Passionate Persimmon

"Passionate Persimmon"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard
In preparation for the upcoming holiday, I was in several different grocery stores over the weekend. I noticed an abundance of exotic fruits and vegetables — not just "over the river and through the woods" fare. Persimmons were abundant and reasonably priced, so even if I don't eat it, it was pretty enough to paint. 

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
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Another Trout Stream

"Another Trout Stream"
11" x 14"
Oil on Canvas
The sky was the color of salmon flesh, yet I was thinking "trout" as the day came to a close.   

I've combined some of my technique from pastels with my oils. I used a rubber-tipped device to "squiggle" into the trees and foreground plants to make them look like what I saw in my mind's eye.  I'll do a few more to see if this is something I want to continue.

Carol

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In the Middle of the Bouquet

"In the Middle of the Bouquet"
24" x 24"
Oil on stretched canvas
I walked into one of the new upscale grocery stores in my neighborhood to find a display of beautifully lit flowers. The bouquets were fresh and spectacular. I had a camera in my purse, so I used it.

 It's been months since I've painted a rose, so I decided to paint a large one, in honor of the event.

Carol

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Then There Was … Sun

"Then There Was … Sun"
6" x 6"
Oil on Hardboard
That morning the sun, frizzed by clouds that would burn off within minutes, lifted her head off the pillow of the island and set out to brighten spirits wherever she shone. 

I enjoyed the effort of keeping the colors clean and pure as I placed complements next to one another.  Satisfying… yes.

Carol

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Storm Sweepin' Through

"Storm Sweepin' Through"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard
Here on the prairie we get some pretty interesting weather patterns sweeping through. But this is not from today… or yesterday. It's sleeting here, the leaves are gone and very little is still green… or gold.  We're down to sticks.  

However, I just tonight signed up for a six day trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico to paint at Georgia O'Keeffe's Ghost Ranch in February. I'm so excited I can hardly sit still. HUGE ROSES are in my future again!  I'm starting one tonight.  A gal has to be … prepared :-)

Carol

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Koi Pond

"Koi Pond"
12" x 16"
Pastel on black canvas panel
I set my camera on the dock, nearly at water level with a school of goldfish and koi lolling just below the surface, to document this scene. They heard my footsteps on the wooden platform and gathered in hopes of being fed. 

I began this painting in hopes of painting one of the 24" koi in the foreground, but the scale was so unbelievable that it looked wrong. So I painted only the ten inch fish, which repeated the foliage across the pond nicely. Once again, this is the Anderson Japanese Gardens, the largest Japanese garden in the country, I learned today.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
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Leaves in the Creek

"Leaves in the Creek"
12" x 12"
Pastel on black gessoed panel
This little creek wound through the garden, filling and emptying many different shaped ponds and tributaries. I captured it here as it turned left and headed to the koi pond. 

I went to the Anderson Japanese Gardens in Rockford over the weekend.  The colors were at their peak and the late afternoon light was perfect for gathering subject matter.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
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Garden Steps

"Garden Steps"
18" x 24"
Pastel on canvas panel
This is my 1000th post to this blog and to Dailypaintworks.com.  I decided to do a significant piece to commemorate the event. It's a shot from the Botanic Gardens I took last week. 

 I joined Dailypainters.com about four months later… not to slight that wonderful organization. 

I never, ever expected to be able to continue posting after the first week of doing it. I thought my heart palpitations would never stop, but after a month, I was merely nervous. After a year I had gotten the hang of it, and by five hundred posts I was entirely comfortable.  Thank you dear followers for your comments, your affection and for purchasing pieces when the image has moved you.

Onward!
Carol

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Ned's Lily

"Ned's Lily"
8" x 10"
Pastel on canvas panel
I was given a photo of this lily from Friday's visit to the Garden.  It struck me as gorgeous when I saw it. I wanted to paint it immediately, but I had other subject matter in queue. So tonight when I sat down to paint, this one simply called to me. The puddle of water at the top was especially difficult to create, but I think it looks puddly, don't you?  

I appreciate when friends share their photos with me. I can't always be in the right place at the right time, but if some of us can, it helps!

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
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Autumnal Splendor

"Autumnal Splendor"
9" x 12"
Pastel on canvas panel 
This is another image of when the light was magical at the Garden. It was in a similar spot to the painting from yesterday. I'm so happy to have been receptive to the gift of light.  

Our autumn has been colorful, but dampened by many repeated days of gray and overcast. Lots of rain, too.  It's why I'm making such a deal about the light. It was breathtaking.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
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Intensely Autumn

"Intensely Autumn"
14" x 11"
Pastel on canvas panel
I was at the garden early in the morning last week when the colors seemed to be very saturated.  Every plant and blossom fairly glowed as I strolled. The sky looked to be borrowed from a post card, then within a few minutes it all went back to normal. I'm grateful to have experienced seeing a few of my favorite places in the garden during that magical light. 

Carol

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Beets, Balls

"Beets, Balls"
9" x 12"
Pastel on canvas panel
The "exterior decorators" at the Botanic Gardens have inserted pumpkins and squashes in the beds with the autumn pansies, beets, grasses and mums. They're intimately nestled amongst the tootsies of those plants like shoe clips on plain black pumps.  

It was an unexpected delight to see the small gourds in the raised beds. What a clever and colorful idea to mingle them for the unsuspecting visitor.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
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Ornamentals

"Ornamentals"
12" x 12"
Pastel on canvas panel
I spent three hours in the sun at the Botanic Gardens today. I took 322 photos, documenting the colors and textures of the season. I have many more photos than I thought possible to use as subject matter! So I'll begin this autumnal series with cabbages, grasses and mums. 

 I met several people today. Kevin and Ned told me about a peony garden in Milwaukee where I can get several years worth of subject matter in one day. Marion and I were moved to tears as we stood in front of the tiny bonsai trees, that like their ginormous cousins, were turning the appropriate colors for their species and dropping tiny leaves.

I doubt that I'll go there again this season, but maybe once snow falls, I'll go back to capture the essence of winter before I'm weary of snow.

 Carol

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Castlewood Canyon Bridge

"Castlewood Canyon Bridge"
12" x 12"
Pastel on canvas panel
You can drive over this part of the canyon under which Cherry Creek trickles.  The snaking ribbon of blue flowing under the starkly contemporary bridge is what attracted me to this scene. And if you know my work at all, architectural elements are seldom included. So this is a unique piece… for me. 

I would have been in this place right about now, but my friend that I visit has come here, instead. I'll go to see her in another season sometime within the coming year.

Carol

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