An Artist in Woodside Katherine McGuire

The Cove, La Jolla

2012-02-07T17:30:00.000-08:00

The Cove, La Jolla
8x10 original oil painting
click here to purchase

We spent Christmas in La Jolla with my family. The weather was beautiful, 80 degrees, and we were half a block from the Windansea beach. We were also near the Cove, a swimming and diving beach that is sheltered by sandstone cliffs. La Jolla Cove has some of the clearest water of all San Diego beaches. It is also part of the San Diego La Jolla Underwater Park Ecological Reserve .

In my painting above, the shallow areas of the water are emerald green with some yellow hues. As the water gets a little deeper the color turns ultramarine blue with some gray tones. On clear days along the ocean front, there is usually a line of reddish-purple haze near the horizon line.

San Francisco Street 4 (in progress)

2012-01-25T09:07:00.000-08:00

I'm working on a larger version of the painting I posted last week. I liked the painting so much, I decided to paint a larger version 16"x20." I started the painting by laying in the values using transparent red oxide as an underpainting. I'm about half way done. So far I really like the painting. It can be a love/hate relationship when I'm working on a painting. We'll see how it comes out when it's finished. I'll post the finished painting.

San Francisco Street 3

2012-01-17T17:10:00.000-08:00

San Francisco Street 3
8x10 original oil painting
SOLD

Finally, I'm back to painting after the holidays. The sun is moving higher in the sky and I'm getting direct sunlight in my studio again.

The painting above is a street scene with a cable car line. I don't always know the exact location of my photographs, because I'm often taking pictures as I'm driving around San Francisco in my car. (I do wait until I'm at a stop sign or stop light.) I like to include cable cars because they give the paintings a sense of place and they make a nice focal point for my paintings.

O'Farrell and Jones, San Francisco

2011-10-11T17:30:00.000-07:00

O'Farrell and Jones, San Francisco
8x10 original oil painting
SOLD

I'm back to painting the City. October is a beautiful time in San Francisco. After a long foggy summer, the sun is shining in San Francisco.

When painting scenes of San Francisco it can be a little tricky to capture the sun on the streets. It depends upon the height of the buildings and the time of the day. Usually artists prefer to paint in early morning or late afternoon light because the long shadows create drama in compositions. But in San Francisco, it can be better to paint and photograph at noon with the sun directly overhead. On some streets, midday is the only time the sunlight can break through the tall buildings.

The cable car in the painting above is a replica of the old car on the O'Farrell and Jones Street line. I like the red color that the cable car brings to the composition. I also like the warmth in the street where the sun hits, I've added a little yellow to the cool gray to warm up the color on the street.

Endless Summer Show

2011-08-23T09:18:00.000-07:00

Endless Summer Show
50-50 III, Sanchez Arts Center

The fifty 6"x6" paintings are finished and the show is installed at the Sanchez Arts Center. I painted beach scenes, beach volleyball games, surfers, sailboats, cyclists, motorcycles and a few vintage cars. My theme expanded to include things that I came across or happened upon while painting for fifty days.

Two days before I began to paint, I picked up 50 6"x6" small wood panels for my artwork. I chose to paint on gessoed canvas rather than the wood. Each painting started with a transparent red oxide tonal underpainting to help me with value. I really have to think about value while I'm painting, it doesn't come naturally to me. (Value is defined as the relative lightness or darkness of a color.)

After each painting dried, I glued the finished paintings to the wood panel. At the end of July I was getting behind schedule when my brother and his family visited. My niece Ann helped me glue many of the paintings to the panels.

To see more of my paintings in the show visit my website on the available paintings page.

Below is a photograph of the installation of the fifty paintings. The show runs through October 2nd at the Sanchez Art Center.

On the Beach

2011-08-17T16:00:00.000-07:00

On the Beach
6x6 original oil painting
50-50 Show, Sanchez Art Center

As the sun angle gets lower in the sky, it signals the end of summer. The light is brighter, the shadows longer and the days are starting to shorten. But sometimes, this is the warmest time of the year to be at the beach in California. I like the composition of this painting because it makes me feel like I'm sitting on the beach people watching and soaking up the sun.

