Lantern Bearing Pierrots

"Lantern Bearing Pierrots"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas
I tackled a project that was over my head, yet I finished it. The original Maxfield Parrish painting from 1910, done in a very limited palette, has always intrigued me, so I thought I'd try to make a modern day version of it. Well, it was tough. I'm being brave in revealing my effort, but realize it is merely that… an effort.  

Carol

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Good Night Kiss

"Good Night Kiss"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard
Saturday scooped all of the color she collected from that day's sky and poured it into the lake — her lipsticked-kiss to bid him good night.

I hope to have the Lantern painting finished by tomorrow. 

Carol

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Wispy Dawn

"Wispy Dawn"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard
The sun was ready to peek through the low-lying clouds as I drove past the glimmer of a lake in the distance. If I had had a pole with me, I might have found my way to the shore and drowned a couple of worms.  

My "Lantern Bearers" painting, in the style of Maxfield Parrish is taking longer still than I expected. The faces and hands are the problems. I may give each pierrot a balloon head and mittened hands and call it a day.

Carol

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Adrift in Passion

"Adrift in Passion"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard
The color wouldn't last but a few heartbeats longer, so we stopped what we were doing and watched.  We absorbed the warmth and light of the moment then continued on, tending to the mundane aspects of our lives with renewed energy. 

 I fabricated this sky tonight, to have something to post while I finish a larger piece that is taking longer than planned. It was painted purely from passion and remembering a sky that looked like this.

Carol

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Stacked

"Stacked"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas
I hobbled barefooted across the smooth limestone rocks on the Lake Michigan beach, up on the northern shore of Door County, Wisconsin. For the most part, the rounded stones washed ashore and scattered randomly along a specific stretch of beach. But I found a cluster of them that had been stacked — by hands. Chubby, cherubic hands.  

The stones are so sensual. You can hear them before you see them as they rattle up to and away from the shore. They are a pale dove gray and feel like something you'd purchase in a spa shoppe to fondle away your woes.  They're so unique that they'r protected by law. You can't remove them from the beaches. None.  Just photos…

Carol

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Morning On the Lake

"Morning On the Lake"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard 
The light was crisp that morning; not too many soft edges. on the clouds or the water. It was bound to be a fabulous day, no matter what. 

I used a heavier hand on this piece. Didn't blend my strokes as much as I normally do on sky paintings, and I like it. It's very painterly. Love the little bit of crisp water down in front, too.

Carol

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Another Lovely Evening

"Another Lovely Evening"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard 
The commuters are on their trains, in their regular seats, snuggled against the window with their iPods lulling them into a lovely state of being.  It's evening again, another lovely one, at that.  

I spent a few hours making sky paintings to day. I enjoy the process and am always rewarded with a little gem amongst them.

Carol

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Auroral Ribbons

"Auroral Ribbons"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas
Ribbons circled the celestial orb in a galactic attempt at gift wrapping her. Moments later something burst — spewing particles into the atmosphere like so much confetti.

This was painted on the same day as the other Auroral piece, using the same palette of colors, but what a different outcome!

Carol

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Blue For You

"Blue For You"
!0" x 8"
Oil on wrapped canvas
Spring pansies are on racks at the entrance to my grocery store. This one was among the beauties being jostled by the wind as I walked in to pick up a roasted chicken the other day. I'm so desperate to see growing, living things I'll settle for hot house pansies as subject matter.  

I haven't painted a yellow and blue pansy before. It was fun to determine the shadow colors in the folds. The other thing that was fun to observe and paint was the veining, not just the bold purple ones, but the subtle veins that created shadows.  They're easy to see in the actual painting.

Carol

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Auroral Zone

"Auroral Zone"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas
This is how my brain functioned today as I applied paint to a black canvas. Oh, my, I didn't know this is how those thoughts would look! But now you do, too.  

The color is finally pretty true. I used Prussian blue and cadmium lemon to make the green. I like that the blue photographs as blue and not various shades of purple.

Carol

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Red Sky Warning

"Red Sky Warning"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard 
The red sky was a warning of things to come. The storm was a day away, but definitely brewing. The coastal waters roiled, the birds darted and dove, keening a primal forewarning. 

No real storm or foreboding took place to produce this painting.  I had a LOT of cad red light on my brush and made the best of it. Prussian was the complement and then a little lemon yellow.  So dramatic.  

Carol

Cool, Dry and High

"Cool, Dry and High"
5" x 7"
Oil on hardboard 
I stood on the side of a road to shoot in the general direction of Pikes Peak near Garden of the Gods that mid-October day. I had the good fortune to be in the State while a few colorful trees still adorned the foreground, and of course, the red spires of the Garden repeated some of the warm tree colors. 

 This is a cute small painting of one of my favorite places to photograph and to paint.

Carol

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Warm, Wet and Wild

"Warm, Wet and Wild"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard
Okay, it may be a bit suggestive, but what would you have titled the painting, if you had painted a couple dozen warm-weather water lilies in the wild?  Uh-huh.  I thought so. 

This is from a lake up in Wisconsin where my daughter's family has a summer cabin. It's the place where I get to kayak down close to the source.  It's about time to go there again… once the lake thaws.

Carol

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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

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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

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