Camping & Painting at El Capitan State Beach

This past week we enjoyed our fourteenth annual camping trip to El Capitan State Beach in Goleta, California. We camped, hiked and enjoyed good music, food and each others' company. And of course, I painted. We enjoyed three glorious days of sunshine, and I was able to complete a small painting of the stairwell in the first evening. "Stairwell at the Beach" is 8"h by 10"w . I will be painting a larger version of this one for sure! (The one I painted last year was sold a few days after painting it without even getting a good photo for reference!) "Bike Ride to Portola", 8"h by 10"w features bicyclists along the shady path that leads to the group campsite. "Ocean Therapy", 12" h by 16"w, I painted while our family prepared our "Italian Themed" pot luck dinner after a long day at the beach. "Ocean Break" 12"h by 16"w was painted from our "beach front" picnic table, while I enjoyed the company of my mother, sisters and brother in law, aunts, cousins, nieces and nephews. Our last full day was rather gloomy, but the sun finally did come out at around 5pm, while I painted "Here Comes the Sun" 8"h by 10"w (sold already!) It was a wonderful trip-I am truly blessed with a loving and supportive family!

California Art Club "Fresh Air" Exhibit

I am pleased to announce that three of my recent landscape paintings were accepted into the California Art Club Exhibition at the Fremont Gallery, "Fresh Air Exhibit"; "Southbound Getaway"(22"h by 28"w), "Flower Fields of Carlsbad"(8"h by 10"w) , and "Long Beach Bike Ride" (18"h by 24"w)

The Fremont Gallery is located at: 812 Fremont Avenue, Suite 100 South Pasadena, CA 91030


Exhibition dates: July 2-July 31, 2011
The Artists reception will be Saturday, July 2, 2011 6:00pm-9:00pm. I hope to see you there!

Earth & Sea Exhibit Coming up!

Two of my most recent plein air paintings, "Where Carlsbad Meets the Sea" (11"h x 14"w) and "An Afternoon at Terramar" (11"h x 14"w) were juried into the Southern California Plein Air Painters Association Annual Aquatics Exhibit, "Earth & Sea"! The SoCalPAPA Gallery is in partnership with the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum and is located at 6oo East Bay Avenue, Newport Beach, CA 92661. The exhibit will run from June 15th-September 11th. Opening Reception will be Saturday, June 18th, from 4-6pm. Hope to see you there!

Katie Wheeler Library, Irvine, California

This past friday was the Gala Reception for the SOCALPAPA "Paint the Parks" Juried Art Show and Sale, held at the Irvine Ranch Historic Park. Juried artwork for the show needed to be dropped off at the park on friday afternoon by 1:00pm, but the reception wasn't until 6:00pm. It was a gorgeous day, and this historic building caught my eye. Five hours went by in a flash as I spent the time painting it in the afternoon sun! Today, the Katie Wheeler Library is a public library, but it's history is quite interesting: http://katiewheelerlibrary.wordpress.com/ We held our 2-Day Art Sale there in the gardens this past weekend, and it was a beautiful venue!

Adjusting to Climate Change

This past week, we've had some crazy weather here in Carlsbad! I painted with a friend on Monday at the famous flower fields and it was a gorgeous and sunny day. Friday, I painted with a few students at Camp Pendleton (thank you Tara and Amit for gaining access for us!) and it was (at least luckily, consistantly) overcast! I thought it would be fun to post these together!

Less is More

Honored to see my painting "The Bridge and the Train" on the full color post card advertisement for the Laguna Plein Air Painters Association's "Less is More" Exhibit. It's sure to be an extraordinary show at the Randy Higbee Gallery! Here are the details:

Randy Higbee Gallery
102 Kalmus
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Artists' Reception: Saturday, May 21,2011 4:00pm-8:00pm
Exhibition Dates: May 21, 2011 through June 4, 2011

SOCALPAPA "Paints the Parks"

Juried Art Show, Exhibit and Sale May 20-22, 2011
Irvine Ranch Historic Park 13042 Old Myford Road in Irvine (Irvine Blvd. and Jamboree)
Gala Reception: Friday 6:00pm-tickets available
Art Exhibit and Sale: Saturday and Sunday 10:00am-4:00pm
For information call 714-832-6299

Here are my two of my recent plein air paintings and accepted entries into the show: "Begonia Park/Newport Harbor" (11"h by 14"w) This quiet little park is tucked away behind the harbor in a beautiful residential area, and overlooks the balboa peninsula.
"Caspers Wilderness Park" (11"h by 14"w) This regional park is a stunning 8,000 acre protected wilderness preserve found along highway 74, inland of San Juan Capistrano. The light hitting this "Old Corral and wind mill" in the early afternoon was fun to paint among the Native Live Oak and California Sycamore!