El Capitan Yosemite Valley – California Plein Air Oil Painting – Sierra Landscape
El Capitan
Plein air oil painting
9 x 12 inches
SOLD
See more of my Yosemite paintings here
This was painted en plein air Friday, July 17 in Yosemite Valley.
If you’re interested in this painting, please write
Well, I’m back from our whirlwind tour of Northern California. I didn’t have the time or energy to upload paintings every day, but now that I’m back I’m going to try to catch up. This was painted on the last day of our trip, late in the afternoon. If you are a new visitor to my blog, one of the people who saw me painting this in progress, welcome! Now you know how it turned out.
Yosemite Valley was spectacular, as always, but it was very hot, as it currently is in Los Angeles. But just looking at the cool water of the Merced River seemed to help. Those distant thunderheads, which rose as I painted, tell you how much moisture and humidity there was in the air.
As always, people gathered around to watch me tackle the scene. They are always very polite and ask if they can watch. I let them know that if I wanted to be alone, I’d be in my studio! I truly enjoy having observers, as long as they are ok with me continuing to work as we chat. My husband took the picture below as I wrapped up. You can see by the painting compared to the final photo how much the light changed during the time I was painting. But it’s a no-win game to keep chasing shadows. You just have to draw them in at the beginning and then stick with the plan.
Sierra Splendor – Mt Whitney, Lone Pine, California landscape oil painting – Eastern Sierra Nevadas
Sierra Splendor
a view toward Mt. Whitney Portal from Lone Pine
18 x 24 oil on canvas
SOLD
More Sierra Nevada paintings here
Some time this fall we’re going to return to the area again for another painting and research trip. A new collector has tipped me off to some beautiful painting spots in the area – and it’s a trip I’m eagerly anticipating.
California Art Oak Landscape Oil Painting
Evening Peace
12 x 16 oil on canvas
(Central California, Sierra Foothills oil painting)
This painting is SOLD, but I have more oak paintings:
See more of my oak tree paintings here
This California oil painting celebrates the end of the day in Central California as valley oaks are silhouetted by the fading sun. The warm glow of sunset still lingers in the sky. Mist is already starting to form in the distant Sierra foothills, creating a sense of mystery.
Last weekend’s opening of the California Art Club “On Location in Malibu” show at the Weisman Museum at Pepperdine University was really outstanding. Although I paint frequently in Malibu it is always interesting to see other artists’ interpretations of the same subjects. I hope to return to the exhibit to see more of the paintings when there is no crowd. It was really elbow to elbow in the galleries.
California plein air landscape painting – Wildflower Hills
SOLD
California Wildflower Hills
9 x 12 plein air painting
oil on linen panel
See more of my landscapes here
A few months ago, after keeping an eye on the wildflower reporting sites, we took a trip up into the foothills of the western Sierras. The online sources were right – they really were really spectacular this year. I started this painting on site, and have been waiting for the opportunity to touch it up in studio before posting here. Among the challenges at this location was a storm system that cast ever-changing shadows over the golden hills. One minute the foreground was in light and the background in darkness. Five minutes later it was the reverse. At the point of laying in my darks I decided to go with the cloud shapes on the distant hills and leave the foreground hill bright, and then to paint it that way no matter what nature was doing.
Next week, after my show is hung this Saturday at Gale’s Restaurant in Pasadena, I should be back to painting and posting regularly. There are just too many details to take care of right now.
Karen Winters California Impressionism New Works Show at Gale’s Restaurant, Pasadena
If you’ve been following my blog, you know I’ve been preparing for this event for some time.
So, if you’re in the LA area and would like to see my work in person, I invite you to come to my show of California impressionist fine art.
