California Dreaming

"Sonoma Clouds"
12 x 12, Oil on Canvas
(c) Lesley Powell 2016
(SOLD)

Greetings from California! I have been fortunate enough to spend the last two weeks in Sonoma--right in the heart of wine country. The landscape here is gorgeous, but perhaps even more important for painting on location is the weather. It is such a pleasure to paint outdoors and not suffer from heat, humidity, or mosquitoes. On the other hand, the area does have rattlesnakes. Yikes! That's enough to ruin your concentration.

"Foggy Morning, Viansa"
7 x 14, Oil on Linen
(c) Lesley Powell 2016
(Available)

I have painted in this region before, and had been frustrated that there were so many gorgeous vistas, and yet I could not find a good, safe spot to set up my easel. This time I got

smart, and did some research ahead of time. I made arrangements with several wineries whose properties seemed to offer good painting possibilities. One of my favorites was Vinasa Sonoma. Sweeping views, no matter which way you looked.  Honestly, I stood at the edge of the parking lot for hours and had no shortage of painting inspirations. One day there was fog in the early hours (see above), and then when it burned off I turned and painted the Viansa building, with Old Glory flying high in the California blue skies (see below). 

"Viansa, Old Glory"
8 x 10, Oil on Paper
(c) Lesley Powell 2016
(Available)

I'm sharing one other painting from Viansa below. Can you believe that these three paintings were all done standing in virtually the same spot? Simply turning the easel yielded a new and inspiring view. I am grateful to the folks at Viansa and others who graciously allowed me to paint on their properties. Stay tuned for future posts with details from other wineries and painting locations.  

"Viansa, Brown Hills"
7 x 14, Oil on Linen
(c) Lesley Powell 2016
(Available)