Hummingbird Cafe -a plein air painting from the historical Los Rios District SOLD

 

HUMMINGBIRD CAFE   original plein air oil painting 9x12 in.  

The Los Rios District is located along the railroad station in San Juan Capistrano, and is really worth a visit if you've never been there.  It's a neighborhood with many structures dating back to the 1800's.  Some are still private residences, and others, like this one, house cafes, coffee shops, tea rooms, and gift shops.  Sounds commercialized, but it's not at all.  It still has its old time charm.  A favorite area for painters!  

This painting is currently available and on display at Mission Fine Art Gallery, located a short walk from where I painted this scene.  Email inquiries to me at karenwernerart@gmail.com

Don't Look Up Here - a plein air painting of The Crab Cooker, Newport Beach -SOLD

oil 12x12 inches. Purchase info here. I'm back! July was a rough month full of one malady after another. Glad that's over!!! It's time to catch up. The Crab Cooker is an iconic restaurant in Newport Beach that holds memories for an untold number of Southern California families and visitors as well. Great food and fun decor, like the signs that say; "Don't look up here!" and my favorite; "The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing." New heavy construction right next door damaged the old foundation, so this year it's due to be torn down and rebuilt. People are scrambling to eat there and artists are scrambling to paint it before the tear down. My chance came in June. I stood on a narrow meridian in the street and painted until I felt a bit blinded, then treated myself to their Manhattan Clam Chowder and a shrimp cocktail. Yum! I added the figures the next day in my studio.

The Old Cleaners -a plein air painting from Claremont, CA

oil 9x12 inches Closer look and purchase info here. This piece is included in "Local Color", scenes of Claremont at Studio C Gallery, 260 W. Bonita Ave, Claremont, CA. Available for viewing and purchase at the gallery through the month of December. Studio C offers fine art and handcrafted items perfect for gift giving. For more info contact Elizabeth 909-289-9401. IN OTHER NEWS: A few spots have opened up in my JANUARY 12-14 WORKSHOP located in the Thousand Oaks area. This is a three day workshop "PAINTING THE LIVELY STILL LIFE." For more information or to register please email Wendy Gordin ASAP at wgordin@gmail.com

Midnight Teahouse -a plein air painting from Tustin

oil 12x12 FRAMED For a closer look and purchase info click here. Here's an honest story about being an artist: This piece was part of Old Town Tustin Art Walk and Plein Air Contest. I drove an hour to Tustin and spent several hours choosing my subject and waiting for sunset. I painted this on the street after dark wearing a headlamp. It was a ton of fun, but when I finished at about 10pm I realized that I was very cold and my bad neck muscles were in spasm. Two weeks of daily headache followed. Maybe an award from the judges will make my effort worth it. Nope. The last straw was very poor sales on Tustin Art Walk day. Thus, I had spent a lot of effort for nothing. All this to say that being an artist is not all fun and games. "That must be relaxing," I heard recently from a passer by while painting on the street. Well sometimes it is just plain hard work, disapointment and even self-doubt. No, not relaxing. Except that your mind is so engaged that you don't even know you're freezing or you have to pee until you sign the painting. Maybe you could say the focused mind is a diversion from the news and personal troubles, but no, not relaxing. What keeps me going? I love to paint. I love paint, color, light and shadow. There's paint in my blood. I know I was made to do this. Today I'll teach a children's class. This weekend I'll teach an Advanced Still Life workshop. I'm so excited about both!

