Daily Inspiration
Tell me, what is it you plan to do, with your one wild and precious life?
- Mary Oliver
Author Archives: karin
Painting the President’s Park
The White House, Presidental Park ~ o/c
During a visit to Washington DC this past week, I took the opportunity to paint the White House. Surprisingly, the White House and surrounding areas are part of the US National Park System, called the President’s Park.
- Precious Cargo
When I arrived, painting gear in tow, I found a crowd, and the whole area closed of. Why, I asked? Well, there was a good reason: the presidental helicopter was just about to arrive at the White House! I joined the other on-lookers, and we were soon rewarded with exciting close up views of “Marine One” descending onto the south lawn of the White House. Pretty cool!
After a few minutes the helicopter took off again, and we caught another glimpse. Waiting for the crowd to clear out, I dropped by the White House Visitor Center (currently being rennovated, so there is a temporary one), where you can find the NPS, as well as the WHite House HIstorical Association, and watch a 30min movie about the WH.
Finally, I set up my easle and did a quick sketch of this world famous spot. It was exhilerating to be in the middle of all the activity, and visitors from all around the world ~ especially so close to the election!
Washington DC is a fabulous and exciting city to visit ~ and so much to explore for artists. The National Mall with many memorials, beautiful parks and water features is part of the National Park Service, set aside for all of us to enjoy. Springtime, with the Cherry Trees in bloom, sure is a highlight. In addition, there are the wonderful Smithsonian Museeums, including the fabulous National Gallery of Art. An added plus ~ all the Smithsonian Museums and memorials are free of charge! If you’ve never been, or ready for another visit, Washington DC is worth the journey.
Painting our Parks Exhibit
Our local Santa Cruz Oil Painters group is hosting an exciting of show of Parks Paintings at all Branches of the Santa Cruz County Bank’s Art Collaborative.
20% of sales made during this exhibition will benefit the parks.
Painting our Parks, features over 100 plein air paintings of County, State and National Parks in California, from the quiet beauty of the pond at Quail Hollow, the grandeur of the rocky coast at Garrapata, to the majestic cliffs of Yosemite. The paintings were produced by fourteen Santa Cruz artists, all members of the Santa Cruz Oil Painters. Their images have captured the magic and the treasure of California’s natural beauty, preserved for all by our State Parks.
Artists’ Reception: 5:30-7:30pm on Thursday, September 27th Santa Cruz County Bank, 720 Front Street, Santa Cruz. Meet the artists, purchase artwork and network with other art lovers.
Read More
Posted in CA State Parks, Media Coverage, Paintings, Plein air, Uncategorized
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Get Married in a California State Park
Would you like to have your wedding in a park? How about getting married at Lake Tahoe? Want to get married at the beach? A gorgeous California State Park offers all of that: Sugar Pine Point State Park .
Sugar Point State Park hosts Weddings at the elegant, 11,000 square foot Hellman-Ehrman Mansion, amidst glorious forests of sugar pine, fir, juniper and aspen, and overlooking the emerald and saphire waters of Lake Tahoe. What a beautiful place to get married! And a great way to support the parks… the event fees will benefit ongoing improvements for this park, at a time when California State Park Funds are running short.
Sugar Pine Point State Park features almost two miles of gorgeous beachfront along the western shore of Lake Tahoe, as well as the bigger inland portion of the park, packed with hiking trails and camping – even in the snow! With 2000 acres this is the largest state park in the Lake Tahoe area. Read more about Sugar Pine Point State Park .
Other parks in the Lake Tahoe area that might host your wedding are Burton Creek SP, DL Bliss SP, Donner Memorial SP, Emerald Bay SP, Tahoe SRA, Ward Creek and Washoe Meadows SP – inquire here.
If you would like to get married at a Southern California State Park, San Clemente State Beach is a beautiful option. For additional SO CAL State Park locations for your wedding click here
For additional California State Parks hosting weddings click here
Explore Ca State Parks in your area
Here is a great resource list of getting married in a California State Parks from the Travel Journal.
