Many Iterations of Fence

"Many Iterations of Fence"
5" x 5"
Oil on hardboard 
Fences that meander like quilt stitching across the topography of hills and valleys intrigue me, but so do the ones that have been crafted at various times, from different materials. This one in particular, in all its iterations on fenced-ness, makes me smile.  

This little fence painting brought me such comfort tonight. Must be tugging at my landscape roots.  

Carol 

Evening Blankets the Hills

"Evening Blankets the Hills"
5" x 7"
Oil on canvas panel
I saw a painting similar to this and tried to capture the essence of it in miniature. It's a lot like my regular sky paintings with a little more detail to the ground.  I'd love to live where this view is common place.  

It's not my habit to copy art, but it is a learning experience, just like the masters used to instruct their students. Simple strokes of color defined the topography of this hilly place.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
Carolkeene.com
Dailypainters.com
Dailypaintworks.com

Still Waters

"Still Waters"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard 
The season was nearly over for the waterlilies, but I liked that their color was the complement of the dark water in which they floated. 

This is a similar painting to one I painted a few days ago.  It's not even the same location, but very close to the same composition. This one is from a nearly black and white photograph, so I juiced it up to the colors I wanted to use.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
CarolKeene.com
Dailypaintworks.com
Dailypainters.com

Good Morning Rose

"Good Morning Rose"
8" x 8"
Oil on wrapped canvas
On this snowy spring morning I imagined what it would be like to wake up in a climate where when you opened the door to get your morning paper there was a red rose blooming in your front yard. What a glorious sight it would be to see it first thing. What a greeting it would be on any morning. 

I'm not accustomed to painting red roses, but this one had my name on it. I love… roses.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
CarolKeene.com
Dailypaintworks.com
Dailypainters.com

Rust Never Sleeps

"Rust Never Sleeps"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas
I'm listening to Neil Young tonight again while I paint. His voice is casting a melodic spell in the sanctuary of my studio.  MOG is in its final days of existence, so I won't be able to access him whenever I want… for free. 

This painting of rust is from a photograph I took of a painted blue "space capsule" kind of device.  And once again, the painting shows the detail and colors a lot truer than the camera can reproduce. 

Carol 

White Rose

"White Rose"
5" x 5"
Oil on wrapped canvas
This day turned into such a joyful and productive day that late in the evening I decided to paint a small white rose as a token of my love. Spring is in the air. Gardening is being done, muscles are sore and plans are being made for beautiful things to blossom. 

 Friends everywhere have written to tell me that it's spring where they are. They've tilled the earth or planted or seeded.  I have to believe it will happen… Spring is here!

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
Carolkeene.com
Dailypaintworks.com
Dailypainters.com

Indian Paintbrush

"Indian Paintbrush"
10" x 8"
Oil on wrapped canvas
In some parts of the country there are flowers blooming already — wild flowers, not in a conservatory, not in a clay pot or wrapped in a clear plastic sleeve from the grocery store. Spring is in full bloom in some parts of the country, not here, but somewhere.  Oh, to be where there are blooming things. . .  

I grew up where a plant of this name was a rusty orange and not particularly … pretty. I find this species of the genus quite fetching. I wonder if it has a fragrance as divine as its color?

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
Carolkeene.com
Dailypaintworks.com
Dailypainters.com

Over the Dark Water

"Over the Dark Water"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard 
The sun was setting over the cold, dark water of one of the large lakes near me. It went down in a flourish becoming a summer night. But it's not summer. Not even close. In fact, it feels like summer will just slide by with a passing wave this year. 

I seem to be grousing about the temperatures in my zip code again, don't I? I'm just so ready for warmer weather, brighter skies and for color. I miss color.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
Carolkeene.com
Dailypaintworks.com
Dailypainters.com

Camellia

"Camellia"
12" x 12"
                                              Oil on wrapped canvas
I had the good fortune to attend three different flower shows in Chicago yesterday. I lunched at Macy's on State Street, stood on one of those perspective-distorted chalk drawings, saw the Tiffany domed ceiling, photographed a man proposing to a woman, ate fine chocolates and met charming people on the train. 

This camellia painting is from one of over two hundred photos I took in the course of one magical day. 

Carol 


Magenta Stocks

"Magenta Stocks"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas
I happened on several plantings of stocks in the Lincoln Park Conservatory last spring and delighted in their generic "posy-ness."  They are the epitome of what the word flower means to me. I wish I had a garden full of them in all their various colors.

I hope I get to see stocks in bloom again this year. While they are beautiful in their own way, they appear to be early prototypes for roses.

Carol 

Still Winter

"Still Winter"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard
Across the flat prairie, the land is still barren and dusted with winter's most recent effort. It's now April, but it still feels and looks like February.

I trust there will be signs of spring emerging through the matted leaves pretty soon. Do I sound desperate, or whiny?  I'm so sorry if I come off that way. April has to be better, doesn't it?

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
Carolkeene.com
Dailypaintworks.com
Dailypainters.com


Simply Stated

"Simply Stated"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas
Here's the simpler painting I mentioned yesterday. It's dioxazine violet and cobalt blue intertwining with one another, using white to pull the colors into the foreground and black to push them back.  It's really very much more interesting to look at in person, as are all of the pieces in this series.  

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
Carolkeene.com
Dailypaintworks.com
Dailypainters.com


Split Synapses

"Split Synapses"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas 
I revisited the synapse theme today, but in a different palette of colors. I'm using a split complement of blue violet, yellow green and yellow orange. The mixing of the colors as my brush flowed from one place to another gave me what appears to be a russet.  

It's not my favorite palette, but I tried working outside my comfort zone. I would have preferred reds and oranges with my violet, but as I said, it was a challenge.  I limited my palette for tomorrow's post. Very limited!

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
Carolkeene.com
Dailypainters.com
Dailypaintworks.com

Snake River

"Snake River"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard
The Snake River is the western border of Idaho at the Oregon border. I suspect this is the Oregon side, if memory serves.  I liked it here because of the colors. The sky and the weeds were opposites on the color wheel and appealed to me. 

 I have a unique way of getting these images, but that's another story. I like that there was no snow in the photo or in the painting. It's spring and I need to begin painting like it!

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
Carolkeene.com
Dailypaintworks.com
Dailypainters.com

Passion Overhead

"Passion Overhead"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard
There are times when I'm able to conjure up a painting that represents the passion I actually feel. A passion that my camera can't portray accurately. Yet my paint and brush, in this particular piece, have placed the beauty of these colors exactly where I wanted them.  Let's go to this place.

The upper layer of yellow is more orange than it appears here. Just perfect with the purples.  And the blue is not quite as intense.

 Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
Carolkeene.com
Dailypaintworks.com
Dailypainters.com

Aqua-linear Synapses

"Aqua-linear Synapses"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas 
Words are not flowing as fluidly as my brush did as I sit here tonight to write about this image. I enjoyed where my brain directed my hand and let it create the sense of aqueous space that you see, but I can't describe it. I plan to make another tomorrow, and we'll see if I can find words any easier than tonight. 

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
Dailypaintworks.com
Dailypainters.com

Evening Appetizer

"Evening Appetizer"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard
I attended a birthday party the other day, after which I was pointed directly at this riotous sunset about dinner time. I photographed it with little hope of documenting the colors, but actually did capture them as I remembered. The meal was delicious on the heels of this amazing appetizer.  

Happy Birthday Cutie Pie.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
Dailypaintworks.com
Dailypainters.com