Passion Overhead

"Passion Overhead"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard
There are times when I'm able to conjure up a painting that represents the passion I actually feel. A passion that my camera can't portray accurately. Yet my paint and brush, in this particular piece, have placed the beauty of these colors exactly where I wanted them.  Let's go to this place.

The upper layer of yellow is more orange than it appears here. Just perfect with the purples.  And the blue is not quite as intense.

 Carol

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Daylight Moon

"Daylight Moon"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard
It had been cloudy the night before, with no sign of Her Majesty's girth or presence. But as the sun rose, it was breathtaking to see her stage presence as she made her final curtsey over the frosted peaks. 

This painting was inspired after a difficult day, made when I didn't think I had it in me. Alas, I do now!

Carol

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Storm Cloud

"Storm Cloud"
8" x 6"
Pastel on canvas



















The stormy sky in the distance shone in complements — blue on top, orange below.  It was still and dry where I stood, but knew that would soon change.  The cloud was moving toward me. 

 This painting was not done on a black canvas, but white, toned with red and blue. You an see some of the purple in the grass in the bottom right.  Purple was my standard toning color until black came along.

Carol

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Another Day

"Another Day"
12" x 12"
Pastel on gessoed canvas panel
The night had been long, lonely, and cold. I looked forward to morning beginning another day. And what a beauty it was. Those of you who struggle through the night, remember that tomorrow is another day, and it has the potential to be ... colorful.

 I had color notes from a few other paintings to use as inspiration for this painting, nothing concrete to look at. The place originated in my heart.

Carol

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Foothills

"Foothills"
8" x 20"
Pastel on watercolor board
The peaks in the distance looked like mountains to me, but the locals laughed when I referred to them as such. The big boys soar well above these, but they're also quite a distance from my friend's home. So I settle for the foothills when I visit my girlfriend in Colorado. 

I broke two pieces of my hard pastel as I began this painting. When I picked up one of the broken pieces, I squiggled its side, instead of the tip, on the board. It left a nifty mark. I did the entire painting with the sides of broken pieces.  It has an Impressionistic quality to it. And once again, the subtleties are not captured by the camera. It's pretty translucent and overlapped in reality.

Carol

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Colorado Moose Calf

"Colorado Moose Calf"
7" x 8.5"
Pastel on sanded paper
We had driven for two days without seeing any wildlife, then critters began appearing out of nowhere, or maybe we finally acclimated to our surroundings and could see the forest for the trees.  

This calf was on one side of the meandering stream and the cow was on the other.  Thankfully, I was not between them when the opportunity to photograph them came.

Carol

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Over Yonder

"Over Yonder"
5" x 6.5"
Pastel on sanded paper
It was more like a river than a creek, the blue ribbon that snaked between a stand of pines, running downhill from the mountains. I followed it for a few miles in my car before I lost it for good. 

This was a fun exercise in layering land masses, one in front of the other, determining the actual color of each section and replicating it with a limited array of colors.

Carol

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From the Peak

"From the Peak"
6" x 6"
Pastel on  sanded paper
On the way down Pikes Peak, while riding the Cog Railway, I saw how flat Colorado is to the east, once you get to the base of the mountain. Colorado Springs is the final flat before the Rockies jut into the brilliant blue sky the rest of that State. 

Here's a quick study of a piece I'll probably paint as an oil painting some day.

Carol

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Along the Way

"Along the Way"
7" x 5"
Pastel on sanded paper
I looked out the window when I wakened from a nap and saw that the landscape had changed drastically. The trees had dropped their leaves, the roadside pebbles had turned into sheer cliffs, the plains had erupted into mountains and the moon was dotting an imaginary letter i.  

I'm on an imaginary trip tonight. I saw this image and had to try to paint it.

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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