In the early 1900s , she traveled to La Zacualpa , Mexico , where her family was involved in a rubber plantation ; some of her most successful landscapes were made there . A few paintings in the collection of her most ardent collector indicate that at some time she traveled to Australia , although this trip can not be substantiated . She also traveled and sketched in " Maine , Mexico , and Washington State . " She lost nearly 400 of her works when her studio in the San Francisco Press Building was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and fire . While she remained an independent artist throughout her life and continued to exhibit after the fire , she never recovered financially , and was increasingly dependent on friends for support in her later years . The primary subject of her works was always Californian trees , either redwoods or , most successfully , the oak trees of the Berkeley and San Francisco hills . She developed two contrasting painterly styles , depending on her portrayal of light : either a thick impasto , used for her portrayal of redwoods and eucalyptus ; or more atmospheric effects to depict the foggy California hillsides and the coastal ranges . The majority of her known works are in two private collections , although some of her paintings are now in the collection of The Hearst Art Gallery , Saint Mary ’s College , Moraga , California — home of a substantial number of the paintings of William Keith
1906 earthquake and fire
1906 San Francisco earthquake
Annie Harmon