Do-si-dos -a still life painting of Girl Scout Cookies

oil 6x6 inches magnify/purchase info Last painting in March, Girl Scout Cookie season. Yum! This one comes with a sweet little price.

Fruit On Blue

oil 8x8 inches magnify/purchase info Light shining through oranges, lemons or grapes is so beautiful to me. I love capturing that luminous color. I paint that first, then work my way outward to the white of the rind, then the peel itself, noting whether they are in light or shadow. I have openings in my June 10 and 11 workshop! (Held here in my Upland, CA. studio.) Email me quick if you're interested! karenwernerart@gmail.com

Spring Hills -a plein air painting from Chino HIlls State Park

oil 9x12 inches magnify/purchase info Another March morning my friend Mary Jo and I went out to Chino Hills State Park. The poppies and lupine were putting on a spectacular show, we had heard. We hiked about a half mile on Aliso Canyon Trail and heard from other hikers that the poppy fields were 2 1/2 miles ahead. Okay, we'll paint right here, thank you very much. My pack is too heavy for that much walking. Sometimes you just have to paint what's around you. While painting, the day warmed up and the poppies were open, visible and plentiful on our drive out of the park. Perhaps our timing was a bit off, but we had a great time painting together and talking with the friendly hikers.

Morning -a plein air painting from historic Bumann Ranch SOLD

oil 9x12 inches magnify/purchase info On a Monday in March I had the unique opportunity to paint on historic Bumann Ranch in Encinitas. Fabulous plein air artist, Rita Pacheco invited me to join her, for which I'm very grateful. I drove south the night before to a cheap hotel in Carlsbad, then met up with Rita early in the morning. Mr. Richard Bumann was very welcoming, informative and proud of his family's homestead ranch. We had stepped back in time. Structures and equipment dated back to the 1800's. When we arrived the sun was shining through an early morning mist. It was this atmosphere that I set out to capture. I added Mr. Bumann using shots from my camera phone. I'm very happy with the feel of this painting. Sincere thank you's to Rita Pacheco and the Bumanns.

Red Shiny Shoes

oil 8x6 inches SOLD magnify I couldn't walk in shoes like this, but I can paint 'em. Teri Gammalo attended my March workshop, brought these shoes and asked me to demonstrate painting them. Fun stuff! IN OTHER NEWS: DEMO COMING UP JUNE 6, WESTLAKE VILLAGE ART GUILD. This is a dinner demo (what a great idea!). Location: Thousand Oaks. For more info click here.

Beach Cottage, Crystal Cove

oil 12x9 inches magnify/purchase info On that day in Crystal Cove, I had driven for 2 1/2 hours to get there, so to make it worth the drive I painted again after lunch. Often times I end up wiping off my second painting which I attribute to lack of stamina. Plein air work does require stamina, and I'm wondering if others of you have found this to be true. I hope to build stamina with more practice. However, I'm happy with how this one turned out. I remember something crawled up my pant leg and started biting me on the buttocks. There I am grabbing frantically at my butt trying to kill whatever it was. I turned around to see a few people staring at me with dropped jaws. Ahh, the perils of painting outdoors in public!

Crystal Cove Painter -SOLD

oil 9x12 inches magnify/purchase info In March I joined the American Impressionist Society's paint out at Crystal Cove. About 50 fellow members had come from all over the country. It was fun to see a favorite painting spot full of artists doing our thing.

Roses In A Blue Vase -and THE BALBOA ART WALK

oil 10x8 inches magnify/purchase info In February I set out to practice painting roses. This is the end result of several practice sessions. Below are my out of order but numbered practice studies.

IN OTHER NEWS: The BALBOA ART WALK was amazing again! Perfect weather, music, great visitors to talk with, and sales!

Collector Joan Stipe made one of the first purchases, "Cinnamon Stop."

Jo Beth Prudhomme from Coast Magazine gave my booth an "Award of Excellence." A sincere thank you to everyone who visited, commented on my work and purchased paintings. You made my day!

Japanese Garden -a plein air painting from The Huntington Library and Gardens

oil 9x12 inches magnify/purchase info Thank you to The Huntington Library in San Marino for including me in their Art Guild Membership. What a peaceful place to paint! In February I enjoyed painting this scene on a very warm day. At the time I was experimenting with thalo green for cool darks. Usually I consider it too powerful in tinting strength and an unnatural green unless altered significantly with yellow and alizarin. So generally I don't include it in my daily palette. Here I thought it worked pretty well (altered) for those deep shadowed greens. Your comments are always appreciated.

Mums, The Bird

oil 6x12 inches magnify/purchase info I have a collection of birds in glass and ceramic. This is one of those with some mums from my yard. IN OTHER NEWS: I have upcoming two day workshops set for June and September. They are held here in my large studio in Upland, CA. If you would like more information just email me at karenwernerart@gmail.com

Flower Happy II

oil 8x8 inches not for sale magnify I have a lot of catching up to do. This one was painted in early February.

Rusty Rest

oil 9x12 inches magnify/purchase info On our last day in Zion I found this beautiful old truck on a side street in Springdale. Below are some progress shots.

Big Bend -a plein air painting from Zion National Park

oil 12x9 inches magnify/purchase info Big Bend is one of my favorite spots within Zion. I paint small outdoors to finish in 2-3 hours because of changing light. But how to capture the vastness and scale of this scene on a 12x9 inch canvas? Zoom in. I'm thinking next time a larger panel painted over a couple of days at the same time each day. I took home a decent painting and twelve bug bites on my forehead.

In roughly the same spot the day before.

Airstream Dreams -SOLD

oil 9x12 inches magnify/purchase info Immediately after tax season I loaded my CPA into our little motorhome and took him far from his office to Zion National Park. In the campground I met Bob who owned this beautiful '77 Airstream. For the last few years I've been on the lookout for one to paint each time we camped. I took tons of pictures with Bob's permission. When the guy in the next campsite took out his banjo, well how could I not paint it right then? So there I was, painting, surrounded by Utah mountains, the rushing Virgin River behind me, and the banjo guy playing old hymns. Almost Heaven. I'm sorry I didn't get a pic of the banjo guy! That would make a nice painting too.