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Holiday in Hawaii and Recent Plein Air Paintings

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
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
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
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
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.

Happy New Year to all.

RLO

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A Showing of My Recent Plein Air Works

You're Invited to Attend the Artist's Reception, December 6, 2013 -- 5:00pm to 8:00pm
You’re Invited to Attend the Artist’s Reception, December 6, 2013 — 5:00pm to 8:00pm

To all my friends, family and patrons who have shown interest in my art and painting, I thank you for your continued support and encouragement.  It was a great (and busy) year for me and I completed a few nice paintings.  Having friends, family an patrons who care and encourage is invaluable to me as an artist and without this support, it would not be possible. I thank you, dearly, for providing the love.

Thankfully, a local gallery owner has provided support in the form of a venue for me to display my work and I have selected some dozen, done within the last year or so.  They all have the common theme of being painted in the open air and depicting some of the local iconic scenery of San Diego County.  They will be on view and available for the month of December at Silver Creek Gallery and Custom Framing in Downtown El Cajon, California.

If you have the time, I’d be happy to see you at the Artists Reception on Friday, December 6th from 5 to 8pm.  There’s no obligation to buy anything and there will be some light hors d’oeuvres and wine poured, so stop by and say hello if you can.  It will be a completely casual event.  There are some decent restaurants (Mexican, Italian) within walking distance of the gallery and other shops and galleries that are open for the evening, sponsored by the Merchants and City of El Cajon.

Seeing oil paintings in person, framed and in good lighting, with all their texture and varnished glory is much different from seeing them on your computer monitor.  I invite you to come and have a look.  I’d love to share them with you.

Once again, thanks to all.

RLO

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Ramona Grasslands Redux, Plein Air, Clearing Haze

original oil painting, San Diego plein air, Ramona, artist, Ronald Lee Oliver

I’ve been so busy with updating websites and social media profiles lately while also working on paintings in the studio so I haven’t had many opportunities for outdoor plein air painting.  Don’t get me wrong–there have been opportunities–just none that really piqued my interest.  I’ve enjoyed painting at the Ramona Grasslands Reserve in the past so when the local painters group suggested it, I made the time to be there for some painting fun.

Here’s a map of the area if you’d like to visit sometime.  It’s a great place to hike, walk your dog, ride either a  trail bicycle or a horse (no motorized vehicles allowed) or to go and do some art!

Map to Ramona Grasslands Preserve
Map to Ramona Grasslands Preserve

There is an ample parking lot and if you get there early (the gate opens at 8:00 am) you’ll get a choice parking spot.  Later on the horsey set arrives and their trucks and trailers fill most of the spaces.

The sky was socked in and grey as I drove up the 67 past Mt. Woodson, which is near the Grasslands Preserve.  However, It steadily cleared as I hiked around looking for a vista to paint until it finally wound up a gorgeous, sparkling, clear day.  In season, there are standing ponds but in late Summer/early Autmn, before the Fall rains come the ponds can be completely dry and caked with cracked mud.  There are a couple of loops to hike on and the trails are very well maintained.  The Preserve is fenced in its entirety and is an open cattle range so you can expect to see some of the bovine type roaming about.  I got some photos of them today, before I started painting:

cattle_ramona

…and there were several of these little guys, some of which were hiding in the grass… you can just see the head of one on the right side of the above photo.

calf

Eventually, I found a view I liked and wanted to paint.  I brought only a small 12X12 cradled birch panel to paint on because I thought it was so overcast, I’d rather do a small one but as I said, the day cleared up very nicely.  Maybe I should have brought a larger canvas or panel.  Here is the place I set up my easel–you can see how nicely maintained the trails are…

Panoramic view of easel set by Ronald Lee Oliver
Panoramic view of easel set by Ronald Lee Oliver

It’s not all open sun, either. There are some nice shady places with wooden picnic tables within easy hiking distance.  All in all, I really recommend the place, especially after the rains or in the spring when everything is emerald green and glistening with dew in the early morning.

A view of the painting on the easel in the unfinished state.
A view of the painting on the easel in the unfinished state.

Here’s an iPhone photo of the little painting I walked away with.

