pastels, but I haven’t done that for my most recent projects.
Montana de Oro Spooners Cove San Luis Obispo oil painting
“Montana de Oro – Spooner’s Cove”
Oil painting
14 x 18
See more of my California Central Coast Paintings
This painting came out of one of our recent San Luis Obispo trips. I had often wanted to visit Montana de Oro, having heard about its beautiful seashore. Finally, I had the chance to paint it. The stormy sky added to the drama of the incoming surf, pounding the sharp shale rocks. The name of the park, Mountain of Gold, derives from the golden wildflowers that cover the hillsides in the spring. Can I resist the mental image that conjures up? I think a springtime painting trip will be a must.
Los Osos Valley Road – For the Love of the Land – California landscape oil painting – Central Coast
“For the Love of the Land”
Los Osos Valley Road, California Central Coast
12 x 16 inches
California landscape oil painting
See more of my California Central Coast paintings here
This painting is one of the works that resulted from my spring trip to the San Luis Obispo area with the California Art Club. I just got the news yesterday that it has been selected for inclusion in a special exhibition at the CAC gallery at the Old Mill in San Marino. The show, named Capturing California’s Preserved Lands and Historic Districts: Gems from the Central Coast will open August 31 and run through January 2, 2011. All of the paintings are for sale.
There will be an artists reception Thursday, September 2 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm. This is the first time that I’ve been eligible as an Artist member to submit work for this gallery and I am delighted that this piece was chosen for the show.
The painting depicts a spot along the Los Osos Valley Road, toward sunset. The green grasses of spring were drying out and starting to turn that characteristic California gold.
I have more paintings which came out of that trip, and will be posting them here soon.
California Wildflower Landscape Cambria Lupine Flowers Plein Air Field Study
Cambria Lupine Flowers
8 x 6″ oil
Last spring, when we were in Central California with the California Art Club, we wandered through the countryside in search of wildflowers to paint. We came upon this beautiful hillside just covered with lupine and small orange flowers. The scent of the lupine was heady and I think the bees must have been drunk with it. As I painted this small study there was a constant buzzing sound around me. This study will provide information for a larger painting.
-Interested in this painting?
Click this link to write me. See more of my paintings on my website
Silvery Streams – Newport Back Bay Oil Painting
“Silvery Streams”
8 x 10 oil on canvas panel
Juried into SoCal PAPA’s Newport Back Bay Show – July 23-25, Muth Interpretive Center, Newport Beach
This was painted in Rigel Park in Newport, about a month or so ago, for the SoCal Plein Air Painters Assn. biennial show and sale which will be taking place this weekend. The artists reception is 6-9 pm Friday evening. If you’re in the area, I hope you’ll attend.
This small painting was challenging to do not only because of the changing light at sunset but also because the tide was coming in and the patterns of water among the estuary sand bars didn’t stay the same for long.
Kayaking on Back Bay – Newport Back Bay Oil Painting
Kayaking on Back Bay
acrylic
11 x 14
When I was painting this, I liked the scene, but I liked it even better when some kayakers glided through the bay. There was a good place for them so I put them in.
This is one of two paintings that I painted for the upcoming SoCal Plein Air Painters Association Juried Show at the Muth Center, in the Upper Newport Bay next Saturday and Sunday, July 24 and 25. In addition I will be exhibiting about 18 other paintings of Southern California in this 50 artist outdoor group exhibition and sale.
I’ve decided that in addition to getting around the state and exploring different areas, I should also explore some places closer to home. Orange County, and the areas around Laguna, Newport Beach, San Clemente and Dana Point are among the locations that I’ve been painting at, and will continue to appreciate in paint.
Through the Bowers Museum show and various California Art Club events, as well as through the San Clemente Plein Air paint out and studio painting opportunities at Randy Higbee’s store and gallery… I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a number of SoCal PAPA artists. It was the right time to join the group and have fun participating in some of their shows, too.
Here’s one thing that’s tricky about classifying a painting like this. It’s an estuary, so technically it’s a marine painting. But is it a seascape? A landscape? A sea-landscape? I’m going to list it in both categories, just to be contrary.
Arroyo Ducks – Colorado Street Bridge Painting
Arroyo Ducks
(by Pasadena’s Colorado Street Bridge)
12 x 16
oil on linen panel
SOLD
The previous painting in this series sold very quickly at Gale’s Restaurant during the Art for the Animals show, so I decided to paint another version of it, this time horizontal. There are always ducks paddling around down there, as we’ve discovered from our frequent walks, so this may not be the last exploration of the theme.
This past weekend we enjoyed some time closer to home and our own natural habitat, which we had been sorely neglecting as I’ve been painting all up and down the coast. So we cleared off the porches, gave the Boston ferns a good haircut and deep watering, trimmed back the geraniums and took cuttings to propagate new plants. I’m hopeful that all of these projects will provide abundant plant material for future still life paintings, or, at the very least, for our enjoyment.
This Saturday from 9-4 you’ll find me at the Montrose Artwalk in Montrose, at the corner of Honolulu and Ocean View – see map below. I’m on the sidewalk next to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, where they have great iced coffees! You might even find me doing some painting.
View Larger Map
Saturday evening from 5-7, I’m delighted to be at the artist’s reception of Segil Fine Art’s First Annual Works on Paper show. Address is 110 West Lime in Monrovia. I’m honored to have my pastel painting “Wildflower Sunset” included in this inaugural show.
