Karen Lynn Ingalls Contemporary Art
(707) 942-0197
  • Home
  • About the Artist
    • About Karen
    • Artist's Statement
    • Résumé
  • Paintings
    • Land, Trees, Sky
    • Vineyards
    • Beauty from Ashes
    • Spring
    • Desert
    • Coast
  • Videos
  • News
  • Art Classes and Workshops
    • Online Acrylic Painting Classes
    • Acrylic Painting
    • Mixed Media Art Cards
    • Drawing
    • Art Workshops
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Project Archives
  • Mixed Media Website
  • Jessel Gallery Videos
  • Climate Change

Mustard and Mt. St. Helena in process - II

2/28/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Mustard and Mt. St. Helena, in process • acrylics on panel • 8"x10" • © 2013 Karen Lynn Ingalls
I've continued working on Mustard and Mt. St. Helena some more tonight – it's developing! Each successive layer brings a little more fine tuning.
Picture
Mustard and Mt. St. Helena, in process • acrylics on panel • 8"x10" • © 2013 Karen Lynn Ingalls
You can see here how, besides the evolution of the sky, there's more development of the details of mustard flowers in the foreground and the purpley winter vines behind them. But I'm not done yet. The joy is in the process... it's as much a process of discovery as anything else.
0 Comments

Mustard and Mt. St. Helena in process

2/26/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Mustard and Mt. St. Helena • first stage • © 2013 Karen Lynn Ingalls
Mt. St. Helena rises above the Napa Valley floor just north of Calistoga. This field is part of an old farm called The Yellow Rose, on the upper edge of town. Every year the field is filled with mustard flowers, and the winter vines of the vineyard behind them looks vaguely purpley. I've painted it before, in a different, cooler, palette, and a very different size - 36"x48", in contrast to this small 8"x10" painting on panel.
Picture
Mustard and Mt. St. Helena • second stage • © 2013 Karen Lynn Ingalls
Mustard and Mt. St. Helena is another one of the small paintings on panels I'm working on for my show at Taste of Yountville in three weeks. I begin with the basic composition, then with blocking in the large areas of color.
Picture
Mustard and Mt. St. Helena • third stage • © 2013 Karen Lynn Ingalls
It's a process of painting successive layers of color, with each layer underneath influencing what's on top of it, and breaking down the large areas into smaller and smaller levels of detail with each layer.
One of the things I appreciate about painting with acrylics is that its quicker drying process makes layering so wonderful, and enables me to leave bits and pieces of the painting underneath, as I continue painting new layers.
Picture
Mustard and Mt. St. Helena • fourth stage • © 2013 Karen Lynn Ingalls
There's still more to come!
0 Comments

Ridgetop Vineyard

2/24/2013

6 Comments

 
Picture
Ridgetop Vineyard (working title) • 5"x7" • acrylics on panel • © 2013 Karen Lynn Ingalls
Time is flying by – and the Napa Valley Open Studios show at Taste of Yountville is only a few weeks away. I have so much work to finish! I have somewhere between half a dozen and ten pieces in process. To mis-paraphrase Samuel Johnson*, deadlines do concentrate the mind wonderfully....
Ridgetop Vineyard is painted of a view just down the road from my home, where vineyards line either side of the road down to Calistoga.
* As Samuel Johnson actually said, "Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully." Preparing for a show is quite a different sort of hanging altogether!
6 Comments

Eucalyptus at the Heart of the Vineyard

2/22/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Eucalyptus at the Heart of the Vineyard • 10"x8" • acrylics on panel • © 2013 Karen Lynn Ingalls
I think I've finished this painting... but you never know. I just finished it today, and I'll have to see what it's telling me tomorrow.
0 Comments

