Adam's Grapes

"Adam's Grapes"
10" x 8"
Oil on canvas panel 
"I shot this with my phone," said my adult son. 
"Explain," I replied.  
"Shot a colored photo, then told the phone to make the background black and white." 
"On your phone?  Explain this to your mother."  
"Here's the original photo," he wrote as a caption under the full color photo in his next e-mail.

I liked the look of the ghostly grapes and leaves in the background, and the unaltered colors of the actual grapes.  So I used my son's image to see if I could attain the same feeling in paint as he did with a click of a button.  Let's see if he's reading Mama's blog. If he responds to this within a week, I'll give it to him.  Meanwhile, it's for sale on DPW.  Wanna place bets?

DPW
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Thank you for playing along with me today.
Carol

Asian Pear

"Asian Pear"
6" x 6"
Oil on panel
It sat in my kitchen for two weeks, this gift from a customer of my daughter's. It was wrapped in white paper and a meshy-net.  Once again, there was food in the house that mystified us.   


I brought the the mystery fruit to my studio tonight and researched it.  It's an Asian Pear—possibly Korean.  I liked the unblemished skin of one color, top to bottom.  I shone a light on it and painted the direct complement around it, smashed some design into it and then painted the pear.  I'll slice into it tomorrow!

Thank you for stopping by.
Carol

DPW
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Festive Rose

"Festive Rose"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard panel
She's one happy posy, this little beauty! 

The festivities have been going on around me for over two weeks.  But today I found the perfect subject to depict the tenor of my life.  I've had the flu. And I may be finally getting over it!  I painted this today and it's indicative of how I feel.  I missed Christmas and all the celebrating from the 23rd of December until today.  Fortunately, I had painted a lot in preparation for the holidays, and wrote posts in advance, too.

Well, I'm back!  Although, I was never really gone, was I?
Carol

DPW
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Spaceballs

"Spaceballs"
12" x 36"
Acrylic/colored pencil on wrapped canvas 
Oh, my gosh, if you ever get the chance to play with spaceballs, hop the next shuttle and do it!  Never mind the cost. You won't be disappointed. It's a totally intuitive game, they do whatever it is you think they should do, with a dozen colorful balls at a time!  

Other than that goofiness, this piece was created in a similar fashion to the watercolors frozen below zero that I showed you a couple of weeks ago. These area acrylic with plastic wrap applied and left to dry and then I colored in the wrinkled areas with colored pencils... neon colors, no less.  It is a stunning piece.  The Spaceballs made me say that. 

Thanks for stopping by.
Carol 

Angel Blueface

"Angel Blueface"
"6" x6"
Acrylic on clay board
As soon as I was ready to shoot this stand of fan coral, an Angel Blueface darted in front of my specimens. Wouldn't you know, a simple project of making marks turned—all about fish! 

Okay, here's the panel I chose to imprint with the mark made by paint squeezed on a wet background and pressed with a firm piece of plastic, then lifted.  I could see through the plastic this time, so I relocated the paint to the height and area I wanted.  It looked like fan coral to me. So I made a miniature under water scene with pearlescent and gold coral.  Then it needed a fish.  I went to the internet and found this guy, then put one more little fan in front of him.  Thus ends this  experiment in making meaningful marks.

Thank you for bearing with me on this excursion. 
Carol


Lovely Bunch of Coconuts

"Lovely Bunch of Coconuts"
9" x 12"
Acrylic on canvas panel
The rainforest was noisier than I had anticipated, and not with animal sounds.  A sudden breeze rattled the overlapping fronds. Water droplets plinked through the canopy, and the creaking of large stalks and trunks that teetered in the breeze sounded like sequoias about to topple. 

I added a dollop of wet paint to the background play of color, and smashed it in with the sheet of plastic. Pulled up and released. Hmmmm. Just a circle of paint.  Wiped it and sprayed water where I wanted to press in paint.  Voila! It worked. Made more of the same frond-like marks.  It's moisture around the paint that makes it act this way.   I'll try one more canvas to see if I can make this mark with purpose.  


Thank you for visiting.
Carol 

Fronds

"Fronds"
8" x 10"
Acrylic on canvas panel
In the humidity of the tropical dome at the conservatory were numerous varieties of fronds. The late afternoon light bounced around in that moist environment, revealing a spectrum of color. 

Number two in the series is similar, in that it is on a black canvas with metallic colors.  And once again, I took it this far and let it dry.  Tomorrow I will see what it's like to work on a dried piece and introducing new elements.

Thank you for taking a peek at my work. 

Carol 

Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Golden Needles


"Golden Needles"
8" x 10"
Acrylic on canvas panel

When the moon zapped a silvery sheen over the snow in the forest, the pines preferred gold, and took on a glow of their own.

What started as an exercise in two colors on black, became a finished piece in short order. The sparse gold "needles" spoke the essence of forest on top of the metallic silver paint, so I left it to dry.  I made another one or two in metallic colors, that I'll post over the next couple of days.

DPW
My DPW Gallery
brushstrokes@comcast.net

Thank you for looking at my blog today, As always, I appreciate it.
Carol


Without Leaves

"Without Leaves" 16" x 20" 
Acrylic on gessoed panel
I maundered through a forest so captivating and magical I didn't realize until I got home that there were no leaves.  


The first time I used a palette knife I made a mess. I thought "peanut butter and jelly" instead of marks.  This was an exercise in linear marks on a sponged background.  I used fluid paints, so the actual tactile texture is smooth.  It's the same palette of colors as yesterday's piece, too.

Dailypaintworks
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Thank you for looking!
Carol

City Brights

"City Brights"
11" x 14"
Acrylic on canvas panel

As the plane glided along the lakefront in a final approach to home, I took comfort in the colorful and textural contrasts of the place I am blessed to reside.  


As promised a few weeks ago, I've committed to painting abstracts and experimental pieces in January.  "City Brights" is a warm up.   And while I had this paint out, I did one for tomorrow, too!  Happy New Year!

Thank you so much for visiting my blog.  I appreciate that you take the time to look at what I've painted and read my words.
Carol

Dailypaintworks
My Dailypaintworks Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net