"Happy Days" (oil on stretched canvas; 18" x 18") nfs

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I worked on this painting of my daughter, at the age of nine, on and off for several years; I finally feel satisfied.  The reference photo was taken during my family's vacation in northern California.  At Glass Beach, we scavenged the beach for pretty sea glasses as the sun set and the place became bathed in the golden light.

Whenever I look at this painting, my heart is filled with tenderness.  She is now a high-school senior, about to go off to college.  In my mind's eye, she is always about this big, or even younger; she is full of joy and innocence, ready to sit on my lap for a big hug.  These were the happiest days of my life.

"Ocean Mist" (oil on linen; 10" x 10")

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Aquamarine ocean waves crash against a multi-colored dark rock.  Sprays of seafoam cool and calm our senses.  Ah, I love ocean!

"Tropical Escape" (oil on linen; 9" x 6") sold

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In the last post, I said something about not having to go to Europe or a tropical paradise for a wonderful family time.  I still stand by my statement.  Yet.  I will go to any of the Hawaiian islands in a heartbeat!  My family seem to go there every eight years or so.  Last time was two winters ago.  We spent a fabulous week in Kauai, the Garden Island.  I saw ripe mangoes, bananas, grapefruits, etc. hanging in the trees everywhere in February!

On the way to some place, we caught a glimpse of a lovely beach.  We pulled over and scrambled down to the beach.  We stood along a narrow strip of a secluded sandy beach.  The view was breathtaking.  It was a perfect spot to spread out a picnic basket and loll on the beach. We took some pictures and climbed back up to the car with a happy feeling that one gets after a spontaneous adventure.

"Pucci" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold

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"Pucci" is for Tammy, whom I met last April during the workshop with Dreama Tolle Perry.  She has been following me ever since and asked me to paint "Pucci" for her husband for Christmas.  I was thrilled with such a request by a fellow artist.  Thank you, Tammy.

Before I go on talking about Pucci's special qualities, I have to mention something else.  Before this "beach dog" painting was born, there was the "Christmas dog" painting that I had in mind, as one of the initial pictures Tammy sent me had a photo of Pucci sitting in front of a Christmas tree and presents.  Perfect!  As soon as I printed out a Photoshopped image and drew a grid on it for the painting project, she sent me another picture of Pucci walking on a beach.  The moment I saw it, I threw out the "Christmas dog" painting out of the window.  Look at the finished painting.  If I may say so, isn't it awesome!

Pucci was a shelter rescue at the age of two.  She was possibly a Chow mixed with Shetland Sheepdog.  She expressed her love and gratitude everyday.  She went to work with Tammy and her husband, slept by their side, and followed their every footstep.

Tammy's family live in a rural area with a big yard near a pond.  Pucci loved to lie in the shade of a maple tree, "overlooking her kingdom."  They also have a house on the East Coast, where she loved the beach.  People stopped them on their walks to tell them how beautiful she was. She especially enjoyed that!  You see, I had to paint Pucci walking on the beach.  She would be happy in the dog heaven.

Pucci passed away in May unexpectedly, and she is in Tammy and her husband's thoughts everyday.

"Big Sur Widflowers" (oil on linen; 10" x 8") sold

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Some places are so beautiful that they beg to be painted over and over again.  Big Sur, California is one of those places.  I visited Big Sur just once several years ago, but am still haunted by the memory.

"Big Sur Moment" (oil, 11" x 14"; sold)

"Big Sur Blue" (oil, 5" x 4"; sold)

By the way, today is the first day of Leslie Saeta's September 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.  I will try to keep up with the challenge!

"Hawaiian Sunset" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold

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The sun sets in the Big Island, Hawaii.  The orange sky glows against the grays and soft pastels of the ocean and the dark volcanic lava rocks. Very peaceful.

"Kauai Surfer Dude" (oil on linen; 10" x 10") sold

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I may be a tad too old for surfing in this life, but in my next life I would like to do some surfing! Preferably in Kauai.  Like this guy.

