Chimney Rock

"Chimney Rock"
5" x 9"
Watercolor on Yupo
I'm back from my trip to New Mexico. I experienced every positive emotion possible as I traveled.  It was as much fun as I anticipated and I met 19 talented women with whom I shared stories, hugs and time. 

I painted this piece while at the Drury Plaza Hotel in Santa Fe and gave it to the Assistant Manager as a thank you for letting twenty women paint in watercolor in a brand new conference room for three days. It was a gift we will never forget.  Thank you, Andreas for trusting us with your beautiful new space.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
CarolKeene.com
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Sunset Lace

"Sunset Lace"
2.5" x 6"
Watercolor on Yupo
The sky had been turbid as the sun nestled into the bosom of the Plains that evening. Then, either my contacts needed to be changed, or something else was going on. A pattern of lace veiled the horizon, just as the yellow orb disappeared. 

 Here's another watercolor that I impressed with a plastic lace — with the intention of making a sunset.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
Carolkeene.com
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Hawked

"Hawked"
6" x 6"
Watercolor on Yupo
Feathers were fluttering from the pine tree in my courtyard the other day. When I looked up at the source, nondescript bird parts were lodged in the spiny needles overhead. The wind distributed them onto my sidewalk according to weight and size. Now all that's left up in that tree, after a couple of days of gravity and wind are downy tufts.  I've seen a hawk swooping in my neighborhood in suburban Chicago, so I suspect he dropped the unsuitable plumage where he thought it would do the most good — at the feet of an artist.  

Yup, it's on Yupo.  And They were FUN to paint.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
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Trio

"Trio"
6" x 8"
Watercolor and Ink on Yupo
The title "Trio" refers to three colors and three applications. My first application was to slather grayed blue over the Yupo and press a plastic lace into it.  I let it dry and then stenciled the acanthus swirls in analogous, yet the remaining complementary colors. After it was all dry, I used a waterproof pen to squiggle and dot in the shadows. 

I had so many ideas of what to paint on or around the blue pattern, but the swirling acanthus won… this time.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
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Hopes and Dreams

"Hopes and Dreams"
6" x 9"
Watercolor on Yupo
In preparation for my visit to Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, I'll be doing a series of landscape sketches to capture the essence of the sky, rocks and vegetation. I'm unaccustomed to the shapes and colors of the subject matter, so I need to figure it all out. 

Put it down, let it puddle or play with it. It doesn't seem to matter. I can move paint around for the day if I want to with this "paper." It's fun to play, but I need to think about the economy of strokes and time spent on a … sketch.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
CarolKeene.com
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PlayTime

"PlayTime"
7" x 8.5"
Watercolor on Yupo 
I'm returning to my roots — my artistic roots. I taught myself to paint watercolors while I was in college to become a chemist. When THAT didn't work out, I became a wife and mother and continued to dabble in watercolor. My dabbles looked like the image at the bottom of today's post, back in the day. And now I'm playing with new products and they make me paint like… this!  

I spent some time this afternoon puddling, stamping, stenciling and playing with traditional transparent watercolors, a brush and a Winsor and Newton watercolor sticks. They look like the hard pastels I use, but these are pure pigment watercolors. They can be drawn on dry paper or wet, squiggled into a puddle on a palette and made into a brush-able mixture.  The pure pigments of the sticks impressed me. The yupo paper (actually plastic) is a lot like painting on a gessoed surface. The paint stays and dries on the impenetrable surface.  If it isn't to your liking, just wipe it with a tissue, Q-Tip or put the entire thing under the faucet and bid it adieu.




























More tomorrow.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
CarolKeene.com
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More Toys




"More Toys"
15" x 22"
Watercolor on paper
I collected items as I walked from room to room in my parent's home that would coordinate with the tea towel I had chosen to set Mum's favourite covered mug on.  I got two of the items in this painting when she was "done using them." 

This is another watercolor from a while ago.  I wanted to share it with you and add it to my gallery.

Carol

Dailypaintworks.com
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Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Love Stamp, Lamp and Lace

"Love Stamp, Lamp and Lace"
16" x 12"
Watercolor on paper



















I found this painting in my archives while I was cleaning my studio these past couple of days.  It's a watercolor from when that was the only medium I knew. Today I know a few more ways to express myself. 

I'm cleaning instead of painting because a crew from the Princeton Artist Brush Company of Princeton, New Jersey is coming to my studio on Thursday to meet me, see my studio space and prepare to make a video of me painting with their Catalyst paintbrush.  I raved about their #4 Polytip Bristle brush a couple of weeks ago and the adventure began right about then.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

Carol

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Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Crescent Rollers

"Crescent Rollers"
22" x 30"
Watercolor on paper 
I traveled to the home of one of my collectors over the weekend and saw several pieces of my art that I hadn't documented. I thought you might enjoy seeing them while I continue to paint house portraits. 

There was a time when either marbles, checks or crescents were in every painting. This one had some of each.

