Cottonwood breeze Owens Valley Sierra California landscape painting
“Cottonwood Breeze”
14 x 18 inches
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More Sierra Nevada paintings here
I recently read that because of the great deal of rain and snow the Sierra Nevada has received this past winter, that the melting snowpack may actually flood the Owens Valley, causing a different kind of disaster than the drought. Plans are being made to bring in equipment and experts to prevent flooding at Owens Lake. The surplus water may mean lower water bills for Southern California if the DWP doesn’t have to purchase extra water from the Metropolitan Water District.
I’m hoping that the extra water will bring relief to the suffering cottonwoods and aspens, which have been suffering these past years. When we travel through the area we see broken branches laying at the roots of many of these beautiful trees. I don’t remember seeing that in past years.
Cottonwood Country Colorado landscape oil painting
Cottonwood Country
8 x 10 oil painting
Colorado plein air style oil painting, near Cortez
This painting came out of my 2015 summer trip to Colorado. We passed through many beautiful meadow and farming areas, and were pleased to see how green and healthy the trees were, with adequate water – as compared to California with its persistent drought. I used some palette knife work and a rougher than usual canvas to capture a bit of the feeling of the blowing leaves. I think it works pretty well.
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© Karen Winters Fine Art 2016
California high desert Valyermo oil painting “High Desert Color”
“High Desert Color”
9 x 12 inches, oil painting on plein air panel
Valyermo, California
Antelope Valley High Desert area
After our welcome rains that came a few days ago, my husband and I saw the sky was still filled with beautiful cumulus clouds – the kind we see around here too infrequently. So we decided to take a drive up to the high desert to see the wide open spaces. It was a picture perfect day and we found ourselves in the small community of Valyermo. Although the wind and rain may have taken away some of the glory of the cottonwoods, there was still some color left, and the paint brush took care of the bare spots.
This is a view of one of those cottonwood groves. I liked the contrast of the yellow golds against the blue violet mountains in the background. Those happen to be the San Gabriels, the closest range to our home. So now I’ve painted them from ‘both sides, now’.
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