California Landscape Painting – Arroyo Meadow – Impressionist Sunset
“Arroyo Meadow”
9 x 12
California impressionist oil painting on canvas panel
SOLD
The San Gabriel Mountains constantly change their colors through the late afternoon and early evening. Starting out as browns and greens, they become blue violet as shadows fall, and eventually reflect the warm colors of sunset.
This scene captures a moment in that transition, from the vantage point of Hahamongna Park (formerly Oak Grove Park) in the upper Arroyo Seco between La Canada Flintridge and Altadena/Pasadena.
Wildflowers billow and catch the warm light of the late afternoon sun.
Yesterday I received some more good news about one of the many shows I’ve been entering. One of my plein air paintings, “Days End at Fallbrook” was accepted into the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association (LPAPA) 6th annual “Best of Plein Air” show. The exhibit will be at the Esther Wells Collection in Laguna Beach from July 17-25.
“Days End in Fallbrook”
11 x 14
oil on canvas
California Impressionist Landscape Painting – Eucalyptus scene – One Summer Morming
“One Summer Morning”
California landscape oil painting
11 x 14 oil on linen panel
SOLD
Please join me this Saturday for the 2nd Montrose Artwalk of the year. I’ll have new paintings like this 11 x 14 oil, “One Summer Morning” as well as prints, cards and original oils and watercolors.
I’ll be at the same location as last year, in front of the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at 3701 Honolulu Avenue at the corner of Ocean View. Park nearby on Honolulu or Ocean View or in one of the several free public lots.
If you see something here on the blog or on my website that you’d like to have a closer look at, drop me a note and let me know before Friday night and I’ll try to bring it along for your review (assuming it’s not on exhibit somewhere.)
After the Montrose show closes at 4, I’ll be off to the reception at Segil Fine Art in Monrovia, for their first annual works on paper show reception, 5-7 pm.
I recently joined the Southern California Plein Air Painters Association (SoCal PAPA) in time to participate in their biannual Newport Back Bay Show and Sale. Painting for SoCal Plein Air Painting Association’s Biannual Back Bay Show. I have two paintings juried into the competitive component of the show, and will be exhibiting about 20 Southern California landscape and seascape paintings at the show and sale July 24-25 at the Muth Center. I’ll be posting those paintings on the blog in a few days.
Even though a large part of the US has been cooking with high temperatures, in Southern California we’ve had unseasonably cool weather. Often early June is gray and cool (June gloom) but to have early spring type weather in early July is very strange. I’m not complaining, though – it makes it easier to paint outdoors and cuts down on the water and electric bills and makes it easier to do yard work, too.
I think today is going to be a doing errands and catching up sort of day
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.
Pasadena Arroyo Seco Oil Painting — Morning Swim in the Arroyo
“Morning Swim in the Arroyo Seco”
16 x 12 inches
oil on canvas
SOLD
Ducks gently paddle in the pond beneath Pasadena’s Colorado Street Bridge … a scene of rural tranquility in the heart of Pasadena’s Arroyo Seco. Readers of this blog will remember the great duck adventure a few years back, as we watched a mother lead her ducklings up the flood control channel to the safety of the pond – including scaling a 45 degree incline covered with moss. But all the ducklings made it eventually, safe from hawks and owls. Perhaps some of these paddlers are those little ducks, all grown up with families of their own.
Sold at the Art for the Animals show at Gale’s Restaurant in Pasadena this past week, benefitting the Pasadena Humane Society and SPCA.
Peters Canyon Meadow – California Landscape Oil Painting – Orange County impressionist painting
Peters Canyon Meadow
14 x 18 oil on canvas
commissioned work
SOLD
This painting was based upon a plein air study which I did earlier this spring
posted on my blog awhile ago.
When I scaled it up for my client, I added more detail and refined certain shapes that were only roughly suggested in the plein air work. What works in 9 x 12 doesn’t necessarily work in 14 x 18 (or larger) sizes.
I’m looking forward to painting the scene in a larger size, and perhaps a more panoramic horizontal format, too. Now, the park grass has turned a soft yellow gold color – the scene looks very different. I’m thinking about going back for some new plein air studies.
This Saturday and Sunday, please join me for more plein air painting at Descanso Gardens. If you are a member of Descanso, the LA Arboretum in Arcadia, South Bay Botanical Gardens, Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens, or one of many other American Horticultural Association affiliated gardens, your admission is free. We have enjoyed our Descanso membership for many many years … as well as gardens as far away as Santa Barbara and Phoenix. These reciprocating memberships are a great benefit of supporting our horticultural institutions.
La Canada Landscape Oil Painting – Memorial Day Concert – California impressionist genre painting
Memorial Day Concert, 2010
(La Canada Flintridge, featuring Captain Cardiac and the Coronaries)
8 x 10
plein air oil painting
This painting is now SOLD but I have many others for sale…..
Write Me
Ah, the beginning of summer, and the summer Music in the Park series in my hometown, La Canada Flintridge. I enjoyed painting this scene while visiting with picnickers and others who were out savoring the warm day. The first act, Misplaced Priorities, energized the audience and set the stage for the second act, Captain Cardiac and the Coronaries. Both 50s-60s rock bands were enthusiastically received. In front of the gazebo/bandshell, dancers of all ages found their groove.
