august summer

squeezed in a few monday paint sessions with my pal Libby between her travels and mine, then off for some time in the sierras.

bird refuge, oil on panel 8"x8"
a morning study. overcast and chilly when we started, then the sun and wind came up. 

lake los carneros, oil on panel, 8"x8"
another view from the same spot - simplifying the composition and colors.

not as much time to paint at the cabin this time - a couple of un-resolved oils and these two gouaches as well as a couple starts I'm still working out.

sunlit small fir, gouache on paper, 3 1/2"x 4"

clouds and lake, gouache on paper, 4"x6"

more july

Yet another heat wave followed by mornings of marine-layer grey. I've been working both in the studio and outside in oil and gouache. Tough to work outside with water media when it is so hot and dry.

Some of my gouache pieces will be in the invitational show "On Paper" at Marcia Burtt's Laguna street Gallery. This show will open on August 26 and run through October 2. Great group of artists to be included with.

coastal agaves
3"x4"

to fernald point, 4"x4"
overcast morning walk - my usual route

early moonrise, sedgwick 4"x4" 

that nearly full moon that comes up when the sun is still hitting the hillsides with bright light. 
this was done after an oil study painted on site.

spring, from figueroa mountain, 3"x4"

view looking down a canyon toward the coastal range beyond.

sedgwick pond, 3 1/2"x4"

this one was done on a small, lightly gessoed, balsa-wood panel that Rick Stitch gave me to try. Interesting surface for gouache.


some recent oils from monday plein air painting sessions:

7/18 lake los carneros - ocean view, oil on panel, 8"x8"

7/25 lake los carneros - mountain view, oil on panel, 8"x8"

bluffs looking toward IV, oil on panel, 8"x10"

midsummer july

summer time for travel - from the desert (Scottsdale, AZ) to the mountains (Sierras) and the sea (back home again). So much beautiful landscape and endless things to discover. Not as much time to paint in the middle of it all.

Opening reception for the Santa Paula Art Museum, 'Art of Aviation' show was fun - I will also have a piece in the nearby Aviation Museum.

The SCAPE show for the Surfrider Foundation (at the Faulkner Gallery) is filled with paintings of the local coast, including six of my pieces - 4 oils and 2 gouaches. This will be up until the end of the month.

I'll have a small gouache in the Palm Loft Gallery for the Carpinteria Bluffs fundraiser, opening this coming weekend.

And if you happen to see the latest issue of California Fly-Fisher magazine, I am the featured artist on the "Art of Angling" page. Pretty fun! 

Here are some new gouaches from my time in the mountains:

meadow edge, 4"x4"

sad to see so many dead trees - victims of drought, beetles and fungus.

old/new
3"x4"





i've painted this old stump and the new fir coming up next to it many times - something about it always gets my attention.

sierra post-office, 4"x4"

great old building serving the local population near the cabin.

june gloom II

we had a wonderful long 'girls' weekend in Pine Mountain - good company of 4 other women artist friends, good food and a good dose of sunshine.
we worked every day, morning session and after lunch.
all the other gals worked with gouache and I stubbornly kept at it with oils, wishing all the time I had brought my gouache kit. oh well.

fern lake morning, 8"x10"

lake path, 6"x8"

sagebrush, 6"x8" 

tall pine, 6"x8"

bright morning, 6"x12"

june gloom

Drippy, gray skies working their way through June. 
Had a great escape to the Sierras with a diversion to Humboldt county for a few days for family celebrations. Nice to see a different landscape and do some painting in a different environment.

loleta alley, gouache, 2 1/2"x 3 1/2"

forest view, oil on panel, 10"x10"

new trees, oil on panel, 8"x10"


NEW EXHIBITIONS:

I have some recent work currently on view at the Palm Loft Gallery, Carpinteria in the "Make Hay While the Sun Shines" show including this small gouache as well as Sedgwick Ranch House and Barn from previous posts. Show runs from June 11 - July 17.

hay bales, gouache, 2"x3"


Coming up next month at the Santa Paula Art Museum is the "Art and Aviation" juried show,  July 16 - October 16. I have 'plane air landscape' - my continuing fascination with contrails and how they create a modern skyscape - something Turner or Monet would have never imagined.

oil on canvas, 26"x26"


And also coming up in July - I was accepted into the California State Fair Fine Art competition (180 works chosen from 1200 entries) - pretty exciting. This will be on view in Sacramento from July 8 - 24.

pinnacles path, oil on panel, 16"x20"


some new gouaches currently in the Easton Gallery show:

low tide, above haskell's, 2 1/2"x 3 1/2"

contrails, 4"x 4"

sunshine in the valley

a short drive over the hills to escape the coastal fog. monday painting on figueroa mountain road was sunny, warm and breezy. 
we just pulled over on the side of the road to work - a few hours, mid-day light pretty strong.

red barn, oil on panel, 9"x12"


had the opportunity to stay at the sedgwick reserve - beautiful place with so many things to see, hear and smell. sweeping vistas, wonderful trees and native plants, birds singing, wind rustling, animals and insects making all kinds of noise and the smell of earth, water, plants - herbaceous, pungent, clean and crisp.
such a treat for the senses - the light and color were stunning.

ranch house, oil on panel, 9"x12"

afternoon, sedgwick, oil on panel, 10"x10"



and a quick study as the moon rose against brightly lit hills:

moonrise, oil on panel, 8"x8"

may gray

Overcast days and the beginning of summer around the corner. Libby Smith and I continue to get out to paint on mondays and I'm also catching up in the studio. 
Spring wildflowers are gone, but the paintings remain as a nice reminder of places I've been fortunate enough to visit.

figueroa flower field, oil on panel, 8"x8"

cliff above loleta, 8"x8" oil on panel

The annual SCAPE gaviota coast show at the Bacara is this weekend. Karl Dempwolf is juror and I'm in charge of hanging - it's always a fun show and a good cause.

gaviota coast, oil on canvas, 14"x30"


And this is pretty exciting news - opening this weekend, I am part of the summer group show at Easton Gallery. I'll be showing small gouaches - there are 18 pieces on display. Here's the announcement:

T H E  E A S T O N  G A L L E R Y

NINA WARNER

SMALL GOUACHES

MAY 14 – SEPTEMBER 11, 2016

          

high and dry, 4”x 4”

     

datura, 4”x 4”

557 HOT SPRINGS ROAD - SANTA BARBARA, CA 93108

OPEN wEEKENDS 1-5 AND BY APPOINTMENT 805.969.5781

great to be included with so many other artists that I admire and in a lovely space.

Libby and I have been going out to paint above Rincon, last week I was looking south:

backside, rincon, 6"x12" oil on panel


this week I was looking north. we went out 2 days so I was able to get 2 paintings from slightly different vantage points.

overcast, carp bluffs I, 9"x12" oil on panel

over cast, carp bluffs II, 4"x6" gouache on paper



Also finished another one from Naples:

naples, 3"x3" gouache on paper