Wildflowers 16×20 oil
I was inspired to paint this scene because, after some spring rain, there were wild flowers everywhere in Southern California. Hillsides along freeways had beautiful displays of wild color. Near my home we had fields of yellow and purple flowers that lasted about a month before they faded. A lot of that dry bushery (not a word) stuff that looks like soon to be tumbleweed got deeply soaked and produced wild flowers and new color in unusual places. Dried brush and chapparel sprouted wild flowers that popped with color. In this painting I used thick paint and a palette knife to “cake” on the colorful folage. I wanted to create texture and the feeling of some of the plants. Some felt soft and billowy and others were brittle and dry. This oil painting has vibrant colors; mustards, browns, pinks, salomon, yellows, and many shades of green. It was a hazy or cloudy day so I kept the blue hill dark to suggest a cloud hovering over it. I noticed on cloudy days the ground colors look lusher as if the contrast of grey skies intensify the local color. This original oil painting has a slight suggestion of a walkway or trail though the flowers and traveling up the distant hillside. Keeping this oil painting loose, expressive, and impressionistic I chose to simplify the trees and foliage to their basic organic forms. The blues in the background hill have some of the sky color in it…so I added some light grey mauve, greens, and purple to it. It’s so amazing how a little rain water can turns a hillside into a glorious fiest for the eyes. I am hopeful that next years rains will bring many more luscious and juicy scenes to paint. This oil painting has a nice feeling of natures’ bounty.
Chinatown, San Franscico 16×20 oil
Inspired by the colorful street I painted this scene with lots of pinks, reds, and browns. Using a small amount of greens as accent color. When traveling, I love visiting cities where you can walk everywhere. That way, at the end of the day you are nice and relaxed from exhausting yourself from misreading your maps….it’s a good kind of exhaustion. I remember this day visiting San Francisco with my family. We walked to Chinatown from the North Beach area of San Francisco and when we turned the corner to walk down this street the festival of colors was so delightful to the eye! I had to paint it! So I took lots of pictures and made mental notes or rather “sketches” in my head. This street scene feels like the vibe of that sunny day. I can remember the taste of the delicious chow mein and rice we enjoyed and the smells of the restaurants’ menu offerings. We stopped in a tea shop and sampled different teas. We learned about the health benefits of different teas and how to properly brew and steep them. With our new knowledge of teas we found some beautiful and useful teapots to take home. With plenty of touristy shops to explore, we also found some interesting scarves and trinkets to indulge in.
There was something so festive, alive and dynamic of this street scene… Starting with the reds of the buildings, the hanging lanterns that reminded me of draped garland at Christmas time, and the continuous movement of people, trucks, cars, banners, and signage …all of it is so fun to try and capture on canvas. Simplifying the scene, with impressionistic loose brush work I depicted what I thought was most important to get the gist of the lively day. In this original oil painting I have captured the feeling of that particular day without over doing it with unnecessary details.
Painting the figure in oil painting.
Floating 16×20 oil painting…..$1400
I like to paint my subjects “doing” something. I don’t want them looking into the camera but instead just being. This is my daughter floating on an inner tube. I painted this because I liked the relaxing feeling and mood of her sunbathing. Floating on a raft is the ultimate of relaxation. Just letting the warm sun and water rock you into a lullaby of tranquility. Bliss. Isn’t this the unspoken goal? That we work hard enough and someday soon we will deserve to completely let go and “float on a raft”.
Folklorico Dancers 16×20 oil painting – Buy Now $1400
These dancers were at Old Town San Diego outside a restaurant. So lovely to watch. The purple dress caught my artist eye. I had to paint it! The dancers confidently bounced around the stage. The dance seemed so effortless to them. The sunlight danced along with them, lighting up different parts of their clothing as they moved around the stage.
Koi Pond 20×16 oil painting- Buy Now $1400
This painting is inspired by these children playing with the fish at a Koi pond. It is amazing how mesmerizing fish can be. I stood and watched as the children interacted with the fish and each other for more than an hour. The younger the child the more fascinated they were with the brightly colored fish. I remembered with my own children that it was the simple things that kept them engaged in an activity.
“Tuolumne River” 24×30 oil painting
Painting of beautiful Tuolumne River in Yosemite National Park. Lots of greens and raw sienna in this depiction of a flowing river. Hiking in the meadows and along the river is gorgeous. I painted this for the 100th year anniversary show for the national parks of California. The exhibit is at Wildling Museum in Solvang, California. The exhibit is up until October 3, 2016.
available $2800
“Bocce Ball?” Nay…..me neither”
Painting of my daughters relaxing and conversing at the beach. Too hot and lazy to get up and play bocci ball. Simplifying the figures I chose to focus on their relaxed gestures in the beach chairs. Pretty pastel colors and juicy, thick paint in this original oil painting make you long for a beach day of your own.