Cadel Evans, Tour de France 2011

2011-07-25T08:01:00.000-07:00

Cycling 3
6x6 original oil painting
50-50 Show, Sanchez Art Center

On Sunday, Cadel Evans became the first Australian to win the Tour de France. Two days prior, Andy Schleck launched a staggering 60km attack on two of the toughest mountain climbs in the Alps. The aggressive ride put Andy in the lead by 57 seconds and he claimed the yellow jersey for the stage. But on Saturday during the individual time trial Cadel Evans ended the day over a minute and a half ahead of Andy Schleck to win first place in the Tour de France.

I hoped that Andy Schleck would win this year. As brothers, Andy and Frank Schleck execute some great tactical maneuvers that keep the race interesting. I believe they are coming to the US for the Tour of California next year.

Above is another painting of cyclists. I like the contrast of the dark background with the brightly lit foreground. I used ultramarine blue and alizarin crimson for the asphalt under the cyclists. I think it works well in the composition.

Cycling, Tour de France

2011-07-20T14:13:00.000-07:00

Cycling

6x6 original oil painting

50-50 Show, Sanchez Art Center

The Tour de France is in it's third and final week. On Sunday July 24^th, the cyclist wearing the yellow jersey (maillot jaune) will ride the final stage along the Champs-Élysées in Paris escorted by his teammates. The tour typically has 21 days of racing and covers approximately 2,000 miles.

This year's race has been unpredictable and exciting to watch. There have been many crashes. Spanish rider Juan Antonio Flecha was clipped by a car during a breakaway in Stage 9. Before tumbling over his handlebars, Juan slid into Johnny Hoogerland, who flew into a barbed wire fence along the small country road. The duo managed to finish the stage despite their injuries. Hoogerland went to the hospital in Saint-Flour on Sunday night where doctors used 33 stitches to close the deep wounds in his leg. These guys are incredibly tough athletes.

Woodside is a very popular cycling spot. On the weekends along Canada Road, it often looks like the peloton from the Tour de France. I've been wanting to paint some cyclists, so here's my painting that was inspired by the Tour de France.

Sailboats on the San Francisco Bay

2011-07-07T07:00:00.000-07:00

Sailboats on the San Francisco Bay
6x6 original oil painting
50-50 Show, Sanchez Art Center

Sailboats are a common sight near the Golden Gate bridge. In the summer, SF Bay sailing is interesting because we get winds up to 30 knots. The water around "The Gate" can get very choppy and very dangerous...not a place to hang out at if your sailing skills are not up to par. You also have to worry about huge shipping tankers coming in through the Gate since this is the main shipping channel. Along with the strong winds are the tidal currents of up to several knots.

I had an opportunity to sail in the bay when my brother-in-law, Jeff had a sailboat in the Bay area. My husband went out with his brother, but I was afraid to sail with two farm boys from Iowa. Now that I've been painting sailboats I see the beauty in the graceful lines of the sails and the boats skimming across the water. I'm looking forward to the America's Cup in 2013 in San Francisco.

Sunset at Pleasure Point

2011-06-28T18:28:00.000-07:00

Sunset at Pleasure Point
8x10 original oil painting, $100

Pleasure Point is a world renowned surf location on the northern Monterey Bay in Santa Cruz County. During Prohibition the speakeasies gave the area the name Pleasure Point. Through the development of the surf culture, this area has been a place of distinction along the California coast.

Pleasure Point has been the home and training grounds for many great American surfers, including Peter Mel, Jay Moriarty, Robert "Wingnut" Weaver and Flea Virostko to name a few. The early big wave rider Fred Van Dyke and the inventor of the wetsuit, Jack O'Neill, are historic figures associated with this area.

Almost every weekend I look at this beautiful view of Pleasure Point. I've painted it several times. I've tried different compositions and color palettes. It's been a challenge to paint. I like the warm tones of this view at sunset.

Endless Summer

2011-06-23T10:54:00.000-07:00

Endless Summer
6x6 original oil painting
NFS, 50-50 Show at Sanchez Art Center

A couple of weeks ago I made a quick trip to Ventura to paint for two days with my friend Chris Beirne. We were lucky, it was sunny in Ventura, so we spent the day from 9:00-5:00 painting at the beach at Surfer's Point.

Although the water temperature is around 62 degrees at this time of year, there were quite a few people on the beach and in the water. "Obviously tourists" as Chris said. Locals would only be in the water with a wetsuit this early in the summer.

