Balboa Village Art Fair, Friday April 23, 2010, Esther Williams has a booth in this event.

BREAKING NEWS! I will have a booth in this Friday`s Balboa Village Art Fair! I will be there one day only from 11am-7pm. It is held in the parking lot and back alley section of the old Balboa Market on Balboa Blvd, Palm Ave and Bay St. See you there! Click on this link to go to the Balboa Village website for more details!

Sprawling to the Sea, New Seascape Oil Painting

"Sprawling to the Sea" 10"W x 8"H, oil on Linen Panel. I have more to say about this, I will add it later. $250 with frame. $200 without.

American Pie - Lobster Boat, Original Plein Air Painting by Esther J. Williams

"American Pie - Lobster Boat" 6"W x 6"H, oil on linen over panel. I discovered this boat when it was on a dry dock, uplifted in the boat yard a few months ago. I saw that the former name was being whited out and a new name was about to go on. The next time I saw the boat, the new owner was looking at the new paint job. I asked him why the name change and he said he bought it in a bankruptcy sale and since the boat already had bad luck, he didn`t think a new name would jinx it. He said a song kept playing over in his head on the way back east, you guessed it, "Bye, bye, Miss American Pie" He shortened it and I love it. The third time I discovered the boat, it was in a slip in the Dana Point Harbor. I was excited to see it again, drove home and got my easel and paints to come back. Like the song, I could not get this boat out of my mind and was glad for the chance to be able to paint a small workstudy like this.
Which brings to mind a quote I created this day:
"It's not the song you sing, it`s the voice you deliver it in."
By saying this, I am referring to the image that the artist uses to produce a painting must carry the artist`s style or maker`s mark. It is their unique way of expression. I have developed my unique style over the years and it's only going to get better with each painting.
I won a blue ribbon on Saturday, April 10, 2010 at the San Clemente Garden Festival, held in the San Clemente Community Center, downtown, SC, Calif. I painted the image you see below. I was asked to attend and paint some of the flower arrangements in the auditorium for the San Clemente Art Association. I looked around and didn`t pick a floral arrangement, I saw this gorgeous iron vase with a unique succulent plant pouring out of it like wine. It asked to be painted with it`s shape, so I did. It is titled, "Succulents in Iron Vase", 6"W x 8"H, oil on linen panel. Price is $100 without a frame. $140 with a gorgeous wide edge dark wood frame.



















I am the assistant director this year of SOCALPAPA`S Back Bay Show & Sale at the Muth Interpretive Center in Newport`s Back Bay. The show dates are July 24-25, 2010. There will be both a juried art show with the opening reception on July 23rd and an outdoor art sale on the 24th-25th. More info will be coming soon. This is going to be a big, important show! Mark your calendars! I will be there!

One last request, would you like to sign up for the Esther J. Williams - Newsletter? It is a monthly email newsletter chock full of show and award news, art, hikes into the wilderness and stories about my personal artist life. Sign up on the link!

Cool Shady Oak Tree, Oil Painting by Esther J. Williams

"Cool Shady Oak Tree" 18"W x 14"H, oil on stretched linen. I am welcoming spring with delight, the colors are blooming everywhere. My latest spring painting excursion results. I made another hiking trip into Bommer Canyon on March 21 to see my favorite oak tree in southern California. This tree is so big, you can fit three of me in the trunk. It survived a fire even. It completely shades the trail with filtering light lacing through the leaves and branches. It rests on the edge of a steep hill and down into a canyon. There is a broken branch on it that points to the mustard flower covered hill several hundred feet away. Since I was a little girl, I have loved oak trees, I used to climb them. Now I respect them greatly and wish to paint them again and again. This is a protected wilderness park in the old Irvine Ranch, Bommer Canyon is controlled by the City of Irvine. This painting is offered at $500.00 and will be framed. You can email me through here by clicking on my Profile and there is an email link there.

I invite you to come to an exhibition that I have a painting in. It is called "Small is Beautiful" at the new SOCALPAPA Gallery located in Newport Beach, CA. It is a show of over 70 small paintings done in the California Impressionist "Plein Air" style. Show begins April 3rd, Saturday, 2010 from 4-6pm with a cocktail reception. Come and meet the artists, I will be there. The show runs through June 13th, 2010. The new gallery is located within the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum, 600 East Bay Avenue, NB, CA 92661. My painting Balboa Bay Boats is a juried entry piece.



















I do have another oil painting in an art exhibition at Ironstone Vineyards in Murphy, CA. This was a juried show, part of the event called Spring Obsession. It is an annual art, flower and culinary weekend. The weekend was March 6-7, 2010, I did not attend unfortunately. I should've listed it on my blog previously but I have been so busy painting in March. The painting in the exhibition is titled "Rays of Light", 8"W x 10"H on stretched linen. Price $300, framed. Ironstone Vineyards is located at 1894 Six Mile Road, Murphys, CA 95247. The show runs through May 9, 2010. This is such a gorgeous winery, the owners are fabulous and so are the people who run it. The scenery is spectacular, it is in the foothills of the Sierras in gold country. True country, like the old wild west.