Valley

"Valley"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard 
I've been reading some old missives about applying paint to a canvas to create art, "The Boston School of Painting" by Frank Benson.  Choose the right value, he says, get plenty of paint on the brush, and apply it in one stroke — flat, don't fuzz it or fuss with it.  I'm not sure I can abide by those rules, but I tried it. Maybe it's appealing to someone.  

Carol  

Icy

"Icy"
9.5" x 6.5"
Pastel on sanded paper



















It's cold where I live, but not this cold, nor is it this barren. There's ice on the puddles, but they're not this expansive, nor this deep. Snow has fallen, but it won't still be here come spring. I'm thankful to live where it's appropriately wintery — not outrageous.  

The way I first finished this painting was to perfectly reflect the mountains in water with dry rocks on the shore of a body of water. It was boring. I was ready to fling it into the trash when a voice said, "Keep the mountains, blur the rest."  I did that and instead of tossing this sheet of watercolor paper, which is what I paint on, I'm pleased with its frigid iciness. 

Carol

Somewhere In The West

"Somewhere In The West"
5.5" x 7.5"
Pastel on sanded paper
I was in the West over the weekend and I may have left my heart there.  I saw things that made me feel alive, met people I plan to know better and revived a longing to live at a higher altitude.  

I painted this today, loosely using a reference photo of a Robert Genn painting.  I sanded a piece of watercolor paper, toned it with a red and a blue and sanded those colors into the paper to make a purple undercoat. I painted the light, or halation around the tips of the mountains.  It was a passionate endeavor, taking place on the heels of my extraordinary experiences of the past week. I've been ... blessed.

Carol

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Winding River

"Winding River"
10" x 20"
Oil on hardboard
I was looking to paint a winding river.  My own photos were not to my liking, so I found a site with winding rivers. I liked the composition and the subject matter of this scene, but I have no idea where it is,  It was listed as a copyright free, photo, so I cropped the parts I liked and had my way with it.

Carol

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