 

Clearing Haze, 12X12 inch oil on cradled birch panel by Ronald Lee Oliver
Clearing Haze, 12X12 inch oil on cradled birch panel by Ronald Lee Oliver

Ronald Lee Oliver is a self taught artist creating plein air, studio, photography and digital art in Southern California. Original and print versions of Ron’s art can be purchased online.

 

 

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RLOArtist Original Paintings On Display at Westin Emerald Plaza

I’m pleased to announce that if you happen to visit Downtown San Diego, you can have a close look at some of the fantastical creations of Ronald Lee Oliver (Yours Truly) for the next five weeks.

Gallery Window01

Eight of my oil paintings are on display in the gallery windows at the Westin Emerald Plaza Towers in Downtown San Diego.  They are there for viewing until July 13th.  I have four paintings in the gallery window across from the Hall of Justice on State Street as shown above, they are:

Highway 1, Torrey Pines
Apprehension
Fight Another Day
September Morning, Point Loma

Gallery Window02

It’s nice to see them displayed and well-lit in the window.  Information cards with a brief description of the painting, when and where painted as well as price are below each one.  I also have a brochure page with a little biographical info and my web URL for those intrigued enough to read it.

Gallery Window03

And just around the corner of the building, over on C Street, there are four more, smaller paintings for your visual enjoyment, they are:

Hacienda Carrillo
Watering Hole
Ramona Grasslands Meadow
Dawn at San Elijo

It’s a good, safe way to get some eyes–other than virtual–on the paintings.

One never knows who will be moved to make one part of their world.

If you get a chance or are in the area, I hope you will have a look and drop me a line via the blog,
FaceBook
www.facebook.com/RLOArtist
or follow me on Twitter
@RLOArtist

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Reflecting Pool, Balboa Park

I went to Balboa Park on Sunday, early and sought out a place to fill a small (12 X 12) panel. I roamed around and found a couple of spots that were potential candidates but for various reasons decided it wasn’t quite right, until I came upon the reflecting pool, near the arboretum. This has always been a favorite spot for artists and painters and the upper part of the pool, closest to the arboretum, was not damaged in the flash-mob vandalism that ended a political candidates career, last summer. I parked my easel and painted the scene in front of me. There were many comments from tourists from around the world, fascinated by the painting. In particular, a young father with his eight-year-old daughter came back three times during the creation of the painting. He said his daughter was taking painting lessons back home in Guadalajara and she wanted to see the painting progress. Here is the finished result:

Reflecting Pool, Balboa Park

 

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Flat Rock Plein Air Painting at Torrey Pines State Reserve

Torrey Pines Sunset

Yesterday afternoon, I returned to Torrey Pines State Reserve and hiked from the lower parking lot to the place known as “Flat Rock,” which is at the South End of the park, right on the beach. You can get there via the “Beach Trail,” which descends from the upper elevation of the park–or you can hike the mile or so down the wide sand beach (at low tide).

They say the best artists have to suffer for their work and boy I sure did, carrying the full French easel and a five gallon bucket with my supplies, drinking water, brushes, paints, mediums, palette knives, etc. I plodded along to my destination, knowing I had a limited time to paint before the returning tide would make it difficult or impossible to return via the beach. I definitely did not want to hike up and out of the park. When I got to the site and framed up my subject with a viewfinder, I took this little video:

Here is the finished painting. It looks so much nicer in person 😛Flat Rock at Torrey Pines State Beach

 

 

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Razor Point Trail en Plein Air

Razor Point Trail at Torrey Pines State Reserve

Here is a plein air piece I did last Sunday near dusk in Torrey Pines State Reserve.

Painting like this requires anticipation of lighting effects and incorporating them into the work before they happen. There just isn’t enough time to paint this before darkness falls. Of course, I could use my battery operated music stand lights to illuminate my canvas and palette but since the State Reserve at Torrey closes at seven–right about the time this light fills the scene this time of year, this is not an option. To work beyond that time would risk the park ranger locking the gate and leaving my vehicle stuck in the park overnight! In this case, the knowledge of what the scene would look like three hours after I started the painting allowed me to represent the light at the finish of the painting.

