Sweet Peas

"Sweet Peas" 12" x 16" Watercolor on paper

Sweet Peas' blossoms intrigued me as she lounged in a plate groove in a resale shop. Her colors and her asymmetrical design suited me.

Incomplete words tease and stimulate the brain. Placed as they are here, they become a focal area. The other players are linked by the meandering strand of beads. The contrasting value in the arc of the plate leads back to the the words. 

This painting is listed with, and for sale through a Dailypaintworks auction. 

Thank you for visiting,
Carol

Spring Plate

 

"Spring Plate" 12" x 16"  Watercolor on paper

That spring when I found this single dinner plate in a clearance bin, I surrounded it with favorite old items, and welcomed that plate into my collection. 

When I had finished painting the plate I enjoyed it so much, I wanted to paint another.  I did! The next few posts will feature several in my series of plates.

This painting is listed with, and for sale through Dailypaintworks

Thank you for visiting,
Carol

Landscapes Woven Through Time

"Landscapes Woven Through Time" 10" x 7" Watercolor on paper(s)

In the beginning I painted in watercolor.  I taught myself to paint trees and leaves. Blue skies and sunsets. Grassy hills, ragged weeds, rocks and ponds.  Suns, moons, snowflakes and stars.

Recently I sliced one of my carefully painted abstractions of a (1979) landscape into eighth inch vertical strips. Then I cut up and wove snippets from my past and slivers from the present together to form Landscapes Woven Through Time.  It appears I've remained true to my innate sense of color.

For a week or so I'd like to share my watercolors with you.

Thank you for visiting,
Carol

Pink Hibiscus

"Pink Hibiscus" 18" x 18" Oil on wrapped canvas

She faced straight into the camera with a headlong glance, more like a formal portrait than my casual intent. She posed. I clicked. It worked. 

Various shades of pink and green were swirled across this canvas with cubes of sponge; one for each color of red, each color of green, to keep the glazed colors from getting muddy.

This painting is listed with, and for sale through Dailypaintworks.com

Thank you for visiting,
Carol

Cherries on a Platter

"Cherries on a Platter" 16" x 20" Oil on wrapped canvas

They rolled around on my old crystal platter until they came to rest against the fluted edge. What made the turquoise reflections?  Bright turquoise daisies in a vase just out of sight.  They were the original subject of my photo shoot, but these three cherries stole the show with their crescent-shaped highlights repeating the markings on the platter.

It was a joyful moment when I realized I'd be covering a lot of the surface of this piece with cadmium red light. I had only used it a few times prior to this and loved the way it responded to glazing with my sponge.

This painting is listed with, and for sale through Dailypaintworks.com

Thank you for visiting,
Carol

Lady Hibiscus



Hibiscus 12" x 12" Oil on gessoed panel



She wore a pleated white skirt, cinched with a scarlet sash around her slender waist. An audience watched, green with envy, as Lady Hybiscus twirled her skirts in the breeze. 

Complements again. I've discovered this about myself; I seem to find the most comfort in painting with a complementary palette.  Nature provides a lot of opportunities to derive that kind of comfort.

This painting is listed with, and for sale through Dailypaintworks.com

Thank you for visiting,
Carol 

The Goddess Hoarfrost

"Hoar Frost" 8" x 16" Oil on wrapped canvas

This cornfield up in Bull Valley surrendered her edges and contrasts to The Goddess Hoarfrost.  The field and trees wore her flocking like a gossamer shawl, and waited for the sun.    
  

This was an exercise in texture and technique.  I had acquired a device called a Colour Shaper by Royal Sovereign, and wanted to use it for more than just scraping texture on a rock. It was more fun than I anticipated.

This painting is listed with, and for sale through Dailypaintworks.com

Thank you for visiting,

Carol

Party Peony

"Party Peony" 24" x 36" Oil on wrapped canvas

She cupped the stamens in the hollow of her bowl, like confetti about to be tossed.

Once the darks were established in the corners, I sponged layer upon layer of color toward the center of this full-blown peony.  I connected the petals without regard to the interior goings on.  Then once the architecture was correct, I began brushing one stroke at a time to create the "celebration."  The addition of Radiant Turquoise on the stamen tips added life to the party.

This painting is listed with, and for sale through Dailypaintworks.com

Thank you for visiting,

Carol

Picket Fence Rose



"Picket Fence Rose" 24" x 24" Oil on wrapped canvas

Close to the road on my way to somewhere is a home with a picket fence.  The straight white boards shoulder a tangle of greenery, dotted with oodles of fat, white roses. 

I layered cool blue shadows on the outer rim of this rose.  Then rubbed in a cool pink,  knowing that I'd glaze the furnace inside her belly with several yellows.  I kept the innermost petals pure permanent rose, like lipstick on her pouty lips.

This painting is listed with, and for sale through Dailypaintworks.com.

Thank you for visiting,
Carol

Devil's Thumb Ranch

"Devil's Thumb Ranch" "12 x 12" Oil on wrapped canvas

Sky reflections sparkled in the grass as I crossed a tiny bridge on the property of Devil's Thumb Ranch at the Continental Divide in Colorado. I stopped to document the rapidly changing light as the sun dropped behind me. It wasn't much as waterways go, but as a serpentine mirror, it was fab. 

Yes, I paint landscapes.  My first watercolor paintings were rural house portraits for realtors to give as closing gifts. I was kept busy enough back in the seventies to learn to use the medium. That led to teaching watercolor twice a week for ten years.  After that I branched off into acrylics when I was asked to paint a mural. That started a fifteen year career of standing on ladders and scaffolding!  I've only recently begun to paint in this fabulous medium of oils.

This painting is listed with, and for sale through Dailypaintworks.com.

Thank you for visiting,
Carol

Agave Desert

"Agave Desert" 24" x 36" Oil on wrapped canvas

I live in a part of the midwest where leaves do not grow in shades of dusty blue.  The ground is not ocher and crunchy under foot. I come from green, and plenty of it!  My bare feet delight in verdant carpets of cool grass and clover. Yet, I long for different. 


I photographed the desert and the agave separately.  I intentionally defied convention by sponging the plants onto the canvas as large as would fit, then painted the vastness of the desert from close up to miles away.  I didn't particularly care that the eye wouldn't see it the same way my heart did!  I also enjoyed the colors.

This painting is listed with, and for sale through Dailypaintworks.com.


Thank you for visiting,
Carol