- California Dreaming, o/c, 24×30
And how about a painting of the Park you are getting married at?
Please browse our galleries of California State Park paintings, and consider adding paintings to your gift registry.
Our Paint the Parks artists may also be happy to accept a commission, and paint a commemorative one of a kind piece to your specifications. And, a minimum of 10% from the sale price will be donated to Parks Programs!
Posted in CA State Parks, Uncategorized
Tagged california state park funding, california state parks, get married at a California state park, get married at a park, get married at Tahoe, get married at the beach
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Sugar Pine Point State Park ~ How to Improve in Times of Funding Shortage
On a recent plein-air trip to Lake Tahoe several of us artists were fortunate to paint at Sugar Pine Point State Park.
Sugar Pine Point State Park sports almost two miles of gorgeous beachfront along the western shore Lake Tahoe, no rx as well as the bigger inland portion of the park packed with hiking trails and camping – even in the snow! With 2000 acres this is the largest state park in the Tahoe area, with glorious forests of sugar pine, fir, juniper and aspen.
General Creek runs through the park, and creates a gorgeous s-shaped estuary and bird sanctuary, where this clear stream flows into Lake Tahoe.
When we painted there, flocks of Canadian geese with their chicks graced the waters. 
We even spotted Common Mergansers.
The numerous trails lead along the creek through a forested valley to the state park boundary, as well as into the El Dorado National Forest. You can also reach the northern part Desolation Wilderness from this park, as well as the Paci?c Crest Trail and other paths leading into the High Sierra backcountry.
In addition, Sugar Pine Point State Park is home to the Edwin L. Z’berg Natural Preserve. This preserve is an unmanaged sub-alpine meadow habitat allowed to evolve with as little human intervention as possible.
Scouting around this beautiful California park, we were amazed by the many improvements in progress ~ habitat restoration, path improvements… and even brandnew picnic tables in various stages of unwrap! Given the shortage of state park funding, I was curious about how this park is able to do these great improvements.
In my conversation with one of the friendly park rangers, I discovered how creative Sugar Pine Point State Park has been in funding improvements: In addtion to generous donations from patrons and visitors, this gorgeous park hosts events and even weddings ~ right there overlooking Lake Tahoe, at the elegant, 11,000 square foot Hellman-Ehrman Mansion. What a beautiful place to get married! And a great way to support the parks…
Congratulations Sugar Pine Point State Park for being so inventive in creating funds, and thank you for making such great improvements to this beautiful California State Park!
Posted in CA State Parks, Plein air, Uncategorized
Tagged california state park funding, california state parks
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Point Lobos State Reserve Adventures
Point Lobos State Reserve Adventures
To Preserve Point Lobos State Reserve for future generations is dear to my heart. This beautiful California park is a precious jewel of the central coast, and one of my all time favorite places to paint. Countless artists before me have stood at these awesome vistas. Landscape artist Francis McComas called this wildly beautiful sanctuary “The greatest meeting of land and water in the world.”
Point Lobos is gorgeous any time of day, yet late afternoon light… read my Point Lobos Quest stories
Pinnacles National Monument ~ El Condor Pasa
Video of Condors at Pinnacles National Monument
Took a fabulous hike up Pinnacles National Monument with my husband last week-end. We went up the High Ridge trail in the afternoon, the temperature was perfect. And the wildflowers are happening ~ while not as abundant as previous years, there is a wide variety of flowers.
We had seen Condors fly by at the top of this trail a few years ago, and my husband joked that they would make an appearance today, 5pm! We sat down on the bench, on the very top of the trail, where the winds were blowing ferouciously. But, all bundled up, we were ok, waiting for the show. Right at five o’clock, swallows whizzed by. Then, a couple crows. I remarked this was kind of like the scene in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, where folks were gathered at the top of the hill, waiting for the “mothership.” If you remember back that far…first, a small glowing object sped by…then another..and then the big event!
