Plein air lanscape paintings from Santa Barbara and beyond…
This was definitely not a BAAAAA-d spot to spend a morning painting. I’m going to go out on a lamb and say this is my favorite season. Ewe agree, right? There are 400 sheep and lambs and a couple of goats in disguise out on the San Marcos preserve getting a head start on fire prevention season. I feels so pastoral walking up there. It’s amazing how quickly they eat. Good job, sheep.
Can you still smell the aromas of eucalyptus leaves filtering salty breezes and hazy sunlight on the Ellwood Mesa, or have you been here so long the scents have become like background music? Growing up in the mountains the smell of pines faded with familiarity, but is there again when I return home. After a couple weeks backpacking in the Sierras, the eucalyptus and sea smells greet me again when I come to the coast.
Sometimes it flows low in the canyons, deftly weaving and gracefully twisting on the path of least resistance. Other times it drifts spaciously along like a vapor riding the breeze. And so do we, since it makes up the majority of our bodies.
I love views where I can see the water in the creek twisting and turning on the path back home to mother ocean. The sun was getting low this afternoon causing that play of light and shadow that I enjoy so much when I’m painting. The canvas almost blew away on this one as the winds whipped up the canyon, but my reflexes dropped my brush to grab the easel.
I had scoped out the site the day before hiking with my daughter. I’ve been forgetful lately and didn’t bring a panel, but she kindly tore a page out of her sketchbook for me to paint on…
If you’ve scrambled up the rocky ledge to the east of Mission Canyon you might recognize this sandstone tower that is getting ready to burst with chaparral flowers like sage and ceanothus… it is going to be a gorgeous spring!
Some of the distant rocks that make up the bones of our local mountains turn out to be striking monoliths when you encounter them close up, abstractly sculpted by wind and rain and roots and time. What is the hole? Is it a window, a keyhole, a peephole, an eye, a passage, a feature in a pirate’s map, an ancient observatory, a sundial, a blue circle, a sky pizza, a frame for a hawk, a lizard’s flytrap, a bird’s playground? This one had at least a dozen possible titles but I’m a sucker for alliteration.
It was fun to explore some local trails this weekend to see how the rains have changed the landscape. There are side creeks and waterfalls flowing where I haven’t seen them for many years. It is going to be a beautiful spring with the deep soak that we have gotten.
Can you believe how much rain we’ve already gotten this year. (And in a year they were predicting a mild La Niña no less!) I’m hoping you all stayed safe and dry through the storm. I’m so grateful that the reservoirs, springs and aquifers are filling up. It will be nice to turn on the tap in the coming year and enjoy a glass of these January rains!
Happy New Year everyone! This was my first painting of 2023 on a hike up into the foothills on a grey pensive day. That is the Santa Barbara Harbor in the distance framed by a rock formation above Rattlesnake Canyon.
I used bold, chunky blocks of color to try to capture all the hues I could see at Lake Los Carneros in the morning. It was tough to photograph this one as the paint is quite shiny and my brushstrokes go at so many different angles. I hope you all are enjoying the holiday season and finding some time to get outdoors!
Kevin Gleason Art 