Landscape painter Ada Belle Champlin was born in 1875, in St. Louis, Missouri. After living for some time in Chicago, Illinois, where she attended the Art Institute of Chicago from 1886-1890, she moved to San Diego, California in 1910, then Pasadena, California in 1916, where she painted views of the city. She also had a home in Carmel, and would spend her time between both residences, painting many pictures in Carmel, inspired by the beautiful coastal town. She was part of the founding, in 1927, of the Carmel Art Association.

From the 1920s, Champlin painted primarily California landscapes, though she painted briefly in Zion Canyon, in Utah, in 1935. She had earlier painted landscapes of Galveston, Texas; Cape Cod, Massachusetts; an...