RazorPointTrailLR

 

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April Morning at Torrey Headlands Plein Air

April Morning at Torrey Headlands

18 X 24 Oil on Cradled Panel

This is really large for a plein air piece with this much detail. I wanted to get at least one larger painting to choose from the possible entries for the “Art in the Pines” plein air competition, which happens May 4th in the Torrey Pines State Reserve. If you get the chance, you should go. It’s May 4th and 5th in the parking lot at the visitor’s center up at the top of the park. There will be a free shuttle-bus that transports visitors from the lot at the bottom up to the art fair, where over 100 artists, photographers, ceramicists and textile artists will display and offer their work for sale. The Plein air winners will be anounced at noon. So, it’s a great chance to enjoy the park, hike the trails, and see some amazing art!

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Art in the Pines ~ Plein Air Competition

Art in the Pines is a yearly plein air painting competition which takes place in the Torrey Pines State Reserve, here in San Diego County.  A jury selects artists who are allowed access to the park to paint for a full month (April) and then submit their best painting for competition in early May. The park is particularly beautiful this time of year and has lots of blooming wildflowers.

Torrey Wildflowers

Torrey Pines, is one of my favorite places in San Diego and I have visited it probably a hundred times either hiking, jogging, swimming or surf fishing on the shore, so the subject matter is something I know very well.  I was fortunate enough to be juried in as a competing artist this year and will be completing several paintings over the next few weeks, so that I might have a good one when it comes time to submit the work for the competition. I went out to the park yesterday, with my camera, my easel and painting supplies.  I chose the area of the park called the “Guy Fleming Trail.”  The trail is about a 2/3 mile loop that wanders through the chaparral and Torrey Pine forest…

Torrey Pine Forest Panorama

skirts by the sheer cliffs which drop down to the State beach below…

View from Cliff Top

…wanders through some spectacular rock formations…

Torrey Sandstone

and loops back to the starting point.

I had hiked the trail the day before, scoping out areas that would make good compositions for a painting and decided on a scene that depicted yucca trees on a steep slope, catching the light from the setting sun. This is an unusual view of the park and one that I think may catch the eye and inspire the judges, who probably see lots of the same-old-same-old.

IMG_0333

So I set up my easel on the trail, out of the way of the hikers (many of whom shared words of encouragement about the painting as they walked by), and went to work.  I had pre-toned the canvas the night before so I wouldn’t have to waste that time when I was ready to paint.

Easel Start

…and here is a little video I took and a picture of the completed painting.  I like this one quite a bit. So far, it’s a good start for the competition. I hope to get in at least four or five more paintings to choose from.  I hope you like it!

Evening Yuccas

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Carlsbad Flower Fields Painting

As promised, I’m posting the completed painting started in the Carlsbad Flower Fields on Saturday. I haven’t signed it yet because there might be a few minor touches here and there. I like to sign a painting as the last finishing touch as much as possible. Choosing the color to sign with is always fun. You want it to stand out but also be compatible with the overall color scheme of the painting. What color would you choose to sign with?

Carlsbad Flower Fields

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Plein air at Carlsbad Flower Fields

Do you like flowers?

Flowers-mr

I sure do and that’s why I was excited to paint at the Flower Fields in Carlsbad. They are fifty acres of ranunculus flowers that are grown for bouquets. Every spring they bloom in a riot of color and the fields are open to the public for a fee. There were lots of people there today as I painted and many of them stopped to chat, comment and ask questions about the painting.

Here is another look at the fields…

Flowers02-mr

and some of the workers that cultivate and harvest the flowers…

workers

I decided that I would attempt to represent a view from the higher elevations of the fields, which slope down hill to the nursery area and the City of Carlsbad, below. You can see the Pacific Ocean from up there so I thought it would be a nice overall impression of the fields. This next photo is close to what I wanted to put on the panel–I brought another 16 X 20. I like the size because of the freedom it brings but it also brings responsibility to fill the space, which takes more time (usually) than a smaller painting. Here’s the view…

scene

…and here’s me, in the act of applying colored oily stuff to a piece of wood. This photo was taken by a nice fellow named, Rob who promised to email them to me and he did. They were in my mailbox before I got home! Thanks Rob!

Ron_in_Carlsbad

…and finally, here is the painting as it stands (unfinished) when I decided to pack up and head home for a late lunch (pizza!). I think it has potential to be a very nice piece. I just have to work out the middle distance, which in real life had lots of jumbled retail structures. I’ll try to simplify it and still represent an impression of the scene. Let me know what you think!

