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.

Sunset Surf – California seascape oil painting

SOLD

“Sunset Surf”
8 x 10 oil

This painting is sold, however I have more seascape paintings at Karen Winters Seascapes

California seascape … dramatic clouds make colorful accents to this Southern California marine seascape. Whenever there is a marine layer with breaks for the sun, the sunsets are spectacular. I’m getting ready to do some plein air painting one day this week at the San Clemente Plein Air Festival, as I did last year. If we don’t have days of June gloom it should be fun!

If you have a question or or would like to find out if a painting is still available for sale…..

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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.

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.

California Seascape Malibu Oil Painting – Radiant Shore

Radiant Shore
Malibu coastline
18 x 24
oil on canvas

I’ll be taking this new painting to a Malibu art show this Sunday at Headwaters corner at Topanga and Mulholland (11-5 pm) for the spring show of the Allied Artists. The craggy rocks of the shoreline glisten in the light of the setting sun as the incoming tide surges through the nooks and crannies. I love how the colors intensify as the sun nears the horizon. Once again nature presents us with the perfect complementary color scheme of warms against cools, red-yellow-orange against blues and violets.

These days I’m trying to balance my time between getting handout materials ready for my solo exhibition at the Bowers Museum, keeping up with commissions and sales (shipped three yesterday) and thinking ahead about the California Art Club paint-out in San Luis Obispo for the week of April 17. Life (and art) are good, and all-absorbing!

Arroyo Seco Painting – Pasadena Bridge Panorama – Plein Air by Karen Winters

Arroyo Panorama
SOLD
12 x 24 inches
oil on canvas

Interested in other Pasadena bridge paintings?
Click this link to write me.
See more of my paintings on my website

Last week I had the pleasure of painting this panorama of the Arroyo Seco from a vantage point high above the canyon. I wanted the late afternoon look, so I had to work fast. As it turned out, I left the painting of the sky and foreground for later, concentrating on the trees, grasses, mountains and architecture as the sun relentlessly continued its course. It’s an interesting time of year. Not all of the deciduous trees have leaves yet – but the grass is thick and abundant, and bright yellow green. In a few months the vivid green will turn straw brown and there will be a solid canopy of leafy trees below. Every season brings its own beauties to enjoy. I’m guessing that I could look at a plein air painting of an early California impressionist and pretty well guess the month it was painted if I knew the location.

My husband shot a little bit of video as I painted, which I’ve included here:

See more of my Arroyo Paintings at http://www.pasadenapaintings.com

Lundy Creek Cabin – Sierra Nevada California impressionist oil painting – Karen Winters

Lundy Creek Cabin
5 x 7 oil study

It was last fall when I started this small study of a cabin, closed for the winter, up Lundy Creek in the Eastern Sierra. But I put it aside for awhile as I thought about some changes I wanted to make with regard to the color temperature and how it affected the shadowed mountains and the brilliant fall leaves. As we arrived at the scene, the sun was close to the horizon and every moment brought color shifts and changing shadow patterns. This cabin, which seemed to be owned by the campground, was boarded up for the winter. The tin roof captured the cool light of the sky, which I liked a lot, seeing it contrasting with the golden colors of the trees. There are two pairs of complements working in this little study: red/green and yellow/violet. It was painted with red yellow and blue primaries and a little white – nice and simple.

When I returned to this study to rework it a bit, I made some decisions about where I wanted the light to fall, and I like it much better now.

This week, starting Wednesday, I will be painting in the Arroyo Seco for the Casita del Arroyo paint out and sale sponsored by the California Art Club and benefitting both the club and the Casita del Arroyo Foundation, with its beautiful display of drought tolerant plants. I may not be there all day, every day, so if you want to know where I’ll be painting, email me (karen@karenwinters.com) and I’ll let you know.

Sierra Joy – June Lake Loop – California Sierra oil painting

“Sierra Joy”
June Lake Loop area, near Rush Creek, featuring Carson Peak
20 x 24 inches oil on canvas
SOLD to a collector from Walnut Creek, CA

This one is sold, but you can see more Sierra Nevada paintings here

This is the next in my continuing series of paintings of the eastern Sierra, a studio painting based on plein air reference of a beautiful spot on the June Lake Loop, off of Highway 395. Aspens and rabbitbrush provided the warm color notes against the blue violet of Carson Peak. This location is not far from Grant Lake and Silver Lake if that helps in defining the locale.

I have spent so much time recently painting smaller paintings for shows, it feels good to stretch out and paint larger. For those of you who have been asking when I’m going to paint more large works, yes, they’re on the way.

Sierra Storm – Sierra Nevada Oil Painting – California Landscape Painter Karen Winters

Sierra Storm
12 x 16 inches
Oil on linen panel
SOLD

More Sierra Nevada paintings here

In the fall, storms begin to gather over the Sierra, offering dramatic lighting effects. This storm was breezing up and brought two days of downpour in its wake. We outran it and came back to paint another day. The sage and rabbit brush looked wonderful rimlit by the sun.

For more sierra paintings, click here

New art daily at Karen’s Blog
Visit my gallery site for an archive of available and purchased paintings

If you have a question or or would like to find out if a painting is still available for sale…..

Write Me