Saarloos Sunset Jane Ramsey

Saarloos Sunset, 8 x 10, plein air watercolor

My favorite time of day to paint... that magical hour when light, color and shadows intensify. The winds pick up in the evening through Ballard Canyon. The old windmill creaks in the breeze. The earth is warm underfoot from the day's sun.  One of my favorite spots to paint in Los Olivos, CA - the Saarloos family's vineyards.

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Lavender in Los Olivos Jane Ramsey

 "Lavender Fields," 17 x 7 plein air watercolor, Los Olivos, CA

Just outside of the little town of Los Olivos, CA is a charming lavender farm, Clairmont Farms. You enter down a long driveway lined with very old olive trees with great gnarled trunks. Beyond the trees' wispy long branches waving in the wind, is a sea of lavender that spans the property with majestic oaks springing up from the masses of color. Surreal.

I wish you could scratch and sniff the monitor! The smell was intoxicating and as I made my way out to the center of the field to do the painting above it became stronger. I set up under the shade of one of the oaks... the ground underneath crunchy with dry grasses. Beyond the lavender was a farmer's field in vivid greens. Soft breezes were filled with perfume. Honey bees were buzzing happily among the flowers.

"Sea of Lavender," 14 x 8 plein air watercolor, Los Olivos, CA

I  returned the next day to paint again. The blooms were at their peak and I didn't want to miss another chance to paint. When I drove by a week later the purples had turned to blues and they had begun to harvest the blooms.