Available. 12×16 unframed oil painting $595
kathleenmrobison@yahoo.com
Balboa Park, San Diego 30×40 oil painting
This painting of beautiful Balboa Park, San Diego shows the hustle and bustle of tourist season. Lots of vibrant color with the back drop of Spanish-Moorish architecture in the buildings. Keeping the painting loose and painterly I show some details in the buildings while staying impressionistic. Rich ochres in the building hues, blues and olives in the water, and lively pastel colors for the pedestrians.
Available $2400
“Clementine Skies” 12×16 oil painting of a sunset
Love clementines! You know the little tangerines. So I called this one “Clementine Skies” because it was so juicy to paint! …….Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darrrrrrling Clementine…,you were lost and gone forever, oh my darling Clementine. Sing it! Wow I just had a flashback to my childhood girl scout troop. We sang that song over and over I think to get a singing badge to put on our uniform. Just a pretty sunset at Crystal Cove State Beach, CA. The purple island is Catalina, California. Sunsets are amazing if you live on the coast. I hope you enjoy them often. What is amazing about them, to me as a painter, is that in the span of 20 minutes, as the sun sets, there are hundreds of different color combinations to paint. As a painter the possibilities are endless. This particular painting, Clementine Skies, has many varieties of the color orange: tangerine, coral, peach, clementine, rose-orange, cantaloupe, apricot, bittersweet, carrot, salmon, titian, and red-yellow. This oil painting has thick paint in the white and yellow area and thin paint in the dark area. When the lights are out the painting glows…it creates its own light!
“People are just as wonderful as sunsets if you let them be. When I look at a sunset, I don’t find myself saying, “Soften the orange a bit on the right hand corner.” I don’t try to control a sunset. I watch with awe as it unfolds.” Carl R. Rogers
“Before the Sunset”, Laguna Beach, 12×16 oil painting
Available oil painting
In this oil painting I used lots of blues, purples, and periwinkles for the waves and water. Yellow, pink, and orange for the sunset and water highlights. I was out walking and photographing the ocean when I decided to do an oil painting of this beautiful dusk-ish scene. I remember feeling a lot of anxiety and angst before taking a beach walk. Then the sunset turns into this drama in the sky with the dark clouds almost suppressing the setting sun. On this day before the sunset there were lots of surfers waiting for the next wave. Just floating out there wading in the ebb and flow. Such a peaceful scene of humanity just waiting in the waves. So zen…so one with nature. The ocean often reminds me of how small we humans are in the bigger scheme of things. It is kind of relaxing to think we are just another part of nature. There is a particular safety in the thought. Our lives are not such a big deal…….we can just float along with nature and relax…..that is….until the next big wave comes.
“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.”–Rabindranath Tagore
Why oil painters paint what they paint. “Strings Attached” Mozart Classical Orchestra , oil painting 16×20
Available oil painting
I was inspired to paint this oil painting because I recently went to this concert. I haven’t gone to many classical concerts, but the ones I have gone to have inspired me greatly. In this oil painting, I tried to capture the essence and feeling of that day. Going to classical concerts is something I just “forget” to do. I mean I love it, when I go but never really think of getting tickets blah blah blah……So as an oil painter and artist I paint what is in my real life and things I am moved by. And I was inspired to paint an oil painting of this scene. On this day we arrived a little late, the concert hall was only two thirds full, and it happened again. After 15 minutes of settling in and getting comfy in my seat, I had the most amazing feeling of a brain massage. It happened a few years earlier when I went to a concert with my senior in high school who had to go for her music appreciation class. On that rainy day, we rushed in, chose the best seats, and looked around the room and it was only a third full. Actually, looking around there were already a few people in the back asleep in their seats! We giggled to each other, “Wow, this is going to be exciting.” So we deliberately relaxed in our seats. I was trying hard not be anxious about “how long THIS was going to take.” And I wanted to be supportive of my daughters arts adventure but it was the weekend, and I had so much to do. Well, like a lot of things in life and art, if you give a little and surrender to the moment you get a lot back. Wow! What an amazing experience. The music was excellent, of course, but the most amazing thing happened. We, too, both fell asleep ( she on my shoulder I on her head….) and woke asking each other “How long was I asleep?” I have never heard anyone talk about it before, but, when you fall asleep to live classical music it feels like someone put their hands under your skin and gave you a deep brain massage. It was the most incredible and deeply relaxing experience I have ever had. I have listened to plenty of classical music and meditations but nothing like this. In the smallish concert hall it felt like music moved through my whole person and it was totally sublime and lovely.
So in this oil painting I attempted to grasp the movement, vibration, and calm of the music while keeping it loose and not too detailed so the viewer could get the feeling of that particular concert. …Also I hope musicians know the great value of their work.
