Old Lyme Flowers

"Old Lyme Flowers"
9" x 12"
Oil on canvas panel





















I walked through the gardens at the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut, photographing everything in sight. I wanted to bring as much back with me as possible. I've been to Old Lyme twice. I cried when I left both times. Old Lyme is where the American Impressionists hung out one hundred ten years ago. They called it the American Giverny. I felt my soul come alive while I was in Florence's home where the artists lived and painted during the summer. There is a fine museum on the grounds now, too.  I may never go back, but I hope to go to other places in my lifetime that will delight me as much.

Carol

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Canadian Sunset

"Canadian Sunset"
14" x 20"
Oil on hardboard
While on my Google search to find winding rivers I came upon another lovely photo.  This one was of a sky somewhere in Canada. I know—there's a LOT of sky in Canada, but I can't isolate this location except by doing eeny meeny miny moe over the map. What would be your guess?   

The sky didn't actually look like this, but it had these "bones."  I used my new Cad. Scarlet, again, with Cad. Yellow Med. and Cobalt this time. That's it. Three colors. I love the way the scarlet mixes with the blue to make the dark clouds.

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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Sun's Up

"Sun's Up"
10" x  20"
Oil on wrapped canvas
Once the sun poked her head above the horizon the colours began to dissipate. It was as if her presence chased the mauves and salmons from view and only the blue was tough enough to spend the day with the robust orb. 

Sky in the same palette as yesterday's, but I tried a different format.  I enjoyed painting on the larger piece.

Carol

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Badlands Sunrise

"Badlands Sunrise"
10" x 10"
Oil on wrapped canvas
Morning revealed that I had entered the eastern edge of the Badlands in South Dakota. Having driven through the night, it was a joy to see the hilly terrain and not so much green as we have on the prairie.  The trip wasn't a recent one, but the memory of the zig-zag sky is vivid.  

I'm testing two new paint colours, Cadmium Scarlet and Mineral Violet.  I like what each of them do with Indian Yellow.

Carol

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Rain Across the Lake

"Rain Across the Lake"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard
I considered going out in the kayak that evening, but decided against it when I couldn't read the sky; what the clouds were telling me. It looked like it was raining across the lake, but where I was making the decision was sunlit and calm. There was no point in putting myself at risk, I'd wait until morning to paddle around the water lilies.  

 I rather like this sky.  I'm going to use these colors to make a few more.

Carol

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Rose Bud

"Rose Bud"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas
She's a nice enough rose bud, but not my favourite colour. I wasn't even going to post her, but it wasn't her fault.  I tried out new paint colours, on the advice of a friend.  Despite Terra Rosa's name, she is not a good flower colour. I'll go back to my normal palette of lively colours and leave Raw Umber and Terra Rosa to painting brick walls, basketballs and rusted out pickup trucks.  

Carol

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Diagonal Sherbet

"Diagonal Sherbet"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard
I wasn't particularly hungry when I first glanced at the sky looking like the punchbowl at a child's birthday party, but I got that way after staring at it for a while. I love what morning does to the colours she has to work with in the early hours when she thinks nobody is looking.  

Another sky for my collection. I may have figured out how to display the numerous panels!  I'm excited at the prospect.  

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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I Love You

"I Love You"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas
One year ago today a woman brought this cookie to show me. I had the good sense to photograph it and keep it in my heart for a year. It's February, time to proclaim the love in our hearts, so here's my offering, one year later. Love to you, my followers, my friends, lovers of my ... art. 

Love,
Carol

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Amber Light

"Amber Light"
10" x 8"
Oil on canvas panel 
The amber light that billowed behind the trees, filled my heart with a feverish glee.  Gone was the desolate, dismal, dreary. Joy was back! 

I painted this canvas with a mixture of raw umber, cad orange and Indian yellow then wiped until trees appeared. Yes, I brushed in a few branches, but mostly I wiped away the ... gloom.

Carol

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Pear and a Pair

"Pear and a Pair"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas 
Tell me a story, my darling love bird.  Your funny stories make my wings spread and my feathers flutter. Pretty please, my love, it's been so very long...  

Here's another practice piece in the style of the woman who will be teaching the workshop next month. Well, not quite, but I'll be going to learn her techniques when I'm there, won't I?  

Carol

Calla Curl

"Calla Curl"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas
The spathe curls around her spike like she knows there is a big ice and snow storm decorating our zip code with crystalline ornaments. Tree branches are balancing snow flakes like stacks of white china plates on spidery networks of narrow shelves. It's February and we are getting our first REAL snow. 

This is from the last of the photos I took in line at the grocery store checkout.  I'll find more callas and do a few more ... soon.

Carol

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Celadon Teapot

"Celadon Teapot"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas
I set up a still life in my studio to try to paint in the style of Laura Robb, whose workshop I'll be taking in a little over a month. I've studied her paintings, bought the colors she uses and tried to familiarize myself with some of the concepts she will address.  Her style is so unlike mine, yet I'm drawn to it. And I don't want to feel like a total novice when I paint with her.  I'll be trying a few more arrangements similar to this one to ready myself for her class.

I used a lot of paint on this painting. Having come from a watercolor background, thick paint is not in my nature. I enjoyed making this happen, but also know it'll take a while for me to get used to squeezing this much onto my, new, larger palette.

Carol

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