Carol

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My gallery
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Colorado Moon

"Colorado Moon"
4" x 16"
Watercolor on Arches
It was daylight, yet the moon shone  like an opal, having dominion over towering peaks and valleys alike. 


The question arose after yesterday's post.  What is Arches?   D'Arches or Arches, in "art speak," is the benchmark watercolor paper.  It's handmade, French paper consisting of 100% cotton fiber, and made in three textures: rough, cold pressed (some tooth) or hot pressed (smooth).  It also comes in different weights: 90#, 140#, 300# and 450#.  Pound weight is based on the weight of 100 sheets of 22" x 30" paper. The thinner sheets weigh only 90 pounds, and so on.  


Carol


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We Didn't Get the Memo

"We Didn't Get the Memo"
16" x 20"
Watercolor on Arches 
Watercolor was my first passionate venture into art. I taught myself to paint by reading Sondra Freckleton's book, "Dynamic Still Lifes in Watercolor."  I'm revisiting  my passion today. I've missed it so.  I love these colorful, swirling balls!


Quality brushes, paints and paper can be the difference between "nice" and "fabulous."

Carol

Dailypaintworks.com
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Flowers... Incidental

"Flowers... Incidental"
22" x 14"
Watercolor on paper 
The bowl looked impossible, but so did the mass of flowers.  I dropped in three faceted pieces of glass from my collection, and decided it was all too hard... ready, set go!  


With every loading of the brush I added another wash of color to the background. The facets of all four pieces were painted a section at a time.  Not much glazing here. Color-specific, value-specific and very, very fun.

This piece and many of the paintings from my blog are on Daily Paintworks. They are also available through a DPW auction on that site.

Thank you for visiting today,
Carol

My Mother's Toys #7


"My Mother's Toys #7"
20" x 14"
Watercolor on paper
Her much-loved books sat on a chair the shape of a curvy woman. I draped a couple soft napkins, added a vase with curves of its own, and a sterling toothpick case, to repeat the metal of the chair. My Mother's Toys posed for the seventh in the series.

The neurtals in this painting were derived from the primaries in the vase. The limited palette worked well for this simple arrangement. 

This painting is not for sale.

Thank you for visiting today,
Carol

Hooked on Pretty Things


"Hooked on Pretty Things"
30" x 12"
Watercolor on paper
 "Ya know..." said the middle-aged woman standing in my booth at the art fair,  "if it had a fishing lure in it, my husband would look at it.  And Honey," she said, leaning in closer to me, "he has the checkbook." 

After painting a couple full sheet paintings in a row, I opted to downsize, but continue on with the detail.  I created the wicker shelf as a backdrop, to add texture and light behind the pieces. Sondra's green cup was still in my posession, and my son's tackle box offered an abundance of lures. 

This painting is not for sale. Although, I'd be happy to paint a similar one of your favorite objects.

Thank you for visiting,
Carol

Primarily Primary

"Primarily Primary"
Watercolor on paper
30" x 22"
The green cup and leafy saucer were on loan from Sondra Freckleton, but the rest had already auditioned for this setup.  There's a story behind every item in this painting; including the only Rolls Royce I'll ever own.  I loved laboring on every detail of this one.


I spent years painting intimate detail with tiny brushes on large paper. It's what I enjoyed at the time.  As I look back on this and note my palette in other mediums in a different decade altogether, I see I still prefer the primary colors. Some things never change.

This painting is not for sale, but please enjoy the works that are for sale on Dailypaintworks.com

Thank you for visiting,
Carol

At Sondra's

"At Sondra's"
Watercolor on paper
30" x 22" 
I had been painting for about twenty years, before I took my first watercolor class.  It happened to be a workshop with my idol, Sondra Freckelton.  I spent a week with Sondra and her husband, Jack Beal at their upstate New York home.  It was one of the highlights of my life.  I painted this piece during that week.  I had collected the marbles in Corning, New York on the way there.

As Robert Genn recently wrote: "The best workshops are conducted by practicing pros who feel the need to share.  Often humbled by the demands and foibles of creativity themselves, these pros can offer sincere student-hood and practical, insider understanding."  I couldn't agree more.

Carol Marine had a similar impact on my life as an artist during a three-day workshop last March.  Spend time with the best, it will pay off. 

This painting is not for sale. But thank you for stopping by to see what I've been doing.  

See this and my gallery of posted paintings at Dailypaintworks.com

Carol 


Lisianthus on Damask

"Lisianthus on Damask"
22" x 22"
Watercolor on paper
Look familiar?  I posted the acrylic study for this watercolor on August 18th. Traditionally, watercolor was the "study" medium for most artists back in the day.  It wasn't considered a stand alone medium until the early to mid 1900's. 


Being my first love, I sometimes hanker to paint a large, complex watercolor.  The photo already existed, the composition issues had been solved, and I had a sheet of Fabriano paper to use.  The table cloth was wiped out through a stencil I cut of the damask pattern.  Cool, huh?

This painting is listed with, and for sale through a Daily Paintworks auction.  Please check out the other wonderful artists on this site. Thank you.

Carol