This painting is for the 50-50 show in August at the Pacifica Art Center, my theme is "Endless Summer."

Pacific Heights 2

2011-06-07T18:30:00.000-07:00

Pacific Heights 2
8x10 original oil painting
SOLD

Pacific Heights offers panoramic views of the city, with all streets leading to the San Francisco Bay. I want to paint large street scenes of San Francisco, so I'm practicing with small paintings to try out different compositions. Not all small paintings make good large paintings, but it's the best way to start.

Last week I was chosen to participate in an exhibition at the Sanchez Art Center in Pacifica, CA. The show is called "50-50 Show III." Each artist will paint 50 small 6x6 inch paintings in 50 days and then exhibit the paintings in August. My theme is "Endless Summer," so expect to see some beach scene paintings during the next couple of months as I prepare for the show.

Cable Car on Hyde Street 2

2011-05-24T18:30:00.000-07:00

Cable Car on Hyde Street 2
8x10 original oil painting
SOLD

My mom and sister were visiting recently and we made a trip to San Francisco to ride a cable car. It's a very popular attraction for tourists and since it was a beautiful day, the lines were long.

When the cable car was first introduced in San Francisco in 1873, it was state-of-the-art public transportation. Through the early 20th century, the system expanded until buses were introduced and support for the cable car system waned. The cable cars were almost shut down in 1947.

This composition shows the Powell-Hyde line with its views from Hyde Street, with the San Francisco Bay and Alcatraz in the background. The line, one of three still in service, begins at the Powell-Market turntable and runs over Nob and Russian hills before ending at Aquatic Park near Ghiradelli Square. It's still worth the price of admission just for the view, even if you really don't have anywhere to go.

New Website Design

2011-05-19T08:27:00.000-07:00

I've redesigned my website and it's almost finished. I still have more paintings to add to the site. Take a preview look at my new site at www.katherinemcguire.com Let me know if you have any comments or suggestions for the website.

This semester I've been taking "Web Design II" at Canada College from Professor Khazar. It's an excellent class, I highly recommend it.

Nob Hill, San Francisco

2011-05-10T18:30:00.000-07:00

Nob Hill, San Francisco
6x8 original oil painting
SOLD

Nob Hill is an affluent district of San Francisco centered at the intersection of California and Powell streets. It is one of San Francisco's original "Seven Hills." Because of the views and its central position, early on Nob Hill became an exclusive enclave of the rich and famous, including Leland Stanford, founder of Stanford University.

Driving in San Francisco may be challenging, but it's nothing compared to parking. Carry plenty of quarters, give yourself extra time to find a parking space, and always curb your wheels when parallel parking on a hill (unless you like tickets).

Although this piece may appear to be about parking, actually I was attracted to the composition because of the sloping angle of the street against the tall building in the background. The unusual way the cars are parked provides a focal point for the composition.

San Francisco Street 2

2011-05-03T18:15:00.000-07:00

San Francisco Street 2
8x10 original oil painting
SOLD

Steep rolling hills, a dense eclectic mix of Victorian and modern architecture and stunning views of the Pacific and Bay, make the roughly seven mile square that is San Francisco, one of the world's most visually interesting cities.

I have long been drawn to street scene compositions. I have always been intrigued by the juxtaposition of the natural and the man-made. I find that the contrast of the tall buildings, and the long shadows that they cast, with the softness and color of the natural elements, like trees and bushes, brings both tension and harmony to the composition.

Cattle in the Rolling Hills

2011-04-26T17:00:00.000-07:00

Cattle in the Rolling Hills
8x10 original oil painting, $100

In the spring, the Stanford Hills are carpeted with wildflowers and dotted with grazing cattle. Right now the grass is starting to change from green to brown, a sign that summer is coming. The painting above shows the morning light on the Stanford Hills with cattle grazing in the foreground.

Cattle grazing in the area known as Jasper Ridge began soon after the Spanish established Mission Dolores in 1776 and Mission Santa Clara in 1777. Jasper Ridge is a low ridge in the eastern foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains at the base of the San Francisco Peninsula. Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve covers 1,189 acres just 4 miles west of the main Stanford University campus and is owned by Stanford University.

Next week, it's back to the City to paint.