Strolling around the Napa River Inn

2/17/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Napa River Inn at twilight, the evening before Valentine's Day (the inn's entrance is under the flag) • photo © Karen Lynn Ingalls
On Wednesday, I brought my giclee canvases of The Red Tree to the Napa River Inn, so the good folks at the inn could hang them Thursday morning, just in time for Valentine's Day. When I emerged, it was just that magical twilight time when the sky is not yet dark – still a little apricot-colored above the horizon – but deepening up above. I thought, what a perfect time it would be to walk around to the river, and see the view.
Picture
Walkway to the courtyard at the Napa River Inn • photo © Karen Lynn Ingalls
Walking along the north side of the building, towards the river, the walkway to the courtyard was lit and looked enchanting. The Inn is in a complex of buildings at the site of Napa's historical mill - you can see the mill's silos above.
Picture
View along the Napa River, looking north • photo © Karen Lynn Ingalls
It's just a short stroll past the courtyard to the Napa River... looking north towards the bridge and the last remnants of the sunset, I was enchanted – and ever so glad I had brought my camera in the car. The Napa Artwalk is back here – a series of sculptures sited near the buildings, and facing the river. It's a lovely place to stroll and enjoy the artwork.
Picture
Looking south along the Napa River, the back of the inn • photo © Karen Lynn Ingalls
Turning south, I passed along the back side of the inn – see the balconies above, lit ever so captivatingly? There's a little garden with a fountain tucked in between the walkway and the building, too. My artwork may be in some of those rooms now....
Picture
Napa's historic mill, from the river side • photo © Karen Lynn Ingalls
Past the back of the inn, and the little garden with the fountain, is the courtyard behind the mill. With palm trees! Palm trees have such engaging silhouettes....
Picture
The back of the Napa General Store • photo © Karen Lynn Ingalls
Continuing along the walk by the river, I came to the back of the Napa General Store. The tall metal spirals, lit up, are grape destemmers used at the beginning of the winemaking process. Bins of grapes are poured in troughs where the destemmers are turning. I like them as lights, too, though they do look wickedly sharp.
Picture
View of the Napa River, looking south • photo © Karen Lynn Ingalls
Here's the view of the river heading south of Napa. Far off (you can't really tell here) there were a couple of folks in a little boat, slowly rowing. It was actually quiet enough for me to hear their oars splashing in the water as they drew closer. I thought it seemed like a wonderful time for a boat ride (especially if there'd be enough moonlight to get home by).
Picture
Along the south side of the complex, Angele Restaurant • photo © Karen Lynn Ingalls
I wasn't the only person out for a stroll. Spring has come early (let's hope it holds!), and the weather was lovely and balmy. This view looks back towards the back of the mill, from where I'd come. I like the sign on the side of the restaurant, and the appealing little lights across the tops of the building.
Picture
Back in the parking lot, where I started • © Karen Lynn Ingalls
Then it was around the corner, back to where I started my delightful twilight stroll. I'm so glad my artwork has gone to such a lovely home!
0 Comments

Signing Giclees for the Napa River Inn

2/16/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
A new giclee reproduction on canvas of my painting "The Red Tree" awaits my signature. • photo © 2013 Karen Lynn Ingalls
Last spring, when I was first contacted by a designer who'd been looking at my artwork on the internet, I had no idea where it would lead. The design project was for the Napa River Inn, in the historic Napa Mill, on the river right in the old, and wonderfully revitalized, section of downtown Napa.
Ultimately, I was one of four local artists whose paintings were chosen for four newly redesigned luxury suites. And for the first time I was reproducing my work – four giclees on canvas, one for each of the four rooms.
What's a giclee (pronounced ZHEE-clay - it's French), you might ask? It's basically a reproduction printed on a very large, specialized inkjet printer, with multiple colors of archival (very long-lasting) inks, able to print on large, heavy papers or canvas.
Picture
It's a little fuzzy, but my thanks to a friend for photographing me as I signed the giclees, so you could get the idea!
For these, my printer, Dave Courtney of Dacor Imaging, builds stretcher bars and stretches the canvas over them, then sprays them multiple times with his own special mixture of an archival, protective spray. 
Last weekend I learned that Napa River Inn wanted six more giclees in time for Valentine's Day! Dave worked hard to get them done, along with giclees for one of my favorite local painters, Beverly Wilson, and Gail Toland, whom I haven't yet met. All three of us were chosen!
Picture
Giclee reproductions on canvas of "The Red Tree," all lined up to go to the Napa River Inn • photo © 2013 Karen Lynn Ingalls
So, the day before Valentine's Day, I drove to Napa to collect them - six big (30"x40") reproductions on canvas, all looking absolutely gorgeous, in protective bags for the journey. I signed each one, and we loaded them carefully in my car. The Inn has promised us painters a tour soon, so we can see how these look in the rooms - I can hardly wait!
0 Comments
    Picture

    Karen Lynn Ingalls

    I am an artist in Napa and Sonoma Counties, in California. I paint colorist landscapes of rural California, teach art classes and lessons, and live in Calistoga, California. I also teach private, group, and corporate art workshops in Napa Valley, Sonoma County, and other parts of Northern California.

    Archives

    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    October 2012
    September 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011

    Categories

    All
    Art Classes & Workshops
    Art Classes & Workshops
    Art Event
    Artists
    Art Organization
    Art Show
    Art Workshop
    Bohemian New York
    California Lawyers For The Arts
    Calistoga
    Chrissy Field
    Collections
    Demonstration
    Desert
    Drawing
    Inspiration
    Mark Di Suvero
    Miniatures
    Napa Valley Open Studios
    Painting
    Painting In Process
    San Francisco
    SFMOMA
    Still Life

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Follow me on Facebook!
    Picture
    Follow my art workshops on Facebook!
    Picture
    Follow Napa Valley Open Studios on Facebook!
Napa Valley art workshops
Learn more about Karen Lynn Ingalls's art workshops at www.NapaValleyArtWorkshops.com.
Learn more about 
Karen Lynn Ingalls' 
art workshops on NapaValleyArtWorkshops.com.
All text and images © 2017 Karen Lynn Ingalls, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.
All text and images are the copyright of Karen Lynn Ingalls, unless otherwise stated, and may not be reproduced without her express written permission.