February 14th, 2015 in Southern California. The air temps got up to over 90 degrees in the inland areas. I headed West, early this morning to paint at the area in Point Loma known as “Sunset Cliffs.” It was already warm and not the least bit cold as I painted at the top of a cliff, near waters edge above the surf below…here’s a short video of the beautiful conditions and the painting I made. 11 x 14 inch oil on panel.
…and here’s an example of how it would look in a nice “New Rustic” solid wood frame by Randy Higbee galleries…
This is my “go to” frame to compliment my plein air paintings…
Sometimes while painting plein air you need a steady hand to add some detail in an already painted area. For doing this, there is no other tool that will allow you to rest your brush hand steadily above the work like a handy mahl stick will do. But how many plein air painters will go to the trouble to carry one? They’re cumbersome, fragile and just aren’t high on the priority list of things to bring for the always Spartan-minded plein air painter…but wait! Watch this video for a handy plein air tip that might just change your mind about bringing along a mahl stick.
In mid-December, my wife, Jackie and I were fortunate enough to visit the island of Maui, Hawaii, once again. We stayed in an intimate little oceanfront condominium in the Kahana area of West Maui. The balcony or “Lanai” of the second story unit was literally within spitting distance of the ocean, which lapped against a seawall down below. The sea turtles could be seen, munching on sponges growing on the rocks. I took some video with my phone–have a look:
It was a great and relaxing stay. Christmas was coming soon and there were Hawaiian Christmas songs on the radio and lots of Holiday spirit, which was very nice. Once again, I traveled with my painting kit and was able to find some brief time to paint. On an early Sunday morning, I hiked afoot from our rental condo about a quarter mile down the lower Honoapiilani Road and found a public beach (all beaches in Maui are public beaches) that offered a nice view of a small bay and the island of Molokai, across the Lahaina Roads Channel. The day was overcast and threatening rain (it only rained once during our stay and that was at night), so the typical bright Hawaiian color palette was a bit muted. Here is the quick little painting that I came home with:
Molokai from Kahana – by Ronald Lee Oliver
It was tough to leave and come home to the mainland. Once back, however, after the holidays I’ve got back to painting with regularity. Here are two of my most recent–first, one I call “Blue Agaves,” which was painting on location at the San Diego Botanic Gardens in Encinitas, California.
Blue Agaves – 12X16″ oil on panel by Ronald Lee Oliver
I’ll be painting with some well known California plein air artists in April in a quickdraw competition at the same Gardens–stay posted!
Here is one done last Saturday in Del Mar, which I am calling “Penasquitos Lagoon from Del Mar Bluffs.” This one is 16X20″ oil on canvas. You can see the fantastic view of the Penasquitos estuary from my easel set in this photo:
Freshly completed painting by Ronald Lee Oliver
…and here is the full image of the painting:
Penasquitos Lagoon from Del Mar Bluffs by Ronald Lee Oliver
It’s good to be back home and into the rythm of the new year.
