It’s not unusual for Grace Schlesier to get up before the sun rises, grab a cup of coffee, and head outside to her gardens, still wearing her robe, set up her paints, and begin to capture the beautiful flowers she lovingly tends to on her one-acre property in San Diego, California.

“If I’m going to paint my flower garden, I decide the day before what I’m going to do and get everything, except the paints, set up for the next morning,” she says. “I have no preconceived ideas. I want to be flexible; I want to let the scene pull me in.”

At other times, Schlesier ventures farther from home to capture the beauty of the ocean, following the coast from California up to Washington State, or heading to the Sierra or San Jacinto Mountains.

Grace Schlesier

Winter at South Lake
Oil
24″x30″
“Near Bishop, California, at nearly 10,000 feet, when the snow covers the rugged mountains and the sun comes out, it’s so beautiful and a must-paint day. On this very cold morning, I drove to a favorite spot and painted for a couple of hours. When I finished, I tried to pull my protective vinyl gloves off and found they were frozen to my hands. Fortunately with my hands next to the car heater, I was able to pull them off.”

Grace Schlesier

Gentle Surf
Oil
24″x30″
“I live close to La Jolla and paint there often. This is a larger piece done in my studio from a 9” by 12” study done while at the beach in La Jolla. It’s one of those sunny, carefree days along the water’s edge, and you feel the blessings of just being alive.”