Place: Gale’s Restaurant
Address: 452 S. FairOaks in Pasadena, California
Dates: Sat. May 16 – Friday, July 10
Reception: Sunday afternoon, May 31, 4-6 pm.
nodp
Aspen Sierra Morning – California Eastern Sierra Oil Painting
Aspen Sierra Morning
(near Bishop, Owens Valley, Eastern Sierras
16 x 20 oil on canvas
Because many of my Sierra/aspen/Owens Valley paintings have gone away to new homes, I decided to finish up another that I began last year, inspired by our Eastern Sierra trip. This painting features a grove of aspens caught in the earliest morning light. And I mean *really* early, when the color is intense and warm. That’s the time when more sensible people are snug in their beds, or enjoying their first cups of coffee in the kitchen, but the plein air painters and photographers are stomping around in the brush, looking for the best compositions and getting tangled up in barbed wire. (Yes, that happened to me in November, and it wasn’t pretty.)
Truck crash update, for those who are interested.
At Flintridge bookstore, seven of my ten paintings have been found, in various states of damage. All framing has been destroyed. Some of the watercolors survived, others will require significant repair, and the other (one of my favorites) was torn down the middle. The only acrylic – painted on a hard panel, came through ok. It will only need a brush off to remove some plaster dust, and a few touch-ups. The other two oil paintings are still buried, no doubt. On the positive side, all of those who were hospitalized have been discharged to their homes, and there were no more deaths. Large trucks have been banned on Angeles Crest Highway, at least temporarily, until legislative action can ban them permanently.
We watched the city council meeting last night via cable TV and were glad to see a good discussion of the options to prevent future calamities. And the council was very thorough in thanking everyone who helped in the aftermath, including those who sent letters of support and ideas. At the council meeting I did not hear an acknowledgment of Girl Scout, Malia Mailes, whose 46 slide powerpoint project outlined the disaster waiting to happen before the crash, and she was not mentioned in the round of hearty back-slapping. Perhaps it’s the fact that her report was horrifically prescient and is/was a source of embarrassment to our council who were unable to use her research to get any action. It’s interesting, isn’t it, that teenagers are usually characterized as feeling “immortal” and behaving as though nothing bad could happen to them. Yet here you have a teen sounding a clarion call and the adults patiently waiting for the state to throw them crumbs.
The burning question, which a member of the public raised at the meeting, was, why did it take so long, with repeated runaway truck “near misses” and finally two deaths to get some action? Clearly, the carefully worded requests for action from our city manager, as politely “by the book” as they may have been, fell on deaf ears with the regional CalTrans director who recently told a reporter he wasn’t going to spend any money on our requests. If our city representatives tolerated a runaround on this issue, which ended in fatalities, how will they respond to future needs? Will they have learned a little assertiveness from the experience? Perhaps the PR firm that they hired to manage the media and interviews on the day of the event can give them some helpful suggestions.
Here’s a helpful suggestion: Malia Mailes for City Council in two years, when she’s 18. She sounds like a go-getter, someone who is passionate, energetic and wants to get things done. We can use more of that around here.
Sierra Blessing – California Eastern Sierra Nevada Oil Painting Commission
Sierra Blessing
18 x 24″ landscape oil painting on canvas
SOLD (commission)
Today, I finished this Eastern Sierra Nevada painting with much love and joy, and shared a photo of it with the client who commissioned it. I have since signed it and will give it a protective coating in a few days and then it will be time to leave my studio and go to live with a new family.
The origin of the painting has an interesting story, I think. The individual contacted me because she had seen a painting of mine on my website of a location close to where she lives. But as we got to talking, it turned out that she also liked my painting of the Sierras, a place where she and her family had camped together and enjoyed many happy days together.
This painting is a reflection of one of those special places, with a view of Lone Pine and Mt. Whitney. It has a special significance to the family that makes it especially sacred to them. I feel honored that she entrusted me to interpret this spot artistically, and I hope that long after I am gone it will be passed down in their family.
For me, this is what making art is all about. It is about taking something in the real world and, through the application of study, practice and technique, turning it into a creation that will capture a feeling, a moment in time, a spiritual insight. I love painting plein air, and I do it as much as I can, but sometimes I rely on my field studies, sketches, direct observation and other references to re-create a scene. That was the process I used here.
