Tag: landscapes

Beach Scene (1)

5″ x 7″ oil

Today begins my adventure with painting beach scenes. I have always tended toward realism with painting but it is time to challenge myself as an artist to work quickly, not worrying about every detail but to achieve what I hope will be an impression of the scene that really draws the viewer into my work. Living relatively close to the beach all my life, I find it interesting that I have never spent any real time painting the ocean, beach or harbor but now is the time to stretch and be challenged in this area and I hope to get a lot better at it!

Poppies In The Vineyard

22″ x 30″ oil on heavy weight gesso’d watercolor paper

Finally finished! I have completed 12 vineyard paintings and now plan to photograph and make prints to sell. I will add more to this collection at a later date but for right now it’s time to move in a different direction and on much smaller canvas’.

I chose to do an impressionistic style with this painting and still managed to put way too many hours into it. Working large just takes too much time and I get bogged down with detail. Although I am pleased with how this turned out, it was a struggle because the surface of the paper felt like working on a chalkboard so from now on, I will stick with oil on canvas.

Here are photos of the progress:

My Window to a Vineyard

72″ x 96″ oil on stretched canvas

Wine country, Paso Robles, is home to friends of ours that own a 10 acre lot that they planted with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes. My husband and I have had the privilege to see it during the different seasons and help during harvest. Harvesting in 100+ degree heat is hard work and although we are glad to help, we have decided that for us, the best property to own is the one next to the vineyard. Our motto….. “access is better then ownership”.

Our home is not next to a vineyard so I decided to paint my very own vineyard to look out to. I began by building this 6′ x 8′ canvas The painting was too large for my art room so I set it up on 2 easels in the dining room and my husband set up the lighting for me. Below is a smaller section of the painting and of me adding final touches.

I’ve included a few photos from harvest.

Among the Wildflowers

10″ x 14″ watercolor 

Some paintings go smoothly while others are a struggle. Originally, I began this subject using a different perspective, in oil and on a much larger canvas but from the start, it was just plain boring! I should have listened to my inner voice but I didn’t and after the 3/4 mark I decided to scrap it and begin again. I chose to work much smaller, using watercolors and in a looser style.

Process of this simple watercolor:

Windmill in Napa

Section of a larger painting from my vineyard series.

3 canvas panels, 15″ x 60″ each
Organizing my paintings and sending some out for framing so that I can get them up at wineries.

California Burning

When thinking about the normal four seasons, most would say that Southern California has maybe two of the four. Well, as someone who has been born and raised here, we do have four seasons, they just aren’t the norm for most places. The seasons here are Spring, Summer, wind and fire. The central and southern part of the state have had a drought going for a few years now and it was so nice to finally have gottten the rain we needed and the hills and mountains around us were filled with beautiful wildflowers and greenery everywhere.Generally the summers are hot and during the season of Fall, the hot “Santa Ana” winds start up causing fires but things have started all too soon. Sadly, three separate fires have started this past July weekend. Two in the Santa Barbara County and one called the “Alamo Fire” south of Santa Maria.View from the vineyards of Arroyo Grande and Santa Maria southward.

Our fire season has officially begun and our prayers go out to the brave firefighters, police, many workers and all who have been affected by this.