When I was growing up, I couldn’t imagine having fun dancing to the same music my grandparents liked. But old time rock and roll was appreciated that day by 70-somethings and 5 year olds alike.
It was good to see so many friends and neighbors out relaxing. Thanks to the LCF Chamber of Commerce for making Fiesta Days a wonderful event once again.
Sierra Oil Painting – Grazing at Lone Pine, California
Grazing at Lone Pine
(Eastern Sierras, California, near the city of Lone Pine)
12″ x 16″ oil on linen panel
Sierra Nevada oil painting
SOLD
See more of my Sierra Nevada Oil Paintings at this link.
This new painting will be exhibited at Gale’s Restaurant in Pasadena beginning tomorrow as part of the Art for the Animals Group Show and Sale. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Pasadena Humane Society and SPCA. A select group of artists were invited to explore the theme of animals for this special event. The reception will be June 27 from 3-6 pm. I hope that some of my local friends will be able to attend. The animals show will be on exhibit until September.
The eastern Sierra is a subject that I am especially fond of, and most particularly in the fall when the cottonwoods and aspens turn into deep shades of orange and gold – the perfect complement to the blue-violets of the Sierra under cloud shadows. I had been wanting to paint this scene for awhile, and Gale’s animals show gave me the perfect incentive. Between the Sierra range and the foreground (Owens valley ranch in Lone Pine) lie the Alabama Hills. The weathered reddish-brown rock formations are volcanic in origin, but have undergone metamorphosis. Scientists suggest they’re between 150-200 million years old. Early California miners named these hills for the warship, the USS Alabama.
Thanks to those of you who came out to Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden this past weekend for the annual Artists in the Garden show and sale. I enjoyed seeing old friends and collectors and making new friends, too.
California Landscape Oil Painting – Claremont Wilderness Park Trail
Claremont Wilderness Park Trail
(featuring Potato Mountain – and the Angeles National Forest – San Gabriel Mountains)
18 x 24 oil on canvas
If you have a question or or would like to find out if this painting is still available for sale…..
Write Me
This painting is brand new and features a viewpoint from a trail in the Claremont Wilderness Park. Depending upon which way you’re hiking on the trail, it’s either the beginning or end of a loop that goes way up into the mountains. On the day I was there and did a small on-location study, there were spectacular clouds in the sky, making interesting shadows and bright spots on the ground – a painter’s delight.
I’m taking the painting tomorrow to the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens show in Claremont for their annual juried Art in the Garden show. This will be my third year participating in this wonderful location. I would love to see you there, so if you plan to attend, please email me and I will send you a flyer you can print out – good for free admission this weekend only.
Please make a calendar date: Next weekend, June 12-13, I will be painting in my home territory, Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge during a 2-day Art in the Garden event. Look for a number of painters painting around the pavilion in the International Rosarium. I will be bringing a selection of works for sale also.
More later … now I’m back to getting my last-minute framing done.
Wildflower Sunset – San Luis Obispo Pastel Painting near Santa Margarita
Wildflower Sunset
12 x 16
soft pastel on archival paper
SOLD
See more of my wildflower paintings here
I just found out that this painting, Wildflower Sunset, will be exhibited with the Segil Fine Art Source First Annual Works on Paper show, with opening reception Saturday July 10, 2010. This landscape is from my recent trip to San Luis Obispo County, on the road to Lake Santa Margarita, just before sunset. The lupine and yellow flowers were mixing in the warm sunset light – incredible color. Nature has a way of bedazzling us with the most wonderful complements.
My posting of paintings has been less lately because it’s difficult to post while on the road. But I’ve been doing a lot of work which will all be shared in due time.
This Sunday, if you’re in town for Memorial Day, come see me at La Canada’s Memorial Park (Foothill Blvd. at La Canada Blvd.) where I’ll be showing my work, and most likely painting, from 11-6. I’ll have original paintings, cards, prints, and so on.
The following weekend, June 5-6 I’ll be exhibiting work at Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden in Claremont. If you think you might be able to attend, please email me for a special invitation that gives you a break on the admission price.
Belmont Shore Pier – Long Beach Marine Seascape Acrylic Painting
Belmont Shores Pier
12 x 16 acrylic
Currently on exhibition at the Long Beach Museum of Art
in a California Art Club group show celebrating the Long Beach Bike Festival
Interested in this painting?
Click this link to write me. See more of my paintings on my website
The past month has taken me to San Luis Obispo for a paint out with the California Art Club, then home for a few days, then out to Phoenix to paint a wedding reception for a lovely couple. Along the way we took in the sights of red rock country as well as some beautiful desert areas.
Last weekend, the California Art Club held a reception for artists participating in the Long Beach Bike Festival, and I was pleased to find out that the above painting, Belmont Shores Pier, was accepted along with 19 others to be displayed at the Long Beach Museum of Art until May 24. Maybe we’ll take the Metro Blue Line down to see the show and I can sketch some of the riders on the way.
This coming Sunday, the California Art Club will present the opening reception for the exhibition of Ring Festival paintings at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles. The reception hours are from 5-7 pm. Parking is $5. I will be there with my handsome model, who you will see is actually a much younger man than one-eyed Wotan.
Now, I’m working on commissions and painting for several other upcoming competitions and welcoming new clients to my studio. This painting, “San Gabriel Sunset” went home with a new San Marino collector today – it’s a surprise for a loved one.