Well, same here, on top of Pinnacles… a few minutes past five, two HUGE condors flew so close over our heads that we could hear their wings soar! My camera misfunctioned, but my husband had the wearwithall to turn on the video camera ~ check it out! Condors at Pinnacles National Monument My husband Daniel also took the fabulous picture of the condor flying over the moon…quite a magical moment!
With all the hiking and Condor sighting I didn’t have time to paint, but a studio painting is sure to follow…
Tagged california state park funding, california state parks
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Garrapata State Park Painting Adventures
Garrapata State Park Painting Adventures
Garrapata State Park is a wildly beautiful piece of land along Highway One, 6.7m past RIo Road, Carmel. Trails take you along dramatic ocean headlands out to Soberanes Point, or a huffing puffing steep climb up the coastal mountains, with heart stopping views.
Having painted at this gorgeous and demanding location numerous times, I have a few tales…check out Garrapata Quest stories
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Pinto Lake Valentine
Pinto Lake Valentine, o/c, 8x10
What started as a cool and humid Valentine’s Day turned into a warm and sunny afternoon paint out at PInto Lake County Park. With flowering plum trees in full pink bloom, the stage was set for a perfect Valentine to this lovely park. Painter’s Bliss!
The backwaters of Pinto Lake form precious wetlands for rare wintering birds. This year we have spotted the White-faced Ibis and Common Moorhens among the “regulars” like Blue Herons, Great White Egrets and an amazing variety of migratory ducks.(Alright, I admit, I’m a bird nerd). Another paintout is beckoning to the wild views of these wetlands…
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Surprise on the Big Sur Coast
View from Rocky Creek Bridge
Another day in paradise…painting plein air at the Big Sur Coast on a sunny Autumn day. 7 of us seized a stunning morning at the Rocky Creek Bridge parking lot with an awesome view.
- Chinese National TV Crew
Wouldn’t you have guessed it — just as we got ready to pack up, Chinese National TV Beijing shows up! You just never know what is going to happen when you are out there painting… they filmed a couple of us painting for an educational travel program, and who knows, we might be on Chinese TV! Maybe the program will end up here?
Four Painters, One Car, One Day
After our morning adventure, and a much needed break we headed to Point Lobos for more glorious painting time… some of us were hot in the morning, and freezing in the shade in the afternoon ~ the eternal challenge of the Plein Air Delight!
- Bathed in Sun, Pt. Lobos ~ Karin H. Leonard
Two of us schlepped all of our stuff way out beyond the far point of Cypress Grove, for some awesome vistas. While the rocks and water were bathed in golden autumn light, we were freezing in the shade. The heat of the morning was long forgotten ~ too hot or too cold, the eternal challenge of the Plein Air Delight! Yet the timeless beauty of Point Lobos worked its spell…until we were frozen solid – almost that is….
Plein-Air in Tuileries Gardens
Painting in Tuileries Gardens
Dear friends ~ back from travelling in Europe and visiting family,I wanted to share a bit of the journey with you. Only got to paint a couple times, but enjoyed it sooo much!
My husband and I spent a few days in Paris, and we both fell in love with the city of lights, so full of Art, life and charm. I hadn’t been there in over 20 years, and never as an impressionist painter ~ what a treat to finally visit the gorgeous Musee D’Orsay , I went there twice! Then, standing inside Musee De L’Orangerie with Monet’s huge Water Lily paintings felt like the holy chapel of Impressionism, and visiting breathtaking Giverny was a pilgrimage to the Mecca of Monet.
Tuileries Gardens, o/c, 8x10
Awash in color and paintings, I snuck in my own humble attempt, a quick plein air pleasure at delightful Tuileries Gardes, in front of the Louvre.
And while this is not the great wild outdoors, the beautiful parks of Paris offer precious green sanctuary amidst busy city bustle. Like all city parks, they deserve to be painted, appreciated and protected.
Now back in the USA, I am looking forward to paint many of our glorious parks ~ hope to see you out there!:-)
Cheers, Karin
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