FlowerFields_20

When I finish it, I’ll post it up here and share it with you all. As always, you can click on the gallery link at the top of my blog and see finished works that are ready to show and are for sale.

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Lindo Lake Update

Many times, while painting a canvas outdoors, for any of a limitless number of reasons there are parts of the scene that are either too complex, distasteful, or simply don’t mesh and balance the composition. It is the artist’s prerogative to include or exclude these items as necessary to meet the end goal of a harmonious and balanced painting. Known as “Artistic License,” this is the artists ability and authority to change the subject to fit the overall goals of the particular presentation according to their own aesthetic whim. That explains how one departs, creatively speaking, from the scene before him which has dreadful apartment dwelling architecture from the early seventies…

Lindo_Panorama

to a simplified and idyllic scene as shown in progress here on the easel…

On the Easel

to a place such as the one depicted here…

Lindo Lake

Thank goodness I don’t feel like I need to paint what I see!

Here is a video demonstration of the actual painting of this piece, on site at Lindo Lake…that’s my wife’s playing the piano in the music background–she also composed the music and arranged the recording.

P.S. Don’t be afraid to use the “like” buttons on the page. They help with getting the word out about the great painter you know 🙂

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Lindo lake, Lakeside, California, USA, Plein Air Outing

Lindo Lake, Lakeside

Did you know that Lindo Lake is the only natural (un-dammed) fresh water, spring-fed lake in San Diego County? Currently it is “topped up” by pumping in water from nearby wells, which keeps the park nice and green and the lake full and beautiful.  I remember going to the park for a picnic with family, cousins and friends in the Summer of ’71 when I was nine years old. The lake was completely dry, which was very disappointing for a nine-year-old. But it wasn’t too long before my cousin Curt (2 years older) and I found a way to have fun anyway. In those days, there was no Nintendo, Gameboy or “Angry Birds” to insidiously suck the life out of two daring young explorers who were experts at finding alternate sources of adventure and mischief.  Turns out, a foot or two under the cracked mud surface of the lake bottom, there were hibernating…or I guess the correct term is estivating…arroyo toads that were enjoying the cool and moist mud down below. With sticks for improvised shovels, we dug and dug, finding several of them.

Arroyo Toad, Wikimedia commons
Arroyo Toad, Wikimedia commons

Of course, we brought the largest specimens back to the picnic area to proudly show to our Moms, who were duly unimpressed and in fact, quite the opposite. Our shoes and clothing were now encrusted with the stinky, black, goose-slime-laden, lake-bottom mud! In retrospect, I have to say that as nine and eleven-year old boys, finding those toads was more than worth the trouble we were in. I think as mad as they were about our soiled clothes, our mothers probably secretly enjoyed our boyishness and loved us all the more for it.

On Saturday, I returned to Lindo Lake with the San Diego Plein Air Painters Group and started a painting. This is a large (for plein air) 16 X 20 oil on canvas. The painting is not complete and is a work in progress. I think I’ll let this one rest and return to it later for finishing with “fresh eyes.” Sometimes it is good to leave a painting for a spell and pick it back up when it suits your fancy. I welcome any comments on this one, critical or otherwise.
Here it is as it sits on the easel, now:

Lindo Lake Painting

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Cabrillo Tide Pools

lonepelican01LR

Yesterday, I returned to Cabrillo National Monument Park, which is at the tip of the Point Loma peninsula in San Diego.  On the coastal side of the park, they have paths down to the tide pools, which are great place to set up an easel and paint. I entered the park at 9:01am, just a minute after the gate opened and drove down to the second parking lot.  As I hiked down to the water’s edge, I had to stop to snap a few photos of the birds–Pelicans!

pelicans01LR

There were lots of them.  I think they were flying back home after a feeding foray because this is where they were all roosting.  Pretty amazing, huh?  I think the dark birds on the left are cormorants and the lighter colored and larger birds on the right are Pelicans…or maybe the smaller birds are juvenile pelicans.  I’m not enough of a “birder” to know the answer on that one.  You can tell this is a favorite spot 🙂

birdsLR

It was windy and cold but after driving all that way to paint, I wasn’t going to quit.  Here is a shot of the easel and painting in progress at the waters edge.  You can see the birds in the background.

easelLR

You can see in the photos the water is really disturbed because of the high tide.  It was mostly just a lot of white foam from the crashing waves.  Because that would be too much white for my painting, I took artistic license and depicted a calmer ocean.  I’m putting the finishing touches on and will post the completed painting later.