Beach Street, Santa Cruz

2011-04-18T14:00:00.000-07:00

Beach Street, Santa Cruz
8x10 original oil painting
SOLD

As you're walking along Beach Street in Santa Cruz, to the right is the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, the Wharf and the Pacific Ocean. On the left is the street scene above. Beach Street is lined with surf shops, bikini shops, restaurants and all things related to surfing.

Maui Beach

2011-04-11T14:00:00.000-07:00

Maui Beach
8x10 original oil painting, $100

This painting shows the beach along the Hono'apiilani Highway on the way to Lahaina. I believe it's Puamana Park in West Maui, a long undeveloped sandy beach. We recently spent a week in Maui and we surfed at another beach south of Lahaina every morning. I took a photo of this view on the way home from our surf spot.

California Poppies

2011-04-04T14:00:00.000-07:00

California Poppies

8x10 original oil painting

SOLD

Each California poppy is a solitary flower on a long stem, with four petals and colors ranging from yellow to orange. The foliage is blue-green in color, described botanically as glaucus, meaning "bluish-grey or green". The petals close at night or in cold, windy weather and open again the following morning. The poppies begin flowering in February. The California poppy is the official state flower of California and native to the United States.

There's nothing like painting a subject to make you observe it much more closely. I hadn't studied California poppies close enough to notice that there are four petals on each flower and the color of the leaves are blue-green. While I was working on this painting, I wanted a warm gray/black background color. I was having a hard time mixing the color, so I pulled out my color charts and found that Viridian and Cadmium Red Light make a beautiful warm gray. ( I've added my color charts to my blog below for any artists who are interested.)

Color Charts

2011-04-03T10:38:00.000-07:00

Cadmium Red Light Color Chart

Viridian Color Chart

As I was working on my most recent painting, California Poppies, I was searching for a slightly warmer gray than my usual choice. When I want a black color, I use a mixture of Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue and Transparent Red Oxide. But I wanted something that was a little warmer, so I referred to my color charts. I found that mixing Cadmium Red Light and Viridian makes a soft, warm gray/black. Just what I was looking for, but I would not have found the combination without my color charts.

Alla Prima, by Richard Schmid is the inspiration for my color charts. The book has examples of color charts, plus a ton of information about oil painting, alla prima (one session painting). It is very helpful for artists who paint in the field or in their studios. Richard discusses many subjects, such as how to "Squint and Simplify, Comparison and Conservation of Values, What You See and What You Know" to name a few. I have a link for the book on the right under "Book Recommendations." Check it out.

Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco

2011-03-28T13:30:00.000-07:00

Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco

11x14 original oil painting, $375

The Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco was originally constructed for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in order to exhibit works of art. Bernard Maybeck designed the Palace of Fine Arts and was inspired by Greek and Roman architecture. The 1100 foot pergola and central rotunda were built around a lagoon which provides a mirrored surface to reflect the grand buildings.

The painting above was painted plein air at the Palace of Fine Arts. I painted with my friend Camilla, on an unusually sunny day, with clear blue skies. Capturing the perspective of the corinthian columns was a challenge, as well as the gold color of the rotunda dome. This 11x14" painting is available framed.

Cattle Grazing in the Stanford Hills

2011-03-14T14:00:00.000-07:00

Cattle Grazing in the Stanford Hills
8x10 original oil painting, $100

For many years I've admired the paintings of the "Society of Six." They were a group of plein air painters who worked in the Oakland area when it was still rural. In 1917 the artists formed an association called the Society of Six. I especially like the paintings by Selden Gile of cows in pastures. Take a look at the paintings by the Society of Six, I've added a link under "websites and blogs."

For the painting above, I took photos of the cattle grazing as I was walking along the Alpine trail. The cattle seem to roam pretty freely in the Stanford Hills. They are out in the winter when the grass is green, but then in the summer when the grass is golden, they seem to disappear, off to other pastures.

Morning Light on the Alpine Trail

2011-03-07T14:00:00.000-08:00

Morning Light on the Alpine Trail
8x10 original oil painting
SOLD

Hiking the Dish (an old radio telescope) in the Stanford Hills is a popular way to exercise. There are amazing views of the Stanford Hills and the Bay. From the highest points you can see all the way across the San Mateo bridge or into the City.

