The arty side of the California State Capitol

California State Capitol building, from the side • © 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Three years ago, Arts Council Napa Valley approached State Senator Pat Wiggins, our representative in Sacramento, and asked her if she would like to choose artwork from the Napa Valley to display in her Sacramento offices. She said yes, and chose two artists — painter Molly Corbett Kruse and me.

Lofty Oak © 2003 Karen Lynn Ingalls

She loved our work! I was honored that she chose one of my paintings, Lofty Oak, as the image for her holiday card the following December. And what originally was intended to be a six-month show lasted three years.…

Last week, Molly and I drove to Sacramento, to pick up our paintings, and had an art-filled day at the Capitol. It was a day to remember!

Molly and Koren on the floor of the Senate Chamber (obviously not in session – the new Senators were just sworn in a few days earlier, and the new governor and lieutenant governor will be sworn in after the new year). Notice the television camera artfully hidden behind the draperies? • © 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Koren Benoit, art curator at the Capitol, gave us a special tour, showing us paintings in offices and committee rooms that most visitors don't get to see. After lunch, we saw even more with a Capitol docent. What a wonderful day!

An office in the State Capitol, with one heck of a gorgeous painting (I wish I'd written down the painter's name) • © 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

I'll be sharing some of what I saw and learned in my next few posts here and on my art teaching blog, Napa Valley Art Camp.

Combing through my photographs

Franz Valley School Road vineyard • © 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

The next stage of my painting process is looking at all those photographs I took when autumn colors were at their loveliest. As I have nearly 650 photographs to go through, it's a pretty extensive part of the process.

Not only do I look through all the images and choose the ones I like best, but I also crop photos to find new compositions, and adjust the lighting to approximate more nearly my memory (and imagination). I resize and save them, labeling them so that I can identify where I took the photo. The photo above, by the way, was taken on the way to my studio.

Thank heavens for digital photography! It allows me to take plenty of photos, giving me lots of images to work with in the paintings I'll be working on throughout the year.

A (cyber) wall of paintings

Wall of paintings • image and paintings © 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

I've posted fourteen of my paintings on Facebook (www.facebook.com/KarenLynnIngallsArt), in an album, California Landscape Paintings - Portfolio 1, that, when viewed all at once, becomes a (cyber) wall of paintings, with the images stacked salon-style. I'm enjoying seeing the color and impact of them viewed all together in a way that they could never be seen in life, because of the differences in their sizes and the difficulties of finding a wall big enough....

Lofty Oak, private collection

chosen by Senator Pat Wiggins for her 2008 holiday card

© 2003 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Next week, I'll be traveling to Sacramento with painter Molly Corbett Kruse. Three years ago state Senator Pat Wiggins chose our work to grace the walls of her office. During an arts advocacy day not long after, when arts advocates met her to lobby for the arts, she enthused about my paintings, including Country Road, the top left painting on the wall above. She also chose another of my paintings, Lofty Oak, above, as the image for her holiday card the following December. Because of her love for our work, what was originally intended to be a six-month show was extended indefinitely.

Now that Senator Wiggins's term has ended, Molly and I will pick up our paintings on Tuesday. We're looking forward to a tour of the Capitol! After I get home, I intend to rephotograph a couple of them, and add them and one or two other paintings to the wall.

More photos from the road - II

Napa Valley trees and vineyards, Silverado Trail • © 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

More photos from the road, taken from along the Silverado Trail.... We had a little respite from the rain, between storms.

Napa Valley trees and vineyards, Three Palms Vineyard, Silverado Trail • © 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Frost has kissed some of the vineyards, browning the colors in them a little, and the wind is blowing leaves off the vines. It's curious how one vineyard can be full of leaves in strong color, while another across the road or next door can be nearing leaflessness....

Napa Valley trees and vineyards, Three Palms Vineyard, Silverado Trail • © 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Three Palms Vineyard is one I keep photographing, nearly every year, though I haven't yet painted it. I love the shapes of the palm trees standing, iconic, in the middle of the vines. It helps that the road rises above the vineyard, giving me a good view of lots of color as I stand on the side of the road. There's a little too much traffic and not enough room there to use my stepladder for added height.

Napa Valley trees and vineyards, just off the Silverado Trail • © 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

I particularly love discovering little roads and byways I haven't yet explored. This was one of them, just off the trail. Often these little roads don't lead far, blocked by the Palisades, the steep hills rising to the east – or they become ranch roads, private property unless you know the right people and have connections.

Napa Valley trees and vineyards, Silverado Trail • © 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

I don't have connections on this road (yet), but it leads just far back enough to take me to some heavenly views. It was a beautiful afternoon.

More photos from the road

View of upper Napa Valley from Mt. St. Helena • © 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

As the rain pounds the roof, I think of the leaves falling to the ground, the cold weather and frost to come, and the inevitable curling and browning of the leaves that will follow it. I am glad I was able to get as many photographs this week as I was, while the weather was good.