Cider Mill Morning -a plein air painting from Oak Glen, CA.

oil 9x12 inches magnify/purchase info I recently got out to paint with friends at Oak Glen, specifically Snowline Orchards. It was a wonderful warm morning of painting followed by a nice lunch. We just beat the high winds expected in the afternoon. We drove home happy friends, happy painters, with our bellies full of warm apple cider mini donuts, apples and cider in the back seat. Not a bad day in the classroom for this old teacher. IN OTHER NEWS: This coming Wednesday night, Oct 12, I'll demonstrate for the Tustin Art League. 7 pm TUSD Board Room, 300 S. C St., Tustin, CA. Also, the OLD TOWN TUSTIN ART WALK AND PLEIN AIR COMPETITION is this Saturday, Oct. 15. Unfortunately, I had to cancel my participation this year due to some health issues. Nothing major. So if you were planning to visit me there, enjoy the art and music, and hopefully I'll be there next year.

Painting on Balboa Island

Red Gate 12x9 inches magnify/purchase Fancy Firehouse 8x10 inches magnify/purchase On this trip to Balboa in August we hung out around Marine Ave. Coming out of the Debra Huse gallery this little red gate just next door caught my eye. The dappled light, bright color and can you see the wreath? The second painting is my afternoon effort. Can you believe this is part of the firehouse? Everything is quaint on the island, even the fire station.

Light & Shadow, Oak Glen

oil 8x10 inches magnify/purchase On a fall visit to Snowline Orchards in Oak Glen, I set up to paint these lovely shadows. I should have brought a jacket, I thought while I set up. The light lasted about 5 minutes, then dark clouds came in and made everything go flat. I wimped out and went home. I took my good pictures home with me, along with a little bag of hot mini apple donuts. UPCOMING EVENTS: Tomorrow I'll be at the Chino Arts Festival, 10-4:00. BALBOA ART WALK, SUNDAY, MAY 18, 9-5:00. Over 100 Artist Booths and 4 musical groups. On the island promenade, along the seawall. To find me, walk left off the ferry and along the seawall to Pearl Street. Same location as last year! I hope you'll come by and say hi.

1967

oil 16x12 click for purchase info and magnifier Here's a piece I did back in November but never posted. We visited the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco more than a year ago. The sixties/seventies vibe was still visible, but the sidewalks were bare of hippies. Too bad. I loved all the graffiti in this shot, especially the 1967.

Evening At Graber Olive House

oil 6x8 inches magnifier SOLD The Graber Family has produced delicious tree ripened olives since 1894. On the property are two great gift shops and this little museum. The sun had set while I was shopping and the glow from inside the museum made for a good nocturne. I really enjoyed painting this little scene, first in watercolor and then in oil a few days later. I've been using thicker oil paint lately, which is fun too.

watercolor approx. 8x8 inches Purchase Information and Magnifier

Chapel Light

oil 10x8 inches click for purchase information and magnifier "We'll leave the (green) light on." It's not every day you see a church painted mauve, and with a green light too. I couldn't resist the color or the shadow patterns either. This little chapel is somewhere in the old part of Chino. I was driving around town a while back just looking for stuff.

Hat Shop -sold

oil 12x9 inches click for purchase information and zoom Once in a while my husband and I go to Old Town Pasadena for a nice dinner and walk along Colorado Blvd. This hat shop caught my eye with the black and gold. The glow inside drew people in right off the sidewalk, including my husband. He put on a stylish hat and did a little silly dance. Can't take him anywhere. Another customer complimented him on his "nice moves." He keeps me laughing.

Mission Reflection

The mission architecture reflected in the window here caught my eye. The column closest to me was in cool shadow and the wall was hit with warm light. A puzzle in pulling off depth, shallow though it may be. Several of us were talking about the mission's illusive wall color. At times warm white, or salmon, or pink, or yellow depending on the light direction and time of day.

North On Campus -sold

oil 9x12 inches Click to Purchase I frequently go north on Campus about 10 miles to our daughter's house in Upland. This lawnmower shop next to the railroad tracks caught my eye time after time. I finally pulled over and got a shot I could work from. What is it about railroad crossing signs? I really like them. My little break from painting is done. It felt good to get back on the horse, so to speak. Cactus coming next post. I love cactus. A railroad sign with a cactus...now that would be a painting!