Receptive

"Receptive"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas
Although, seemingly, this rose did nothing but sit in front of me tonight, she was, in fact, receptive to all of my senses — being adored through sight, being smelled, being touched, and yes, even being tasted.  As my last painting of the year, she was thoroughly enjoyed. 

 I purchased seven canvases from a particular manufacturer this week. When I blocked in this rose today, I stopped painting and went back to the store to buy twenty-eight more. The surface is so receptive to paint, the way I love to apply it. Painting this rose was a joyful experience!  I look forward to many more evenings like this ... with great joy!

Carol

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Rye, Wispy

"Rye, Wispy"
6" x 8"
Oil on hardboard
I tickled my own fancy with the title of today's painting. It was just going to be "Wispy," but when I looked at the field of ... rye, I couldn't help myself.  I'm being silly, of course, but I'm allowed. It's my blog! 

I worked on two knife paintings this morning and made messes of both of them. So I decided to write a short story instead. Once it was under way, another painting, this one, came easily.

Carol

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Three Special Friends

"Three Special Friends"
24" x 24"
Oil on museum wrapped canvas
These beauties were in a bouquet in front of me at a birthday party a year or so ago. I admired them from every angle, turned the vase to change the shadows and highlights, envisioning them as art.  When I was ready to leave, the host plucked them from the vase and handed them to me. 

As an artist, my signature work is large flower paintings, roses in particular. I've painted single blooms frequently, but seldom do I cluster them together. Nor do I paint them in such a low key palette. Dark. This piece was different for me. But so were the circumstances under which I painted them.  You see, I've been on vacation, and I feel ... terrific!

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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Soft Pansy

"Soft Pansy"
10" x 10"
Oil on Hardboard
In my state they plant pansies as fall flowers in corporate gardens because of their hardiness in cool weather.  On account of our extended fall, the pansies flourished in my zip code this year. It was nice to see purple and pink in the fall instead of just oranges and golds.  

 Even after yesterday's snow, there were still little monkey faces smiling through the pine boughs and bayberry branches in front of the UPS Store this evening.

Carol

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Ear Ye, Ear Ye!

"Ear Ye, Ear Ye"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard 
It may have seemed like an idle threat when I wrote last night that I'd like to paint ears for my next series, but I followed up on it. I really enjoyed painting this one, and I have a rooster to thank for it.  

If I'm going to call it a series, I get to find another ear or two to paint. Not a problem, right? Well, let's see how many willing volunteers I find. It's a little out of the norm, I'd say.  Friends, Followers, Countrymen, send me your ears... left ones if possible.  

Carol

Chanticleer III

"Chanticleer III
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard
I enjoyed painting this rooster's portrait. He's in nearly the same pose as the one from last night, but he wears different coloured plumage, beak and ear.  I think it's an ear. It's where I'd put an ear if I were designing a rooster. I'm fond of ears. Maybe I'll paint ears for my next series.  

I painted the background on yesterday's rooster first, then the bird. Today's bird was painted first, on a toned background, then I brushed in the background colour around the bird. Either way works. 

Carol


Chanticleer II

"Chanticleer II"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard 
Portraits of people are not my strong suit, but I happen to enjoy painting roosters now. Here's one a friend sent, and another will follow.  In the process, I'm feeling a lot better about my own face in the mirror.  Yikes! To look at this every day would take some getting used to. 

Carol

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Paused

"Paused"
5" x 7"
Oil on hardboard
Atmosphere like this is as fleeting and ephemeral as most pleasurable moments. The joy in painting a scene like this is a lot like pausing a video at a favourite scene and partaking of its essence for as long as it ... takes.  

I paused a few times today to capture the beauty of this place. The season and the time of day were both instrumental in creating a likeness I could almost turn an ear to and hear.

Carol

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Daylight Come

"Daylight Come"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard
Yup, Harry Belafonte's Day-O, or the Banana Boat song.  It's a work song that the dock workers would sing while working the night shift loading bananas onto ships. Daylight has come, the shift is over and they want their work to be tallied so that they can go home.  

With so many skies under my, um, belt, titling them gets tricky.  Pardon my goofiness. 

Carol





My Lady Love

"My Lady Love"
20" x 16"
Oil on Hardboard




















Like a mistress awaiting her lover, she languished quietly until the bristles of my brush began stroking her dark crevices, her milky highlights. That's when this beauty came to life.

I hankered, yearned, longed to paint this rose while I was busy with other projects. White roses are my favourite subject matter because of all the colour in the shadows.  

Carol

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The Maroon Bells

"The Maroon Bells"
30" x 38"
Oil on Hardboard
Unless there are changes from my clients, this will be the final posting of The Maroon Bells, two of the "fourteeners" in Colorado. It's been fun to show you the progress as I've painted this piece for them. Thank you for your comments throughout the process. 

Carol

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Spring Rain

"Spring Rain"
6" x 6"
Oil on Hardboard 
A morning rain trickled over the verdant field across the way.  It would be the only moisture for a month.  We wished it would have been more when we looked back at the drought-stricken summer. We were lucky to have received that sprinkle that day.

As I dread the first snow in my area, I remember how dry our summer was, and realize the selfishness of my wishes.  Bring it on, Old Man. Give it your best shot. Make it a good one while the novelty of white stuff will be received with a freshness and zeal we won't have in February.  

Carol

Nestled

"Nestled"
6" x 8"
Oil on Hardboard
I visited a home a few days ago that had a nest like this displayed under a bell-shaped dome. I became so infatuated with the nest, cut from branches in her own yard that I had someone photograph it for me. This is something like her nest, but as we know, each one is a work of art that can't really be duplicated.  

I adore these tidy, woody vessels where some of nature's most fragile elements get to tenant safely.

Carol

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Come Springtime

"Come Springtime"
10" x 10"
Oil on Hardboard
Wishful thinking keeps me smiling.  It's just too bleh outside for my liking. Too chilly, too damp, too all the same shade of grey.  I could even go for some midwestern, field-greens.  Like this springtime fantasy.

It's another sky, but this one is larger than my standard six inch beauties.

Carol

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Split Complement

"Split Complement"
6" x 14"
Oil on Hardboard
A box of pears arrived at my door this week.  Not only was I excited to eat them, my friend sent me models!  I painted a lot of them last December when friends blessed me with the season's finest.  'Tis the season!  

What goes with yellow green?  I consulted my colour wheel and found the split complement to be red and violet.  Yum. Two of my favorite colours.  I even made the board a combination of the two. 

Carol