"Harbor in Late Afternoon Light" (oil on stretched canvas; 18" x 24")

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I started showing my art on ugallery.com, the online gallery founded in 2006 and based in San Francisco.  It's a new era in my art career with larger, better paintings, as the gallery curates the artwork submitted by the artists.  I have already got four of my paintings turned down.  I'd better work harder!

"Harbor in Late Afternoon Light" is an old painting that I spiffed up with dots.  The late afternoon sun was striking Noyo Harbor, a small, working harbor in northern California at a perfect angle, making everything glow.  How do you like it?

"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!

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

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Wake up early in the morning.  Take a walk at the beach.  The sun rises.  Its glow envelopes the world.  The moment doesn't last long.  While it lasts, you feel warm, safe, and hopeful.  "Seagulls at Sunrise Sea" would have been the perfect painting to greet the dawn of the new year.  But, hey, I wasn't well then and nobody's perfect.  So here we go belatedly.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

"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

"Moonrise" (oil on linen; 8" x 6") sold

"Moonrise"
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"Moonrise over the Sea" (oil, 8" x 6")
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I thought I would have some fun working on small canvases a series of big paintings, that is, paintings that feel big.  With a size 6 flat brush, loaded with paint, I whipped out three tiny paintings in one afternoon.  Not bad, ha! 

In John Murray's class, the pressure is always on painting fast and large.  There is a student who manages to finish a 18 x 24" canvas in every class!  It is liberating to brandish your big fat brush like a sword, squeeze out loads of paints as if you are a millionaire, and paint like a crazed daredevil.  On the other hand, it is also nice to rebel against your teacher by painting small since it is vacation!  Just don't tell him what I am up to.  Shhhhh.

"Crashing Waves" (oil on linen; 8" x 10") sold

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Reference photo for "Crashing Waves"

My teacher, John Murray, believes that a viewer can tell whether a painting was painted with joy and fun or with anguish and frustration.  I absolutely agree with him.  Sometimes I work on a painting to death and it shows.  Maybe it's the complicated drawing or muddled value scheme.  I work at it with a sheer determination, but without joy. 

Not "Crashing Waves."  I spent many hours staring at waves during my recent trip to Kauai.  You can, of course, try to analyze the way waves are formed from the physics point of view, as my husband did.  For me, it's the colors of the ocean, waves, their shadows, etc. that are spellbinding.  I took many pictures; while going through them on computer screen, the above photo caught my eye.  I loved the aquamarine sea, white foams, and dark, moss-covered rock.  Look at the wonderful shadows of the rock!

Although I was still tired and didn't quite feel up to painting, the creative juice started pulsing through my artistc veins.  I painted fast and furiously with joy.  After the multi-colored rock and waves were laid down, I lathered thick white paint to mimic sea foam.  What fun!

"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!

"Winter Sunset at Sea" (oil on linen; 8" x 12") sold

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Thank you for taking time to read my blog in 2011. I will be back with more (and, hopefully, better) paintings and stories next 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!