"Tree of Life" (watercolor on paper; 8.5" x 8.5") sold

sold

In my small painting, I tried to capture the majesty of the baobab tree at dusk, when there is still lingering daylight even as the stars start dotting the indigo blue evening sky.

The majestic baobab tree is an icon of the African continent. The baobab is a prehistoric species which predates both mankind and the splitting of the continents over 200 million years ago. Native to the African savannah where the climate is extremely dry and arid, it is a symbol of life and positivity in a landscape where little else can thrive. It is a succulent, which means that during the rainy season it absorbs and stores water in its vast trunk, enabling it to produce a nutritious fruit in the dry season when all around is dry and arid. This is how it became known as "The Tree of Life".

Baobab trees grow in 32 African countries. They can live for up to 5,000 years, reach up to 30 metres high and up to an enormous 50 metres in circumference. Baobab trees can provide shelter, food and water for animals and humans, which is why many savannah communities have made their homes near Baobab trees.

"Swedish Sunset" (oil on linen; 11" x 14") nfs

nfs

The day after my daughter's fainting, she had recovered enough to go to visit my husband's fifth cousin on the Stockholm Archipelago.  After a long day of trains, ferries, and car rides, we came home for a feast to remember, prepared by Hans's sister and brother-in-law.  The dinner started about 7:30 and went on until midnight. 

The sun set around 10:30, with the sky of the ever-changing, spectacular colors of gold, pink, mauve, and blues.  The family started playing a "Viking" game of throwing sticks.  I was more interested in watching the sky, trying to remember the night for this painting I had in mind for Hans.

My family were privileged to be invited to this intimate family gathering.  We were in Sweden, not as strangers, but as family and friends.  We were neither tourists nor outsiders.  We were home, thanks to Dr. Hans Andersson.  I am grateful for his warm hospitality.

Annakaren on the far right and her husband who is at the grill.

Hans, on the far right, is the patriarch of the family.

The rest of Hans's family and my husband and daughter (to the left).

"Country Morning" (oil on linen; 10" x 8") sold

sold

One summer day last year, during a plein-air painting workshop in Fairfield, PA, I was up early to start painting.  I arrived at Willow Pond Farm, where the workshop took place.  It was going to be another hot day.  With morning dews in the grass, all was still fresh and filled with hope.  I looked up as I was walking by the 200-year-old stone farmhouse.  This scene filled my vision. I was momentarily transported to heaven.

If you send me your pictures to kimstenbergart@gmail.com, I may make paintings out of them.  How fun is that!  At the end of September, I will do a drawing and one lucky person wins a free painting.  You can buy the painting anytime, but there is no obligation.  Thanks!

Today is Day Nine of Leslie Saeta's 30 in 30 Challenge.  21 more paintings to go!

"Red Boat" (watercolor on Yupo; 8" x 8") sold

sold

The scene depicts a small charming marina at Luce Creek in Annapolis, MD.  The red boat sings in this green, blue, and purple landscape, doesn't it?  Its actual color was dark blue!  I had a lot of trouble with this painting.  I wiped out and repainted the sky and water.  Still something bothered me.  But I liked the middle section with the boats so much that I couldn't give up.  So I redid the water one more time.  More disappointment.

I was about to toss it into the waste basket, because one cannot mess with a painting forever.  Suddenly a light bulb went off.  Why not crop it and get rid of the offending bottom portion?  I am raising the attitude of "Never give up, never surrender" to an art form!

Reference photo

"Fountain at the National Gallery of Art" (oil on linen; 9" x 12") sold

sold

Monday last week was my daughter's 15th birthday.  She wanted to do some water sports like kayaking or white water rafting to celebrate it.  But her dad was swamped with work.  So, instead, she suggested that she and I should go to look at Renaissance paintings at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.  What?  This is the girl who used to be bored to death with the world-famous art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City a few years ago?  I was glad to oblige her request.

Outside the world-class museum on The Mall, which is also free for all to enjoy, I saw a marble fountain transformed into an enchanted fountain by dappled light.  If I hadn't told you where I found it, you could have easily believed it was somewhere in Europe! My daughter and I had a wonderful afternoon together that day.  I also got a beautiful painting out of our date.

"Azalea Woods" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold; "Iris Shadows" (oil on linen; 14" x 11") sold

sold

On the second day of Gregory Packard's workshop, Greg didn't do any demo.  What to do?  I did have some photos, but couldn't resist the fresh irises, azaleas, and many other flowers that some local workshop participants kindly brought from their gardens.  So I set out to do a still life painting of yellow and purple irises.  Boy, it was a big mistake!

