Join Me at the Ninth Annual Paint San Clemente Judged Fine Art Competition

Click on the above image to open it larger and be able to read the announcement. The Plein Air competition starts in 2 weeks!  My two day art sale is in 3 weeks!  It all takes place down in San Clemente, California.  The painting shown is for sale, it is called Blue Umbrellas, 6X8, oil on linen panel. 

Laguna Memory, 8X10, oil on linen, Laguna Beach seascape oil painting

"Laguna Memory"  8X10, oil on stretched linen.  Painted on location at Heisler Park, Laguna Beach, CA.  I spent a special day here painting with other LPAPA artist members on Memorial Day weekend.  The weather could not have been better, the colors were high key this day.  I walked around trying to decide what to paint, everything was so gorgeous.  I saw this cypress tree reaching out over the ocean bluff, as if it was pointing to the jutting rocks below and the clear coastal waters.  I thought it might be nice to include part of the cypress to frame and add a design element to the painting.  The bluff was made very warm in color and the rocks below have an added cooler blue over the warms to separate the two.  I used Cerulean blue in the sea and faded it out towards the southern coastal waters.  There was little tide and waves, so I painted in the swirling white water as it gently moved past the rocks.  I purposely left out people and any buildings in the distant bluffs to give this a serenity.  Price is $250.    The second image is how it looked when I left with it on location.  It fell on the seat of my Jeep and I spent 3 more hours studio time correcting the mishap.  Luckily, the seat of the Jeep only smeared it and no dirt got into it.  I think the accident was a good thing as I improved upon the plein air work by painting from the images I took later that afternoon in the studio.  Life of an artist is not as easy as it looks.

Blue Umbrellas, 6X8 oil on linen, plein air impressionism painting from Esther J. Williams

I went to the San Clemente Pier yesterday to paint in plein air.  I have to prep myself for the upcoming "Paint San Clemente Plein Air Competition from June 19 - 26th.  I will be a contestant for the eighth time this year.  I started competing in 2003 and it has become an annual event for me.  I love San Clemente, it has a beautiful pier, lots of clean beaches, historic clay tile roof homes, quaint shops, interesting people and pretty fine weather.  Yesterday was one of those fine weather days, a slight marine layer in the morning that parted to blue skies and gorgeous aqua colors in the ocean around the pier.  I decided to paint a portion of the pier since it is so long.  I just kept looking at how intense blue the umbrellas were on the outdoor deck of the Fisherman's Restaurant.  People were dotting the deck and strolling along the pier.  Such life everywhere!  The mid day sun was lighting up the cobalt blue color of the umbrellas and I just happened to have cobalt blue oil paint.  I also had a vintage tube of cerulean blue oil paint, both had to be played with. They are brilliant colors and cheered up the whole painting.   I toned down the rest of the composition using combinations of red-brown, ochre-brown and a seas green blend in the ocean and pier.  I spent a leisure 3 hours painting this on scene while watching hoards of Memorial Day weekenders arrive to bask in the sun on the coast around me.  It was a great day, I was productive and spent a little time sitting in my beach chair reading and eating my meal I brought.   I love days like this when life goes smoothly.  Today I did lots of housework which was drudgery, but I am not a rich artist who can afford a housekeeper.  Besides, I do it better.  Have a wonderful weekend, I am going to picnic with my family at some beach, not sure which one yet.  I will be painting in Laguna Beach tomorrow, Sunday, Saim Caglayan from LPAPA is giving a demonstration at Heisler Park, one of my favorite places to paint.  I will be posting a seascape again in a few days!  If interested in purchasing this piece, "Blue Umbrellas"  it is $100 plus a small shipping fee.  email me by clicking on View My Profile, my email address is there.

Beach Cove Morning by Esther J. Williams, a Crystal Cove Cottage

"Beach Cove Morning" Oil on stretched linen, 14"W x 11"H x 0.75" Depth. A cool Crystal Cove morning at the "Beaches Cottage" the one they filmed the movie "Beaches" at. It starred Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey, made in 1995? It is my favorite cottage here. I removed the ugly red picket stretched fence that borders all the closed cottages from the painting composition.
This is available for $385 without a frame or $420 with.














I won another honorable mention from the San Clemente Art Gallery on May 8, 2010. It was for "Alaskan Fishing Vessel", 12"W x 9"H, oil on linen. The painting is for sale there at the price of $300.00 with a black wood frame, gold inner trim. It will be on exhibition until June 17 or 18th, 2010, unless it is sold first.

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!

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