Roadside Splendor

"Roadside Splendor"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas 
I drove through some pretty textured areas of Iowa last summer when I visited friends there. It was the peak season for many of the weeds and some of the crops. I'm glad I shot as many photos as I did. Days like today seem to beg for lots of plant matter. 

Nibs of spring greens are bursting through the soil and bringing me great joy. As I look at my Iowa photos, I think about how I took all that green for granted.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
CarolKeene.com
Dailypainters.com
Dailypaintworks.com

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

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
Dailypainters.com
Dailypaintworks.com

Rock Pile

"Rock Pile"
4.5" x 5"
Pastel on sanded paper
The sky, trees, rocks and weeds intrigue me when I visit my friends in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.  The shapes and colors are so different from what we see here on the suburban prairie. 

 As I have mentioned before, I am repainting some of the subject matter I've painted in oil and acrylic in pastel. I find it very satisfying.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
Dailypainters.com
Dailypaintworks.com

Cloudy and Cool



"Cloudy and Cool"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard
The field of soybeans had been plowed under by the time the first nip of autumn stung my skin.  The weeds in the field next to the black dirt were sporting golds and bronzes to carry them through to spring.  The scrub trees were holding onto their leaves for as long as they could. It would be a long, cold winter. 

 Thankfully, winter no longer resides in my zip code. The magnolias are nearly finished blooming, rosebushes have leaves the size of teaspoon bowls and the lilacs are about to atomize their fragrance at the pulse points of my neighborhood.

Carol

Dailypainters.com
Dailypaintworks.com
My Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

At the Divide

"At the Divide"
6" x 14"
Oil on hardboard
I'm sitting in front of one of my most favorite places to paint and to be — the Continental Divide in Winter Park, Colorado.  It's a source of comfort—like macaroni and cheese is to some people.  If I need shoring up, all I have to do is scroll through my photos of this little pond and I can reflect on great memories and loving thoughts.  I hope you have such an image, or a place of your own.  

I gessoed 41 new hardboard panels today. Busy work. Tomorrow—REAL work—back to The Maroon Bells!

Carol 


Colorado Creek

"Colorado Creek"
6" x 6"
Oil on canvas panel
I saw the glisten of water from a distance and pulled over to photograph it. It turned out to be a small creek but had some charming curves to her banks, foreground weeds and a steep hill of pines on one side. The hazy hill in the distance probably didn't even have a name, but it captured my attention, nonetheless.

I love to paint water in a landscape. It's seldom the same from one painting to the next in hue, value or texture.  Like sky it changes with the day.

Thank you for visiting.
Carol

Dailypaintworks.com
Dailypainters.com
My Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Turning

"Turning"
5" x 5"
Oil on hardboard
Along the bank of this stream was a bed of weeds that shone with such a vibrant red orange that I had to stop to photograph them. They were NOT indigenous to our locale.  Had someone planted them to amuse, bewilder, astound? 


I put the deep red weeds in the foreground of this traditional piece to give it life. And because of it, I tucked a bush in the background of the same color.  It had to be there.

Thanks for stopping by today.
Carol

Dailypainters.com
Dailypaintworks.com
My DPW Gallery   280 paintings
Brushstrokes@comcast.net