I love this painting so much that I am going to paint it again, in a slightly different size, probably a little bigger … and no doubt I will interpret it a little differently. That always happens.
Out of the wreckage of the runaway truck accident, there are some positives. Yesterday my dear husband went to the store and recovered three paintings which the store owner had carefully found and put up on the counter in a safe place. (The vase of peonies, a pink magnolia watercolor which I had forgotten was there, and the vertical eucalyptus painting.) Today my husband visited just as a cleanup crew was arriving and showed them a poster we made with small images of the remaining six works. They promised to keep an eye out for them. If they find even one or two more I will be very happy. And I am optimistic that they will!
As a dear friend of mine is fond of saying “You can’t see around life’s corners.” Indeed we can’t. Which is why it is especially important to do our best and be kind to each other at every opportunity.
And now, it’s time for me to get back to the easel!
California Desert Landscape – Owens Valley Oil Painting
Owens Valley Morning
12 x 16 inches
oil on canvas
The eastern Sierra Nevada is a place of many different textures, moods and biomes, depending where you look. Just a short distance from some of the cottonwood groves I’ve painted is this desert like area with sagebrush and other desert wildflowers. Being an Angeleno, I have to confess that the Owens Valley was not a desert before Mulholland secured (grabbed) the water rights for Los Angeles. And it is true that the DWP is restoring water to the area, which is helping to bring back some of the native flora and fauna.
If you look carefully in the background of this painting, off to the right, you’ll see some brushy trees. That’s where the Owens River is flowing in this location. The range in the background is the White Mountians.
Sierra Nevada California Landscape Painting – Sierra Willows
Sierra Willows
14 x 18 oil on canvas
SOLD
More Sierra Nevada paintings here
Although fall had come to the Sierras, there were still late wildflowers blooming on the banks of the Owens river. Young willows were turning yellow, glittering with each passing breeze. What attracted me to this scene was the contrast of the delicacy of the golden willows contrasted with the solidity and cool violets of the towering Sierras. The area is near Big Pine, so I’m going to guess that’s Piper Peak in the background. My husband gave me a GPS for Christmas so on future trips I should be able to get more exact locations for those who want to know exactly what and where.
I used a lot of thick paint on this one, more than I usually do, applying it with a palette knife in places to get a more expressive energy into it. I found that this was a better way to suggest the wind blowing off the tops of the mountains and stirring the brush. There’s nothing sedate and calm about this one!
If you’re in Southern California, mark your calendars for February 21. I’ll be giving a short presentation about my art at Flintridge Bookstore and Coffeehouse at the intersection of Foothill Blvd. and Angeles Crest in La Canada. We’re going in alphabetical order so I’ll be appearing last at 8:30.
If you’re thinking of joining Facebook – jump in! It’s a lot of fun and you’ll reconnect with all your old friends there. Drop me a note if you’d like to add me as a friend, or follow my art activities.
Aspen Landscape Oil Painting – Aspen Grove
SOLD
Aspen Grove in the Sierras
11 x 14
oil on linen
Interested in this painting? Please write.
This painting is sold, but you can see more Sierra Nevada paintings here
Wow, where did the week go? I’ve been so busy doing various art marketing and selling tasks that I haven’t made time to post. That will be remedied very soon.
This is another in my ongoing Sierra fall series. The aspen grove pictured here is dwarfed by the steep uplift of the Sierra Nevada range, which literally rises like a wall from the Owens Valley floor. I was captivated by the contrast of the deep blue violet mountain in contrast with the warm bright foliage of the aspens. Sages and other late blooming wildflowers, nipped by the frost and tousled by the wind, provided an interesting foreground with some suggestion of motion.
Can you feel the autumn wind blowing down out of those peaks, causing golden leaves to quiver and fly away?
Tomorrow I’ll be taking a painting to White’s Gallery on Honolulu Ave. in Montrose for the Pasadena Society of Artists new member show. I was juried in last April, but the new member show is an annual event, so it’s a nice opportunity to show some work. The reception is January 24, 2-4 pm if you have the time to come by and see the works of 20 artists.