My painting shows a view along the Alpine trail, as you walk up through a grove of trees, with the Santa Cruz mountains in the background. You can see part of an old fence that might have been used for the cattle grazing on the land. As you turn the corner and come out of the trees you start the steep climb to the Dish.

Rocks, Pebble Beach

2011-02-28T13:08:00.000-08:00

Rocks, Pebble Beach

8x10 original oil painting

On Saturday I drove to Pebble Beach with a friend, Alice Weil, for a workshop at Brian Blood's studio. After a night of freezing temperatures, the day was cold and sunny with some beautiful cloud formations.

The painting above is a study of the rocks and the ocean near Lover's Point. I completed the painting during a plein air workshop with Brian last summer. The coastline in Pebble Beach is lined with dramatic cliffs. The color of the ocean is almost unnatural looking with viridian greens and ultramarine blue. When painting the rocks I wanted to capture the reflection of the rocks in the ocean and the swirling motion of the water around the rocks.

55 Ford T-bird

2011-02-21T08:53:00.000-08:00

55 Ford T-bird

8x10 original oil painting

How quintessential California, a '55 Thunderbird cruising the 85 freeway with the top down on a sunny day in February. The car was a beautiful sporty two-seat red convertible, so I had to take a few photos as it passed us on the freeway. Not only is the T-bird part of California lore, but also Madison Avenue, as the Thunderbird was the first car marketed as a personal luxury vehicle.

I used to avoid painting cars, even if they were in the scene I was painting, I would leave them out of my composition. However, there's something romantic about old cars. I've been looking at classic cars, like the VW van and Beetle and incorporating them into my work. Painting cars is a challenge, but it's fun to paint the shiny chrome, the reflections and the bright colors.

Surfer Girls

2011-02-14T11:06:00.000-08:00

Surfer Girls
8x10 original oil painting
SOLD

During a recent trip to Santa Cruz, I watched the local school kids compete in an Interscholastic Surfing Federation competition. The boys were out in the water and the girls were on the beach, waiting for their heat. When the horn blared, signaling the end of the heat, the boys came in and the girls paddled out. It's great to see so many young girls surfing.

This painting makes me think of another surfer girl, my friend Alicia. Alicia and I spent two years surfing together at Mondos in Ventura. We went out a couple of times a week, encouraged each other and learned to surf.

During the winter when the waves got big and the ocean was a churning mess of white water, Alicia had a rule: three and out. Paddle out, catch three waves and get out. You'd be amazed at how much energy and strength it takes to paddle out through the white water and stay in position to catch a wave without getting swept down the coast with the current. My admiration and respect goes out to all surfer girls.

Low Tide, Capitola

2011-02-07T10:02:00.000-08:00

Low Tide, Capitola
8x10 original oil painting
SOLD

On Saturday, while Craig was surfing, I walked down the stairs to the beach. As I walked around the cliffs, I could see Capitola and the pier in the distance. It was a clear bright day, at low tide with the kelp beds exposed in the foreground. I took a photo and worked from the photo in my studio to create this painting.

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

2011-01-30T17:40:00.000-08:00

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
8x10 original oil painting

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is located on the ocean with views of Monterey Bay.

A couple of years ago I painted plein air at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk with a friend, Kathy Ellis. It was a beautiful sunny fall day, and all of the rides were closed. We were the only two people around, except for a few staff members. It was a challenging place to paint with all of the bright colors and architectural structures.

I've wanted to paint the Boardwalk again. My painting shows a busy day at the park with the entrance to the world famous Giant Dipper roller coaster in the background.

Sailing on the Bay

2011-01-24T09:57:00.000-08:00

Sailing on the Bay
8x10 original oil painting
SOLD

Race organizers recently announced that the 34th America's Cup race will be held in San Francisco in 2013. The race will feature multi-hulled, swift catamarans in a shorter race format. Sailing events will begin in 2012 and the finals will be held in late 2013.

Pier 27 along a stretch of the bay waterfront will be the hub of the America's Cup activity.

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison's BMW Oracle Racing team won the previous America's Cup in 2010 on behalf of San Francisco's Golden Gate Yacht Club, and got to choose the location, timing and types of boats for the next race.

So in the spirit of sailing, I've painted a small sailboat against the sparkling blue background of the bay.

