Pond at the Divide

"Pond at the Divide"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard
I'm revisiting, by way of photos only, one of my favorite places, the Continental Divide near Winter Park, Colorado.  I shot so many photos of this little retention pond that I get to paint it over and over again.  

I'm in a landscape kind of mood tonight. I'd love to be driving around the western states gathering subject matter for the next few years. Oh, to be in the passenger seat saying, "Stop. Back up. Got it.  Thank you so much for bringing me along."

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
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Come Home

"Come Home"
5" x 7"
Oil on hardboard
There are places without houses that feel like home. Where comfort comes easily, thoughts never roil or distort. This place is one of them, and tonight I found comfort in painting this place that beckons … come home. 

Here's my favorite Colorado pond again. It brings me such comfort and joy.

Love,
Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
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Pond at the Divide

"Pond at the Divide"
6'" x 6"
Pastel on  gessoed canvas panel
I revisited my photos from a trip to the Continental Divide, near Winter Park, Colorado in 2010 and felt the need to paint this familiar little pond again. I liked it as much in this medium as when I've painted it in oil. 

 I was a guest of Winter Park artist, Karen Vance, at Devil's Thumb Resort on that trip. I worked for Karen's father in his art studio back when Karen and I were each looking for new careers. She moved to Colorado, I stayed in Illinois.

Carol

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Devil's Thumb Pond

"Devil's Thumb Pond"
11" x 14"
Oil on wrapped canvas
Devil's Thumb Ranch in Winter Park, Colorado is on the Continental Divide and has a small pond on site.  It's one of my most favorite places to paint.  This particular piece is a commission for someone who was married at the ranch. "Best wishes for a long and happy union!"

Carol

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Divide

"Divide"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas
I came across a photo I took of the Continental Divide and felt like painting it again. I don't know how many times I've done it in the course of two and a half years since I've been there, but this little pond is one of my simple, favourite places. No jagged mountains, no rocky rivers, no canyons or wildlife.  Just a cute reflecting pond.

Carol

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At the Divide

"At the Divide"
6" x 14"
Oil on hardboard
I'm sitting in front of one of my most favorite places to paint and to be — the Continental Divide in Winter Park, Colorado.  It's a source of comfort—like macaroni and cheese is to some people.  If I need shoring up, all I have to do is scroll through my photos of this little pond and I can reflect on great memories and loving thoughts.  I hope you have such an image, or a place of your own.  

I gessoed 41 new hardboard panels today. Busy work. Tomorrow—REAL work—back to The Maroon Bells!

Carol 


Alpenglow

"Alpenglow"
8" x 10" 
Oil on wrapped canvas

When the sun is just below the horizon, a horizontal red glowing band can sometimes be observed on the opposite horizon. Alpenglow is easiest to observe when mountains are illuminated but can also be observed when the sky is illuminated through backscattering, according to Wikipedia. 

This is at Devil's Thumb Resort where I stayed in Colorado.  I was fascinated with the pink light cast back on the mountains after the sun had set.

Carol


"Pond at the Divide"
12" x 12"
Acrylic on canvas panel
The Continental Divide fascinated me. Or maybe it was this small body of water that reflected the vivid sky in that part of the country.   I've painted it many times, and still come back to do it again every so often.  

I knifed the true local colors contained in the photo onto a black canvas. Then I added subtleties to define the mountains, flats and the grasses.

Carol

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Divide in the Distance

"Divide in the Distance"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard
Late summer on the Continental Divide was a tapestry of color and textures my Midwestern senses were unaccustomed to.  Everything was different, interesting, passionate. It was good to be in a place where passion ran as wild as a... moose.  


I've painted this little pond before, but I try to capture a different view of the Divide when I do.  I loved this quiet place that reflected the sky so beautifully.

Thank you for being here.
Carol

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Continental Divide

"Continental Divide"
6" x 6"
Oil on flat canvas
The Continental Divide slumbered behind the trees along this creek that I passed several times a day near the resort where I stayed in Winter Park.


This is a thirty minute painting. According to Robert Genn of The Painter's Keys, it's good to do them with some regularity... "to focus and pay attention, if only for a short time. It's been identified as a primary key to the development of human effectiveness."

Trying to focus here...
Carol

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Devil's Thumb Ranch

"Devil's Thumb Ranch"
"12 x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas
Sky reflections sparkled in the grass as I crossed a tiny bridge on the property of Devil's Thumb Ranch at the Continental Divide in Colorado. I stopped to document the rapidly changing light as the sun dropped behind me. It wasn't much as waterways go, but as a serpentine mirror, it was fab. 

Yes, I paint landscapes.  My first watercolor paintings were rural house portraits for realtors to give as closing gifts. I was kept busy enough back in the seventies to learn to use the medium. That led to teaching watercolor twice a week for ten years.  After that I branched off into acrylics when I was asked to paint a mural. That started a fifteen year career of standing on ladders and scaffolding!  I've only recently begun to paint in this fabulous medium of oils.

This painting is listed with, and for sale through Dailypaintworks.com.

Thank you for visiting,
Carol