View of upper Napa Valley from Mt. St. Helena • © 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

I love this time of year, with its glorious riot of colors. The vineyards are here what maple trees are to New England.

View of upper Napa Valley from Mt. St. Helena • © 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

It's important to me to take as many photographs as I can. Sorting through them, choosing, cropping, and printing them, all are jobs for rainy days, all preparatory for painting.

View of upper Napa Valley from Mt. St. Helena • © 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

I drove up Mt. St. Helena to get some faraway shots of the northern end of the valley, north of Calistoga. I've always thought it would be heavenly to take a balloon ride over the valley - aerial images of the vineyards and fields appeal to me, especially in the intense yellows and reds they wear in autumn. This isn't quite the same, but it's as close as I can manage with a Volvo and a highway....

On the side of Mt. St. Helena: the Volvo and the highway • © 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Preparing for winter

Photographing, south of Calistoga • © 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

You might wonder why I haven't been posting many new paintings lately. The reason is that, this time of year, once Open Studios have passed, I and the squirrels are busy preparing for winter.

Grapes hanging on the vines, south of Calistoga • © 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Like squirrels gathering nuts for the winter, I'm busy gathering images. This time of year is, for me, heaven on earth. Last year, our first frosts came in late October, and I'd missed the most beautiful colors. This year, with our weird combination of early rains and a cooler autumn (but no frost yet) is hard on growers and winemakers, but it is giving me beautiful images to photograph. I'm racing against time, though.

Photographing, south of Calistoga, looking towards Sterling Winery • © 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

The green grass is coming up, and the leaves really only began turning colors in earnest last week. Now they are proceeding apace – more yellow, more red, more glorious each day. But the rains have come, and they drive the leaves to the ground. I have to squeeze in as much time for photographing as I can, before the leaves have fallen. The days are short, I need to catch the light when it's just right, and I need to be in the right spot at the right time.

Photographing, west of Calistoga • © 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Gathering the images is only the beginning. Then I sort through everything – hundreds of photos (thank heavens for digital cards!), and choose, label, and resort my favorites. Later will come cropping and adjusting the colors and values in each photograph, and printing out the versions I like best, all before I get back to my empty and waiting canvases.

California afternoon

California Afternoon (working title) • © 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Here's a small painting I did a little while back... I love the early California kind of feeling the colors have. This spot is in Knights Valley, near Calistoga, at the northern end of the Napa Valley.

In spite of the half dozen or so paintings still partially completed – ones I was racing to work on before Open Studios – this painting and another small one I did at the same time keep calling to me. I'd like to see both of them on large canvases....

Scarecrows as art - III

Scarecrow by Michael Holmes, from the First Annual Calistoga Scarecrow Contest © photo 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

A little bit more from the First Annual Calistoga Scarecrow Contest.... (drumroll) the first place winner is... Michael Holmes, from Napa!

I wanted to share a few wonderful details of Michael Holmes's pumpkinhead scarecrow. Here's an overview – the scarecrow sits on a stump, with cornstalks around him.

Scarecrow by Michael Holmes, from the First Annual Calistoga Scarecrow Contest © photo 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

Despite a countenance whose friendliness looks questionable, this fellow shows his heart of gold as he shares popcorn with his crow friends. (Now, that's a nice way to spend your time in a cornfield... or anywhere.)

Scarecrow by Michael Holmes, from the First Annual Calistoga Scarecrow Contest © photo 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

There are so many exquisite little details, like the tendrils of the pumpkin stem, and the gestures of each of the crows.

Scarecrow by Michael Holmes, from the First Annual Calistoga Scarecrow Contest © photo 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

The crows are happily munching on popcorn. I wonder if the popcorn will bring in real crows, too - there are plenty in the neighborhood. Would they be intimidated by the ones they'd see here?

Crow by Michael Holmes, from the First Annual Calistoga Scarecrow Contest © photo 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

I love the simplicity and featheriness of the crow's newspaper wings. They flutter in a breeze.

Scarecrow by Michael Holmes, from the First Annual Calistoga Scarecrow Contest © photo 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

More crows enjoying their snacks. It's a nice harvest party....

Crow by Michael Holmes, from the First Annual Calistoga Scarecrow Contest © photo 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

This crow holds the scarecrow's number (for the competition). He's #13.

Pheasants by Michael Holmes, from the First Annual Calistoga Scarecrow Contest © photo 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

A couple of pheasants have joined the feast. They're made of feathers and natural materials.

Scarecrow by Michael Holmes, from the First Annual Calistoga Scarecrow Contest © photo 2010 Karen Lynn Ingalls

A last look at the tableau.... It really needs a name, don't you think? Scarecrow's Party? Friends' Feast? What name would you choose?

You can see more of Michael Holmes's design work (it's sumptuous and creative) at his website, www.michaelholmesdesigns.com.