By the way, I will be participating in Leslie Saeta's September 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge.  That's a lot of paintings!  I have never painted that many and blogged that often in a month.  Do you think I can do it?  Let's make it a team effort!  Please send me your pictures to kimstenbergart@gmail.com.  I am waiting for your pictures of pets, houses, vacations (without people in them), favorite places, gardens, hometowns, etc.  I will do a drawing and give one painting away at the end of September.  Thanks!

"Sunset Beach" (oil on linen; 9" x 12")

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I did four pet portraits in a row for my Facebook fans and am now totally out of pictures.  While waiting for more pictures to arrive in my inbox, I thought I would go on an artistic vacation.  This is a sandy beach in Kauai, where my family vacationed in early 2012.  We saw several sunsets there, all of which were spectacular.  The sunset doesn't last long, but what a golden moment it is!

"Cypress Point, Monterey" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold

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Reference photo

Cypress Point is one of the many picturesque stops along the famous 17 Mile Drive between Monterey and Carmel by the Sea, CA.  We only had the time to stop and click many beautiful views on an overcast day five summers ago.  The Monterey Cypress trees in the middle ground looked wind-swept although it was not a particularly windy day.  I guess their branches are permanently bent due to the strong gales from the ocean.

"Big Sur Moment" (oil on linen; 11" x 14") sold

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Reference photo

As I wrote yesterday, I started a new series called "California Colors."  All the paintings of the series will be based on the pictures I took five years ago during a family vacation to northern and central California.  The occasion for this two-week vacation was a family wedding.  A nephew of my husband got married at a Napa vineyard!  It was the kind of a beautiful wedding you see in movies.  A lucky boy!  He and his wife now have two adorable kids and live in San Francisco.  A lucky couple! 

I had been to the city, but not to the rest of my favorite state.  So we made a vacation out of a wedding.  Why not?  Do you know what happened later in that summer?  A younger brother of the groom decided to get married six weeks after the said wedding, instead of waiting for a couple of years as he and his fiance had promised to the family.  The year of 2007 thus became the year of family weddings.  We made the two remaining boys swear that they would never ever get married in the same summer! 

The second wedding took place in Minnesota, my husband's home state.  We love Minnesota, but Minnesota is not California.  Besides, we were burned out of vacations.  We took just a few more days off in addition to the necessary time, in order to visit with relatives.  The trip didn't result in as many glorious pictures as the California one either.

We had only a day for Big Sur toward the end of our trip, which was a shame.  How can you explore this spectacular spot on earth in one day?  We made a lot of stops to take pictures, that's all.  But I still  dream of the incredible blues of Big Sur.

"Kauai Waves" (oil on canvas; 10" x 10" x 1 1/2")

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It looks like there won't be a vacation for us this summer.  My daughter, who is starting high school in the fall, wants to march in her school's marching band.  They have two weeks of training in August, which is ABSOLUTELY mandatory.  There goes our trip to Minnesota to visit relatives and the state fair.  She is disappointed, but one can't march and eat soft-serve ice cream at the same time.  Life's tough choices.  Sigh.

I must console myself by doing lots of vacation-themed paintings, starting with Kauai waves.  Do you know that the Hawaiians invented surfing?  Winter is apparently the best season for surfing in Hawaii.  When we were in Kauai in February, there were high-surf warnings everyday.  I saw quite a few surfers at Haena Beach captured in this painting.  I don't surf, but it sure was fun to watch surfer dudes in action.

Surfer dude

By the way, "Kauai Waves" continues to the 1 1/2"-wide edges for the maximum cool effect! 

"Kauai Waves" viewed from the left side

"Kauai Waves" viewed from the right side

"Tropical Sunset" (oil on linen; 9" x 12") sold

"Tropical Sunset"
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The photo reference for "Tropical Sunset"

I am still high from my recent trip to Kauai and was dying to do a painting from one of many pictures of glorious sunsets that I took day after day. Each sunset was different from the day before and equally spectacular!  It would have been a daunting endeavor to paint a sunset scene from life, as it only lasted for about ten minutes. I didn't even bother to bring my oil painting gear on this trip.