My still life setup

"Iris Shadows" in original state

"Iris Shadows"
sold

Although the Bon Air Community Center, where the workshop was held, was a spacious, beautiful place, one thing it lacked was the spot lights.  Light was defused in the interior on a rainy day. There were shadows on the table, but they were faint. There were no distinct lit/shadow variations on the flowers.  I struggled for four hours, making up sunlight that didn't exist.  The yellow iris on the right opened up, so I had to change it from a bud to an open flower.

In the end, both Greg and I agreed that enough was enough.  The shadows were so big and dark that they competed with the flowers.  I filled the canvas with the flowers to the brim, so the painting became claustrophobic.  The flowers were overdone because I kept fiddling.

After I returned home, I decided to fix the painting.  Why not?  There was absolutely nothing to lose.  I introduced the table to break up the background.  I shrank and lightened the shadows.  I also decreased the size of some flowers and made some bluer, or purpler, etc. so that they were not all the same.  All in all, I think, the painting looks better.  It feels airy.

To get frustration out of system, I decided to do a landscape during the remaining hour.  I pulled out a photo of azaleas blooming in sunny woods.  Using the piles of paints on my palette, I whipped out "Azalea Woods" so fast that even I, a notoriously fast painter, was surprised at my speed.  Greg was impressed too.

The difference between the two painting experiences that day is that when I have a game plan, I paint decisively, assured of what I am doing.  When I try to make up things as I go along because I don't have a clue, no matter how hard I work at a painting, it goes nowhere!

"Cherry Blossom Tunnel" (oil; 10" x 8") sold; "Spring Orchard" (oil, 10" x 8") sold

"Cherry Blossom Tunnel" (oil, 10" x 8")
sold

"Spring Orchard" (oil, 10" x 8")
sold

"Apple Tree Blooming" (oil, 12" x 12"), sold

I have a thing for flowering trees.  Cherry blossoms passed the peak where I live. Apple, crab apple, and pear trees are blooming now.  Double cherries will open soon too.  It's time to be joyous!

Mini cherry blossom festival in my garden, a week ago

Cherry Blossom Festival at the Tidal Basin,  a week ago

Crab apple flowers in my backyard

"US Capitol Rose Garden" (oil on linen; 10" x 8") sold

sold

Last September I went downtown to take pictures of the Capitol.  It was too early for the trees to change colors, but crepe myrtles still in bloom more than compensated for my mild disappointment.  I squatted down to have the pink roses in the foreground.

The new painting looks similar to the one I did last summer--"Capitol Hill in Summertime"--I guess, because of the floral foreground.  It's just that the white architecture of the Capitol alone can be a bit severe without something to soften it and add color interests.  Which painting do you like better?  For me, "US Capitol Rose Garden" seems to have a more feeling of space.

"Capitol Hill in Summertime"
oil, 15" x 8"
sold

"Spring Woods" (oil on linen; 10" x 8") sold

sold

When trees start budding, they turn yellow green.  Leaves are not yet big, so they don't cast heavy shade. Walk in the early spring woods.  It's airy and bright.  I see a red bridge up a small stream.  Ah, what a wonderous place to be!  This is a real place--a Virgina native plant trail in the Green Spring Gardens Park in Alexandria, VA.  I haunt the park in early spring, which has always been my favorite time of the year.

"Spring Orchard" (oil on linen; 10" x 8") sold

sold

Pear and apple trees are blooming at an orchard.  In the distance, tall, budding trees look pinkish.  There is so much hope and anticipation in the air.  I love this time of the year!

"Smithsonian Castle" (oil on linen; 8" x 10")

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I have painted the Smithsonian Castle before, as you can see below.  The old painting from the last fall was also titled unimaginatively "Smithsonian Castle," I apologize. From the moment I finished it, I didn't like it, but didn't know what to do.  So I did another painting based on a different photo taken on the same beautiful autumn day. Of course, you cannot tell from the paintings whether it is spring, summer, or fall.  Hey, I was going for a timeless beauty!

Please tell me which painting is better.  I am voting for the new one.  I have a tendency of preferring new paintings to old ones, perhaps based on the delusion that I am improving by the day.  But this time I am hoping that everybody will agree with me.

The new painting is more painterly, reads better, and compositionally superior. The mock Gothic castle is in shadow, so it is dark.  Don't the sun-struck slivers in the clock tower sing?  I didn't really need all the foreground either.  Even without it, the castle in the new painting sits back, doesn't it?  I guess the morale of the story is: if a painting of your favorite subject doesn't turn out well the first time, do another and another until you nail it!

The old "Smithsonian Castle" (oil, 14" x 11")

"Cherry Blossom Tunnel" (oil on linen; 10" x 8") sold

sold

I was driving in my neighborhood on a beautiful spring day.  I saw these double cherries in full bloom.  I went back to my house to grab my camera and returned to the scene.  When I pulled over to take pictures on the sidewalk, it was even more enchanting than I imagined.  A cherry blossom tunnel!

