Sentinel Valley Oak – Behind the Scenes

For this third painting in my California Regions series, the design was focused on the valley of California.  Both sides of my family had settled in Northern California in the mid 1800s, 5 generations back.  I was blessed to be raised on my family’s ranch surrounded by beautiful large valley oaks, with one of the most ideally shaped oaks with its massive twisting branches located right in our front yard.  For me, those trees best symbolized my early years and the valley where I grew up.  Subsequently, I have made use of the acorn and oak leaf in various forms in decorating my home.  When trying to choose a visually interesting or iconic valley location to focus on, I decided it should represent the Napa and Sacramento Valleys because of the emotional connection to home, with its furrowed crop rows surrounded by the coast and Sierra foothills.