Since the late 1800's, artists have been drawn to the brilliant light and the year-round sunshine that makes Southern California a painter's paradise. The perfect weather has long inspired artists to pack up their easels and canvases and hike along the beaches or the mountains and record the landscape directly and spontaneously, as the French say, en plein air.

Johanna Girard is one of the new generation of artists that is joining a long tradition of California plein air painters She often instructs informal plein air painting workshops at the Los Angeles County Arboretum, or at Descanso Gardens in La Canada.

Please click on any of the small images at the right to view a larger version of the painting and to read about the location where it was painted.