Embrace

"Embrace"
9" x 12"
Alcohol Ink on Yupo
Oh, boy, you must think I've abandoned my oils for alcohol ink. Well, I haven't. In fact, while these are posting, I'm working on commission pieces, including a dog portrait! Yes. I'm doing a pastel painting of a pooch. 

Here is a combination of many of the techniques I learned from Pat Hamm. My work is nothing like hers. It would be almost impossible for me to duplicate her efforts in this medium. Nope, hers are hers, mine are quite definitely mine.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
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Slice

"Slice"
12" x 12"
Acrylic and then some
I'm trying new things. New to me, anyway.  This one is in the style of Carol Nelson, a Colorado artist. I wanted to see if I could use her cruciform format and the Golden liquid colors I've come to enjoy on the past couple of paintings. I liked the process, but as I did it, other ideas flooded my head, as often happens when there are no parameters.  Oh, and the entire surface is coated in a layer of joint compound, carved and wrinkled under saran wrap before it dried.  

It was fun, but I'm pretty sure I'll keep exploring. I'll be going to a workshop in a couple of weeks, so it's good to loosen the shackles a bit.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
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Splat!

"Splat!"
12" x 12"
Acrylic on canvas panel
Despite the random appearance of this study in value, line and texture, I guided the rivulets across the canvas with the tip of a palette knife and an atomizer. There is a painting underneath the tributaries that I painted last night with the intention of glazing over it with gesso tonight. Once that dried, I set forth with the black and finally the red to finish the piece. It's a completely different palette for me, not to mention ... style.  I'm on an adventure!  Oh, and this time I will be making reservations, taking my camera and eating out.  I'll be back early next week. 

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
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Aqueous Synapses

Aqueous Synapses
16" x 20"
Oil on wrapped canvas 
The blues vary in this piece from Prussian to cobalt to ultramarine and then violets and purples galore. They are not reproducing accurately in the photo, as it's more limited than the eye in categorizing colors. 

I have a few more canvases to cover in this subject matter, but it will be a few days before I can get to them.  I'm building a new website currently, too. I'll announce when it's ready to be unveiled. Nothing new has been added to it for almost two years. Then I'll freshen my blog, too.

Carol

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Aqua-linear Synapses

"Aqua-linear Synapses"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas 
Words are not flowing as fluidly as my brush did as I sit here tonight to write about this image. I enjoyed where my brain directed my hand and let it create the sense of aqueous space that you see, but I can't describe it. I plan to make another tomorrow, and we'll see if I can find words any easier than tonight. 

Carol

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Celestial Undertones

"Celestial Undertones"
12" x 36"
Oil on museum wrapped canvas



















In a darker part of the sky is a more peaceful world, not as rambunctious as yesterday's red and orange section. Oh, it's active and has a lot going on, but it could also be that this is merely a slice of the heavens. 

 I painted both of these paintings, yesterday's included, in every direction. I have not signed them, as I'm not certain which direction they should hang. Perhaps I'll sign the backs and wire them to be hung any of four ways.  They are also painted on the sides, so won't require frames. This one is two inches deep on the sides and the art wraps around.

Carol

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Julie's Strokes

"Julie's Strokes"
6" x 6"
Pastel on black panel
I painted with a group of people the other day.  I had finished one piece and was moving on to another when the woman to my left stepped back from her large canvas. Primary colors, I noted. She stepped up to her canvas and smeared a swath of red orange vertically. I took a red orange pastel and applied a similar stroke. When she used yellow, so did I. She crossed, I crossed, but not in the same place. Within thirty minutes I had completed a painting using Julie's strokes, but with my composition. 

Carol

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Silver and Gold

"Silver and Gold"24" x 24"Mixed media
I was feeling the stress of the week so I got out my joint compound and a trowel.  I drizzled acrylic onto the white plaster and spread it on the canvas with the blade. Cool blue to earthen brown it went. Then to add some spice to the mix, I applied gold leaf and some silver leaf that I had leftover from a mural painting job.  It's not my usual fare, but I'm in the midst of painting house portraits again and needed to paint something different.

Carol

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Salton Sea

"Salton Sea"
12" x 12"
Mixed media on canvas
Google Maps makes it possible to explore places from the air I never saw while piloting myself.  Now I enjoy exploring the country's topographical features from the comfort of my computer.  Southern California has the largest inland sea, at the lowest altitude on earth.  It formed back in 1905 when the Colorado River flooded.  Here is my take on the phenomenon.  

Carol  

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