"Last Leaves" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold

sold

Last leaves cling on to the snow-coated branches of bare trees on a bright winter morning.  I have painted the same scene before.  I would like to think that the new painting has more impact with a dynamic composition, bravado brushstrokes, and loads of paint.  What do you say?

"Winter Creek" (oil, 8 x 10")
sold

"Country Snowman" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold

sold

A jolly snowman with a green hat and red scarf greets a frosty morning by the barn.  If this painting doesn't cheer you up, I don't know what will!  Would you be surprised if I tell you that I painted the scene from an old black-and-white photo?

"Twilight Snowfall" (oil on linen; 8" x 10")

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Snow falls gently in the country at twilight.  All is silent.  All is beautiful.

"Connecticut Ave Bridge in Autumn Afternoon " (oil on linen; 8" x 16")

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Reference photo

On a beautiful autumn day ten days ago, my family had to drive to the Levine School of Music in Northwest in Washington, DC for my daughter's Suzuki flute Christmas concert rehearsal.  Instead of griping about missing the opportunity for plein air painting with friends, I took my camera with me to take pictures of Rock Creek Park in the car.

Yes, you've been there, clicking away your camera without even getting out of the car.  In my defense (I always have excuses!), it is impossible to pull over along the drive in Rock Creek Park.  Besides, the traffic was heavy, as seemingly everybody was out enjoying the spectacular weather.

I was mesmerized by the tall trees in brilliant autumn colors along the drive.  Since we were in the valley, only the crowns of these trees were lit by the late afternoon sun.  Fascinating!  We passed under several bridges until we hit Connecticut Avenue Bridge over Klingle Valley, more commonly known as the Klingle Valley Bridge.  It is a handsome Art Deco bridge near the National Zoo on Connecticut Avenue.  Marvelous!

I cropped the photo to make the composition more dramatic and proceeded to paint "Connecticut Avenue Bridge over Rock Creek Park."  The painting has the clear separation of the light and shadow families that Kevin Macpherson talks about in his book.  To exaggerate the sensation of a bright sunny day, I painted the area in the sun even lighter than in the photo.  Do you feel like you were there with me in the car wowing at the scenery?

"Central Park in Snow" (oil on linen; 9" x 12") sold

sold

The Central Park in New York City has got to be the most romantic park in the world. Think of all the movies filmed there!  I have painted the famous stone bridge at the pond several times.  This painting captures it on a wintry day.  The snow on the ground glows in the late afternoon sun.  Lights have come on, adding more warmth to the otherwise cold painting.

"Cardinal on Maple" (oil on linen; 10" x 12") sold

"Cardinal on Maple"
sold

"Robin in the Evergreen Bough" (oil, 8" x 10")
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"Blue Jay at Bird Bath" (oil, 8" x 10")
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"Early Spring Robin" (oil, 8" x 10")
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"Cardinal in the Snow" (oil, 8" x 10")
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"Winter Bird" (oil, 8" x 12")
sold

"Duck Pond" (oil, 8" x 10")
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Last fall I decided to do some bird paintings.  To date, I have seven under my belt.  "Cardinal on Maple" is my latest attempt at bird paintings.  As you know, I am an impressionist painter, not a super realistic animal painter.  So if you are an avid bird watcher and I got some avian anatomies wrong, please bear with my errors. 

I am more of an opportunistic bird watcher, if there is such a thing. The other day I spotted a male cardinal perched on green shrubs outside of my laundry room. I grabbed a camera and began to click away. This bird made a terrific model, turning its head to show profile, then facing forward for the front view, and so on. This went on for a while until it decided to retire from a modeling career.  I didn't dare to open the window for better shots (one knows better than that when dealing with a wildlife).  After photoshopping the best shot, I came up with the picture below.  Passable, yes, but the environment in which the bird was sitting left much to be desired.  I did some Internet research and found a picture of a scrawny-looking cardinal on a lush maple tree.

My photo

Reference photo for the maple tree

I got to work and painted "Cardinal on Maple" with joyous rapidity.  My gratitude goes to the anonymous photographer and the cardinal who lives in and is fiercely protective of my property.

"Autumn Meadow" (oil on linen, 8" x 10") sold

sold

A freezing rain last night--not a good weather to paint outside.  The wildflower meadow field at River Farm along the Potomac River was in full bloom with fall flowers when I painted this piece in Sara Linda Poly's plein air class.  I just hinted at them with yellows and violets.  The bank of land in the background is Maryland.  There is a running joke among my painting friends: the Marylanders paint their home state bigger than the Virginians.  Can you tell I am a Virginian?