“Ventana Afternoon” painting

“Ventana Afternoon”, 2008, acrylic on canvas, 12×9″

In Big Sur, on California’s rugged and very scenic coast, lies a remarkable retreat. The Ventana Inn is not so much a hotel or a resort as it is a secluded sanctuary tucked into the woods, a place to REALLY get away from it all. This is not a place to “see and be seen”, rather it is a place to slip away from the madding crowds and enjoy natural surroundings in complete luxury and peace.

The grounds of the Ventana Inn provide hiking trails for the more adventurous guests. One trail, quite level and well-marked (and even lit at night), leads to the inn’s world-class restaurant, Cielo. (Guests who prefer not to traipse through the woods for their dinner have the option of golf-cart transport via back roads.) Other trails snake through the grounds, quickly leaving behind the gloriously landscaped vicinity of the guest rooms for the rugged surrounding hills.

It was on one of these latter paths, late in the afternoon, that I came upon this scene. The sun, low in the sky, cast its warm light on the pine trees and the grassy hill. Usually I hike earlier in the afternoon for safety’s sake, to ensure plenty of daylight for the return trip. In this case, I had ambled only a few minutes from my room and therefore felt quite safe to venture out so close to sunset. Thus the angle of the sun is particularly low, and I delighted in the way the pine trees caught the warm amber glow. Shortly after snapping the shot, I realized the sun was just about to slip behind a hill, and it was high time for me to return to the civilized sanctuary of my room.

It is more than a year later now, but I finally painted this painting from my snapshot. Good thing digital photos keep well.

This painting is available for $280 unframed or $330 framed, and can be shipped anywhere. It is wired and ready to hang. The edges are finished so framing is optional.

Email inquiries welcome: info@barbarajcarter.com

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