California Hills

2010-11-08T13:05:00.000-08:00

California Hills
8x10 original oil painting

I find painting pure landscape paintings similar to painting abstract paintings. The lost and found edges are very important to define shapes that suggest a tree, a cloud or a path. I took Randy Sexton's plein air workshop this summer and he talked about lost and found edges and manipulating your brush to create a variety of edges. While I was working on the painting above, I kept concentrating on the way I was handling the brush.

Eucalyptus 4, Woodside

2010-11-02T09:26:00.000-07:00

Eucalyptus 4, Woodside
8x10 original oil painting

There are more than 700 species of Eucalyptus, but only 15 species occur outside of Australia. In the 1850s, Eucalyptus trees were introduced to California by Australians during the California Gold Rush. It was hoped that they would provide a renewable source of timber for construction and railroad ties. The wood was found to be unsuitable, so instead Eucalyptus trees were used as wind breaks in many rural areas.

My painting shows a Eucalyptus grove off of Canada Road. I was attracted to the white bark on the tree contrasting with the dark trees in the background.

Eucalyptus 3, Woodside

2010-10-25T10:08:00.000-07:00

Eucalyptus 3, Woodside
8x10 original oil painting

The leaves on the trees are changing to fall colors. Yesterday we were watching the first storm of the season strip away the bark from the Eucalyptus trees in our front yard to reveal intense yellows, browns and green colored trunks.

Stanford Hills 2

2010-10-19T08:37:00.000-07:00

Stanford Hills 2
8x10 original oil painting

The landscape surrounding Stanford is rolling hills and open space with ever changing colors. As we're approaching winter, the golden hills are beginning to turn green.

On my palette, I have seven basic colors of paint, plus white. As I was creating this painting I was amazed at the subtle variations created from these eight colors of paint.

Pacific Heights, San Francisco

2010-10-12T13:12:00.000-07:00

Pacific Heights, San Francisco
8x10 original oil painting
SOLD

Pacific Heights is located in one of the most scenic settings in Northern California with spectacular views of the San Francisco Bay, Golden Gate Bridge and the Presidio. It's an affluent neighborhood characterized by painted Victorians and mansions that were largely built after the 1906 earthquake.

I captured this view on one of those perfect afternoons when the Golden Gate was free of fog and the Marin headlands seemed so close across a glistening bay. I'm sure it was days like this that made Pacific Heights attractive to the builders of these beautiful houses.

Market Street, San Francisco

2010-10-05T09:06:00.000-07:00

I've always liked to paint architecture. Josef Woodard of the
LA Times described my paintings of Ventura as "townscapes." Following in that tradition, I've painted a cityscape of San Francisco, looking down Market Street at the Ferry Building on the Embarcadero.

I'm attracted to the shapes and colors in architecture and the abstract juxtapositions. I like the long shadows that tall buildings cast in the city. With buildings of different heights, the sun can peek through in different areas.

Market Street, San Francisco
8x10 original oil painting
SOLD

Cable Car on Hyde Street

2010-09-28T21:46:00.000-07:00

I feel lucky to live so close to San Francisco. Over the weekend we went with friends to the ACT Theater to see the play "Scapin". The evening was warm and when we left the theater at about 10:15 pm, the streets were filled with people. I was inspired to paint a street scene of San Francisco.

In this view you can see the Hyde Street cable car with Alcatraz and Angel Island in the distance. It was a clear warm day with views across the bay.

Cable Car, San Francisco
8x10 original oil painting
SOLD

Capitola Beach

2010-09-23T09:49:00.000-07:00

The end of summer brings warm, sunny weather to the California Coast. Sometimes September and October are the hottest months of the year, but the days are shorter and the sun shifts lower in the sky, bringing more dramatic shadows along with it.

Capitola Beach is located along the Monterey Bay, just South of Santa Cruz. The town hugs the coastline with shops and Spanish-style homes that date back to the 1920s.

My painting shows Capitola Beach on a warm, sunny weekend, when everyone was at the beach.

Capitola Beach 2
8x10, original oil painting

Alice Waters' Hens

2010-08-30T09:58:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we visited Soul Food Farm in Vacaville with our friends Jim and Anita. Soul Food Farm supplies eggs for Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley. If you're not familiar with Alice Waters, she founded Chez Panisse Restaurant in 1971 with the philosophy that the best-tasting food is organically and locally grown.

