Lovin' Little Lilly Lake

"Lovin' Little Lily Lake"
6" x 6"
Pastel on black hardboard
I've painted this lake several times before, but in oil. She's one of my favorite things to photograph (as well as seven stand-alone silos) on my way to and from my critique class.  In the early morning, like I've painted here, she holds very still while I capture her serene smile. 

The morning light over Little Lily Lake never disappoints me. The only disturbing factor might be wind that fuzzes the reflecting shore across the way.

Carol

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Castlewood Canyon

"Castlewood Canyon"
12" x 9"
Pastel on black canvas



















I wandered around Castlewood Canyon in Colorado to enjoy a completely different kind of landscape from where I live. The rocks were plentiful and large, the trees were not placed in the ground by landscapers. This was nothing like Illinois.  

I managed to make the rocks look solid, so I'm going to try another couple of paintings of the same area.

Carol

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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

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Foothills

"Foothills"
8" x 20"
Pastel on watercolor board
The peaks in the distance looked like mountains to me, but the locals laughed when I referred to them as such. The big boys soar well above these, but they're also quite a distance from my friend's home. So I settle for the foothills when I visit my girlfriend in Colorado. 

I broke two pieces of my hard pastel as I began this painting. When I picked up one of the broken pieces, I squiggled its side, instead of the tip, on the board. It left a nifty mark. I did the entire painting with the sides of broken pieces.  It has an Impressionistic quality to it. And once again, the subtleties are not captured by the camera. It's pretty translucent and overlapped in reality.

Carol

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Path to the Fence

"Path to the Fence"
5" x 7"
Pastel on gessoed canvas panel
The landscape was a simple one, it was the textures that intrigued me. There were only a few elements, but they were gnarly and nubby and easily represented on this surface.  

I used the clear gesso on a previously painted and sanded down acrylic painting. The rep at the art supply store told me it would be possible, so I tried it. The underlying texture made for interesting new textures for the pastel painting.  I'm liking this medium more as I test its limits.

Carol

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Morning Behind Me

"Morning Behind Me"
4" x 4"
Pastel on hardboard
I saw this sky in my rearview mirror as I drove that morning. The opalescent colors lingered in the humid air and presented me with a rectangular gift of color for about twenty minutes. 

I tested a couple of products to achieve this texture.  I painted Liquitex clear gesso onto an aquabord panel. The gesso gave additional tooth to an already textured panel.  I didn't  sand it, just toned it, as usual, and proceeded. I'll be experimenting more as time goes on.

Carol

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Seventeen Layers

"Seventeen Layers"
8.5" x 10.5"
Pastel on sanded paper
I fought the urge to paint a landscape today, but two hours into my hair-brained experiment, I succumbed. What started as a vertical abstract with geometric panels, to be connected with botanically accurate trees and leaves, turned, actually turned 90° to the left and morphed into this.  

 I tried to paint something that wasn't in my heart and ended up with something that wormed its way to the surface.  I'm sure there are about seventeen layers of ideas and images below the surface.  I wish I had photographed the journey.

Carol

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Autumn Hillside

"Autumn Hillside"
6" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas
Mid-autumn, I photographed some of the same landscapes I had visited during the heat of summer. My quest was to capture colors other than green. This was one of the places I returned to, and was not disappointed with what I found.

I'm in the throes of painting an assortment of house portraits again. They come in clusters, and the turnaround time is tight for most of them.  I'll paint other things as time permits, but while I'm away, just know that I'm not loafing.

Carol

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After the Rain

"After the Rain"
4.5" x 7"
Pastel on sanded paper
The setting sun shone like nature's very own photo editing program against the wet leaves of the scrub oaks. I was on my way to Ginger Whellock's open house last week as the sun finally peeked through. I shot photos from a speeding car to capture the light and the shapes on the hillside as my friend drove. I knew I'd paint them in pastel, at least once.  

 All the rain in the Denver area this year has made the foothills of the front range look like a Persian tapestry this fall. I chose to be in Denver not only because of Ginger's fabulous gathering, but because of the colors.

Carol

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It's Official

"It's Official"
7.5" x 7.5"
Pastel on paper
The landscape seemed to decide over the weekend that it's officially autumn.  There's more gold than green and what green there is is reluctant rather than robust. I might add that the sky was in agreement.

I've painted this before, but in oil.  I may be revisiting some of my favorite scenes with my new medium.

Carol

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Ms Scarecrow

"Ms Scarecrow"
16" x 20"
Watercolor on paper
Once the crops were harvested and she no longer had to keep the pesky birds at bay, Ms Scarecrow stood and waited. She waited patiently, albeit, propped, day after day, for someone to come along to stimulate and entertain her, to make her smile, at least make her think of smiling, since she never really had a face to begin with.  

 Here's a watercolor from a few years ago. When I taught watercolor, these were the things I liked to demonstrate; weathered wood, rusted metal, crinkled leaves, snowy fields and fabric.  I loved to tell stories with those items.

Carol

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Sunday With Daniel

"Sunday With Daniel"
9" x 12"
Pastel on paper
I went with my painting pals to the Daniel Wright Woods again, but this time, instead of taking my oil paints, I brought a box of pastels and a pad of colored paper. I began painting on the textured side of a sheet and hated it. I untaped it, folded it and stuffed it into my Ed Hardy backpack.  I flipped the paper to the smoother side and redrew what I had already planned. The guys had a good head start on me, but I managed to finish all but a few waterlilies by quitting time.  

I'm enjoying pastels about as much as any medium I've tried.  Even though I've posted others, this is my second pastel painting.

Carol

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Daniel Wright, Overcast

"Daniel Wright, Overcast"
12" x 9"
Pastel on paper



















Autumn made an appearance at the woods today. For the most part, the trees and shrubs have settled into their final, seasonal selection of green, but one shrub had already tried on her fall attire. She wore it proudly, despite the warning that she'd also probably be the first to lose her fancy garb. 

I sat at pond-side with my pastels on a small table next to me to capture the essence of the woods on this overcast day. One of my friends will be going back to Arizona, so this was his last hurrah for the season.

Carol

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