All in all it was a great day for painting!

 

 

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D.T. Fleming Beach, Kapalua Plein Air Outing

North to Honolua

In my earlier post, Hawaii Whirlwind Tour, I neglected to post the image of the painting I did on the first morning. It was really windy on the beach at that time and I caught the easel three times as it was about to fall over.  After that, I just kept my left hand on it as I painted. It was early and very cloudy, up in the West Maui Mountains off to my right but every once in a while there would be a gap in the clouds and the sunrise light would shine through and light up the face of the waves. It was a sudden color explosion that was absolutely amazing. A big black carpenter bee came down and investigated my canvas thoroughly a couple of times but didn’t bother me after that.  I guess he approved. I hope you do too.

Plein air painting of D.T. Fleming beach in Kapalua, Maui

 

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Presidio Park Plein Air Paintout

Got out to Presidio Park, near Old Town San Diego, on Saturday with the painters group. Took me a while to find a spot with the right view. I had completely set up in a spot on a knoll that I liked but it forced me to sit on a bed of pine needles to get the right perspective. It took about two minutes to remember I don’t like sitting while painting, so I left everything there and hiked around for fifteen minutes until I found an alternate vista. Here are some shots of the 11 X 14, oil on Ampersand gessobord panel.

"Presidio" in progress
“Presidio” in progress

…and here is the finished painting…

presidio_mr

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Hawaii Whirlwind Tour

Recently, Jackie (my beautiful wife) and I went to Hawaii to carry out the last wishes of Jackie’s long time friend, Brian Levi. Brian was the recording engineer who recorded Jackie’s music and she kept in touch with him over the years, eventually becoming his attorney and the executor of his estate…you see, unfortunately, Brian passed away recently after a long battle with cancer (smoking). His last wish, codified in his will, which left the entirety of his estate to Saint Jude’s Children’s Hospital, was for Jackie and I to take his remains to Maui and have a burial at sea, which we did last week on Brian’s birthday, spending three days on the Island.

The burial at sea was beautiful, with a Hawaiian ti-leaf wrapped urn for Brian, flower leis, and rose petals. When Jackie dropped in the urn and the lei, a big puff of wind came and made a circular mark on the surface of the water around the lei and swirled the rose petals, which danced across the water in the whirlwind. A huge humpback whale fully breached from the water, tail and all when Jackie mentioned Brian’s love of flying model planes in the eulogy. She said, “You loved flying, and today is a good day to fly. Happy Birthday, Brian!” and the whale leaped out of the water, on cue!

Brian loved art and was a big fan of my artwork. I am sure he would be happy to know that I took my paints to Hawaii and did a couple of paintings while I was there. In fact, I felt his presence more than once as I painted. Thanks to him, I had the opportunity.

The Maui Plein Air Painters invitational competition was just wrapping up when we arrived. I got to see some of the paintings (the ones that hadn’t sold yet) at the Village Gallery in Lahaina. There were some top-notch painters there for that week. Maybe one day, I’ll be invited. We’ll see. Hawaii is amazingly beautiful with a clear light that really makes the colors vibrant and full of life. Here are some images and shots of the paintings I did while I was there.

The first night there, the moon was full. I got a shot of it above the palms and Cook Pines of Kapalua.

Mauimoonshine

My first painting was in the morning at D.T. Fleming Beach, in Kapalua, West Maui.

FlemingBeachPleinAir

You can see the finished painting, here  After painting, I took some photos of foliage on the way back to the hotel room.

HawaiiColors

And on the next morning, I found a place to park my pochade (small painting box for those who’ve never heard that term) and work until I got rained out. In Kapalua, in February, showers come and go with frequency. They never last too long and create some beautiful rainbows. In any case, I had to pack up the kit before I finished and had to complete this one back in San Diego. Here are some pics:

Cooksetup

And the (almost) finished painting…there have been a few more minor touches since this photo.

Kapalua_Pines_lr

I hope to go back some day, pay Brian a visit, and paint a few more things.

Aloha!