Strutting Hen, Soul Food Farm
8x10, original oil painting
SOLD

We stopped at Soul Food Farm to buy fresh eggs and support the local farmers. They have seven different breeds of laying hens that commingle on the farm in Vacaville. The chickens have a good life, they roam acres of beautiful pasture every day, foraging for bugs and laying eggs.

I decided to take photos and paint chickens. The color of the hens are variations of earth tones, browns, rust, oranges and black. Above is a painting of one of the hens, strutting around the field.

VW Van, Santa Cruz

2010-08-22T17:47:00.000-07:00

As unusual as it may seem, a VW van in front of a Victorian house is a common image in beach communities of California. The Pacific Ocean seems to attract these classic vehicles. For five decades they've been hauling surfers and their gear to the beach. Just as the shoreline attracts people today, much of the Victorian building boom occurred in coastal communities in the early 1900s.

VW Van, Santa Cruz
8x10 original oil painting
SOLD

I was attracted to this yellow house on Broadway Street by the queen palm tree. The queen palm is ubiquitous in California beach communities from Southern California to Santa Cruz, but rare on the Peninsula. It's a soft flowing graceful palm tree, whose undulations in the wind, seem to mimic the surf nearby.

Summer Vines, Fogarty Vineyards & Winery

2010-08-16T10:45:00.000-07:00

Fogarty Vineyards & Winery is located high in the Santa Cruz Mountains overlooking Silicon Valley. As you enter the winery, off to the right you will see the Portola Springs Vineyard, which is the view captured in my painting.

The Portola Springs Vineyard is the steepest and most extreme site on the property. The vineyard produces the grapes for the Fogarty Chardonnay wines. When I created the painting, the vines were leafing out, but the grapes were immature. The grass between the rows was beginning to turn a golden color. The shale and sandstone soil conditions and extreme exposure, lead to some of the most unique and intriguing wines made at Fogarty Vineyards & Winery.

Summer Vines, Fogarty Vineyards & Winery
8x10, original oil painting

The winery was established as a commercial venture in 1981 by Dr. Thomas Fogarty, Professor of Surgery at Stanford University Medical Center. While working as a surgeon Dr. Fogarty helped a colleague with winemaking. His interest blossomed and he later purchased acreage in the Santa Cruz Mountains and planted his first vines in 1978. The estate now consists of 325 acres, 25 of which are under vine.

Eucalyptus, Woodside

2010-08-10T09:21:00.000-07:00

The variety of colors in Eucalpytus trees make them interesting to paint. The Eucalpytus tree in my painting, has a light gray-brown colored trunk with red, yellow and blue tones in the peeling bark. The immature leaves are rounded in shape and a cool blue color, while the mature leaves are elongated and a warm green tone. As the leaves age they change to a translucent red-orange color. Nature creates all the beautiful color, I just have to be observant.

Eucalyptus, Woodside
8x10, original oil painting
SOLD

Fog at Pebble Beach

2010-08-03T10:30:00.000-07:00

I do not like to paint in the fog, but the colors of the sky and ocean are beautiful variations of gray. I painted "Fog at Pebble Beach" while I was attending a plein air workshop. The fog didn't lift all day. The ocean was a calm, steel-blue gray, which contrasted with the hot pink ice plant on the cliffs. In the background are the distinctive Cypress Trees that line 17-Mile Drive in Pebble Beach.

Fog at Pebble Beach
8x10, original oil painting

Summer at the Beach, Santa Cruz

2010-07-27T18:44:00.000-07:00

On the weekends my husband and I go to the beach in Santa Cruz. While Craig surfs, I paint, draw, photograph and watch the surfers. We go to the Hook, off 41st Avenue, near Capitola.

In the winter, the surf gets big and powerful, but in the summer the surf is usually small and glassy. The steep cliffs lead down to the beach, where the summer sunbathers hang out. This painting is the view from the cliff, overlooking the beach.

Summer at the Beach, Santa Cruz
6"x8" original oil painting
SOLD

Eucalyptus Trees

2010-07-19T12:45:00.000-07:00

My husband and I moved to Woodside last November. We're living in a semi-rural area between San Francisco and San Jose. We love the neighborhood and I've been inspired to paint Eucalyptus trees, because they are everywhere. I'm posting one of my recent paintings.

Eucalyptus 2, Woodside
8x10, original oil painting
SOLD