However, I was well prepared to do some watercolor sketches. As some of you may recall, I took the opaque watercolor workshop with Rick Weaver back in December. This well-earned vacation--celebration of our 20th and 21th wedding anniversaries, and my birthday all rolled into one big treat--was a great opportunity to hone my skills at opaque watercolor.

"Poipu Beach, Kauai" (opaque watercolor, 11" x 15")

The view of Poipu Beach

Combining family vacations with plein-air painting outings is always a complicated business.  One feels guilty at taking advantage of her suffering family's patience for her own pleasure.  Speed is the key thing.  Get in and get out within a hour.  Fortunately, my husband and daughter were otherwise occupied one afternoon, so I didn't have to feel rushed.  I sat in the patio of our hotel room, away from nosy onlookers, and painted the palm trees.  I don't know about you, but I love these tropical trees with graceful fronds.

The time spent observing and sketching the big palm tree in the middle ground came in really handy when I painted "Tropical Sunset," whose vantage point was not far from the above view.  When the sky, ocean, and dark foreground were painted to my satisfaction, I took a deep breath and painted in the tree.  One shot, no messing around.  Wow!

"Sunrise" (oil on linen; 12" x 8") sold

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The beginning of a new day.  The beginning of a new year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

"Sea Caves of California" (oil on linen; 9" x 12") sold

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Reference photo

Some vacations are more memorable than others.  The trip to California three years ago was one such happy memory maker.  There was a family wedding, which was held at a beautiful vineyard in Napa!  Visits with family were special enough, since we don't get to see them often as we live so away.  But one additional week spent just with my own family in the glorious light of California keeps generating a painting after another.  I must go back to California!

As I am focusing on water in Bobbi Pratte's landscape class this summer, I decided to paint from the above photo taken somewhere in northern California.  (You know how it is--after a while, you don't remember exactly where you took the pictures.)  The picture doesn't show much color in the sea caves because they are in the shadow; but I can see many different color changes in the water itself.  In the distance, it is cobalt blue.  As the waves approach the sandy beach, it changes from cerulean blue to a blue tinged with ocher.  The wet sand looks lavender.

I like the design too.  Three concentric waves all point to the sea caves, which I painted with warm, dark paints.  Sometimes I don't have to do anything other than just paint as Nature took care of the design for me!

"Golden Light" (oil on linen; 12" x 16") sold

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Reference photo

I took the photo above three years ago at Glass Beach in northern California and have been wanting to paint from it for some time.  I liked the sunset sky and its golden colors reflected in the ocean water.  But I was put off by the dark lumps of the rocks.  That is what a camera does when it takes a brilliant backlit view.

When I showed the picture to Bobbi Pratte in her class on Monday, she advised me that I paint the water first, then add the rocks as dark shapes, and finally sculpt them with lighter colors to make them three-dimensional and rimlit.  Brilliant!  She also told me not to get fussy with the waves and ripples.  There is no way that I can copy these hundreds of ripples; just make them believable and DON'T go back after I put down brushstrokes that go in the same directions as ripples.

I did exactly as she suggested.  The painting went fast.  As it was almost done, I finished it later at night at home to take advantage of wet paints.  I simply love the golden light that seems to glow from within.  Thanks, Bobbi!

"Snorkeling Fun" (acrylic collage on paper, 20" x 14") sold

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Are you tired of the winter and wish to get away to a place where the sun shines and the air is scented with tropical flowers?  Here is a painting that will whisk you away to such a place.  One winter it snowed so much that we couldn't take it any more, so we escaped to Maui for a week.  Soon after we came back, I created this painting in acrylic. 

All the pieces--figures, corals, and tiny swirling orange fish--were cut out from separately painted paper and collaged on a dark blue ground.  A lot of work, but also soothing for a detail-oriented person like me!