Another Parrish

"Another Parrish"
6" x 8"
Oil on canvas panel
The sky and mountains intrigued me, as did the palm-like, yet deciduous tree. It was fun to think about painting this in Buffalo Grove, Illinois at Christmas time 2014, when the original was painted around a hundred years ago. This may be my last Parrish piece for a while, but I certainly enjoyed it.

Oh, and today's my birthday :-)

Carol

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Morning On the Lake

"Morning On the Lake"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard 
The light was crisp that morning; not too many soft edges. on the clouds or the water. It was bound to be a fabulous day, no matter what. 

I used a heavier hand on this piece. Didn't blend my strokes as much as I normally do on sky paintings, and I like it. It's very painterly. Love the little bit of crisp water down in front, too.

Carol

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Red Sky Warning

"Red Sky Warning"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard 
The red sky was a warning of things to come. The storm was a day away, but definitely brewing. The coastal waters roiled, the birds darted and dove, keening a primal forewarning. 

No real storm or foreboding took place to produce this painting.  I had a LOT of cad red light on my brush and made the best of it. Prussian was the complement and then a little lemon yellow.  So dramatic.  

Carol

Surf

"Surf"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard
I've been yearning for my skin to be warm, moist and sunbaked. I've thought about the various beaches I've sunbathed on, and have willed my spirit to revisit them, if only for a moment. 

 Oh, to be forty degrees warmer than it is here today. Our weather is so blasted fickle.  If I painted this painting en plein air today, the white you see on this painting wouldn't be foam, but the ice breaking up on Lake Michigan and pounding into the sand.

Carol

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Oceanside Beach at Sunset

"Oceanside Beach at Sunset"
6" x 9"
Pastel on paper
There were lots of people still on the beach as the sun dipped into the Pacific. The wet sand reflected pink as the foamy surf receded.  How different from the rocky, cold beaches of Lake Michigan I'm accustomed to.  

 Pastel number four. I'm learning a lot with each attempt at making art with these chubby, sticks of product.

Carol

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Too Early To Be Up

"Too Early To Be Up"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard
It's spring, and the time changed, but for heaven's sake, it's still too early for me to be up when the sun is doing her morning magic over the lake near my home. Lake Michigan, that is.  It comes up, in my mind, from a night of rest in Michigan. I know it's silly, but that's the image I live with.  

I painted This with three new colors and one of my favourite new yellows, Indian Yellow.  I got a new tube of Naples,  Indanthrene Blue and Quinacridone Scarlet. I love the sky they make.  And I love fresh tubes of paint.

Carol

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Morning Over My Lake

"Morning Over My Lake"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard
My lake enjoyed a break from winter's harsh thrashing when a fifty-degree day blew through. Some of her ice melted when the temperatures rose, and warm rain puddled on her frozen surface like a tepid bath. Did it feel like a promise of Spring?  It did to me. 


I have a solo show coming up in July.  It seems like a long way off, but not really, when I consider I need some new large art. One of the large pieces I plan to exhibit will be a composite piece of about fifty of these sky paintings.  I have some ideas percolating as to how to accomplish my dream, but nothing firm yet.

Carol

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Reflecting

"Reflecting"
10" x 8"
Oil on canvas panel

There were bushes at the edge of the lake on the distant shore that had turned yellow and red before any on my side of the lake. I saw them that morning and decided to document them with only a few strokes.  

Quick, thick and juicy brush studies are fun to paint in thirty minutes or less. They loosen my hand, my heart and my mind for whatever I'm about to paint. It's an exercise that happens to become something tangible.

Carol

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Dawn Over the Lake

"Dawn Over the Lake"
8" x 10"
Oil on canvas panel
Morning crept in as usual; colourful, radiant and mystical, with no apparent sign of turmoil. Yet some had been brewing off shore, so very far away. How strange to hear of it, when it was so beautiful here. 

Lake Michigan is such a lovely place to see dawn. I'm glad I live near enough to her shores to enjoy the show on occasion.

Carol

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Watery Dawn


"Watery Dawn"
5" x 12"
Oil on hardboard  
Dawn lifts her silky veil to reveal the blush of a new day. Doze a few moments too long and you'll miss her show altogether. Best begin sipping your coffee in the darkest hour... and wait. It'll be worth your while.   

When I had the panel cut for my commission piece, I asked that the rest of the board be cut into some different shapes and sizes. I've gessoed dozens of new panels to explore some familiar subjects in new formats.  

Carol