Cabo San Lucas Los Arcos – mini painting
Los Arcos – Lands End – Cabo San Lucas
5″ x 7″ miniature oil painting
SOLD (commission)
This painting has a romantic story to it. The young woman who commissioned it, who I’ll call Stacy, is going to be married very soon. As a wedding present to her fiance, Stacy is going to give him five original paintings of different places they have been and want to return to. She saw my large commissioned painting of Los Arcos online and asked if I could paint a small version of it for this multi-part gift. I love romantic notions, so of course I was happy to oblige. I can hardly wait to hear how her husband likes it.
If you have a special occasion coming up, or are thinking ahead about holiday gifts, this is a good time to put in your order for an original painting. I get busier as the holidays approach.
Now for the less than cheerful news …
For those of you who are regular readers of this blog, you hear the names Angeles Crest, San Gabriel Mountains, La Canada Flintridge, Pasadena, Altadena, La Crescenta and other location names quite frequently. I live in La Canada, now the flashpoint of what has become the infamous “Station” Fire which is raging through the Angeles Crest forest in the northeast part of Los Angeles County. It is named the Station fire because it began near a forest ranger station up Angeles Crest Highway.
We are fine, since we live a mile or so from the forest/residential interface, but the mandatory evacuation area came within about 2000 feet of our home. Today, the skies are blue above La Canada, a far cry from four or five days ago. For us, at least, I think the worst has passed. But we have many friends and neighbors in the surrounding areas who are still in the path of the conflagration. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
It is comforting to see the snorkel helicopters and other fire fighting aircraft in the skies above us, hauling water and fire suppression materials to hot spots.We are SO LUCKY that this happened in August, not during Santa Ana conditions. In a strange way, I am grateful that this happened at all. I heard an interview with a fire chief who said that if this happened during Santa Ana season literally hundreds and hundreds of homes would be lost (including ours, I’m sure) and there’s nothing they could do to stop it.
Counting my blessings in La Canada,
Karen
Cabo San Lucas – Lands End Mexican Seascape Painting
Cabo San Lucas – Land’s End
24 x 30 inches
oil on canvas
Painted on commission – SOLD
A 16 x 20 version of this painting is still available here.
Today I had the pleasure of packing up this big painting for a new collector in the midwest. I was delighted to be able to paint it for the couple because 1) I love to paint seascapes and 2) it brings me special enjoyment to paint something that has a lot of meaning for the patron.
Lands End is a landmark geologic formation, and it appears that the arches have been carved out by consistent wave action over milennia. I’m guessing that those standing stones once were capped with arches as well, a very long time ago.
Probably the most exciting part of the painting process for me was the painting of the many different rock surfaces, which reflect the color of the environment as well as having their own “local color” which comes from the minerals in the rock as well as the effect of weathering.
Now I’m working on a new commission of the Sierras, while finishing up some rose garden paintings for the Descanso Rose paintout and sale April 18-19. Busy, busy. And I wouldn’t have it any other way!
Cabo San Lucas – Los Arcos Oil Painting Seascape
Cabo San Lucas Seascape Oil Painting
16 x 20 oil on canvas
I’ve been working on a large commission of this same scene (in a 24 x 30 inch size) for a lovely client … and still have a few areas that I’m finishing up. In order to have something to paint over this past weekend at the bookstore, and to experiment with a few things, I painted the same scene in this 16 x 20 size. I don’t usually paint the same painting back to back, but this was a very useful experiment, and it also provided a little “performance art” for the people who came to the show.
So, for those folks who stopped by and picked up business cards during the show, thank you for visiting the show and now, my blog … and here’s how the painting turned out.
I have been tagged numerous times by different people in the 25 things game, and I’ve been so busy I haven’t gotten around to making the list. So instead I’m going to list a few things a day until the list is complete. I hope that counts!
1. I really don’t like heights. I don’t mind airplanes or tall buildings or big wide mountaintops but I feel very uncomfortable on tall stepladders or walking along trails with sheer cliffs or driving along ravines. Maybe I just don’t like heights when there’s the opportunity for falling.
2. I never owned a dog until 10 years ago, and I’m sorry we waited so long! I’ve turned into a real dog lover ( as well as a cat lover) and will happily pet and greet every friendly dog I encounter.
