Hollyhocks, Purple Kale and Zinnias

"Hollyhocks, Kale and Zinnias"
12" x  12"
Acrylic on canvas panel 
Her garden was a riot of color. I could see snatches of it peeking between the pine boughs on the other side of the fence where I was visiting. She clustered her flowers so they looked like the cover of a magazine, and she let me photograph them. 

I was well enough to cover more than a six inch canvas today. Things are looking up!

Carol

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Out of the Fog

"Out of the Fog"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard 
Days went by without even thinking of smearing paint. I thought I was mending, but lingered in a hazy place that just didn't loosen its grip. That fog may have burned off now and I'll have clear sailing from this point on.

Here's a simple offering from an unsteady hand. I'm happy to be back to work.

Carol

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Night Descending

"Night Descending"
6" x 6"
Acrylic on hardboard 
The sun set as my body grew weary, still in the cradle of my courtyard. As if through squinted eyes, I slathered on bits of color to
depict what I was seeing and ended up with an abstraction of what knife painting already is! I left well enough alone and put my knife down as the sun called it a day. 

I'm mending nicely from my illness. I've had many uplifting things to contribute to my complete recovery. Thank you for your kind words, one and all.

Carol

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In My Courtyard

"In My Courtyard"
6" x 6"
Acrylic on hardboard
I've been in Michigan and I've been ill. I hadn't painted in a week until today. It felt foreign to hold the knife, to move it across the board, to hear the scraping on my palette, feel the sun on my arms. I sat in my courtyard, recuperating from being flat in bed, not even on the couch. I smeared the colors, the shadows and light of what I saw. It was all the energy I had.

Carol

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Hostas in the Back

"Hostas in the Back"
6" x 6"
Acrylic on hardboard
Dee's flowers were thriving at this corner of the house. Ornamental grass dipped in front of the hostas and bright yellow daisies or mums of some sort brightened the foreground. 

 I gravitated to the spot in the garden where the spiky flowers stand in the back row like the tall kids in the class photo.

Carol

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Dee's Window Box

"Dee's Window Box"
5" x 7"
Acrylic on canvas panel 
I painted this window box that hangs from one of the windows on my sister's house. I have other garden paintings to show in the days to come, as well.  

No matter the season, Dee's gardens show well. She has over 4500 square feet of beauty to maintain, but fortunately, her husband is as interested in keeping them watered and weeded as she is. What a joyful time we had with them this weekend.

Carol

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Red Lily

"Red Lily"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard 
Mary had lilies blooming when I was her guest. I photographed a few of them, but alas, not the ones she dearly loved. They had finished their season a week before I got there.  

I hadn't painted a flower portrait in a while, so this one felt really good. But they all do, no matter what I paint or the medium or technique. I just love to … paint.

Carol

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Mosaic Chapel

"Mosaic Chapel"
5" x 7"
Oil on canvas panel
This is the chapel in the Wegner Grotto in Cataract, Wisconsin.  It's about the size of a shed in which you store the lawnmower.  I lost the pizzaz in this little painting when I darkened the walls by a little too much. It's still a cute little painting of one unique little park. 

 The rooftop is shards of glass. The fence in the foreground is topped with thousands of shards of glass, stuck in concrete on end. It's not a fence you'd want to climb in the dark, without prior knowledge of its prickly nature.

Carol

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Begonias

"Begonias"
5" x 7"
Acrylic on canvas panel
In the Wegner Grotto were several tubs of begonias. Perhaps they had nothing to do with the park, but they were there. I felt compelled to paint them in the final moments of the competition, and this is how they turned out. 

I like the composition and the way it turned out, but it was not what they were looking for.  It was fun to paint in about thirty minutes, though.

Carol

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More of Mary's Garden

"More Of Mary's Garden"
7" x 5"
Acrylic on canvas panel
I used the shapes and lighting of the flowers in Mary's garden, but swapped out their real colors for ones I wanted in my painting. And I painted it very early in the morning, against a white building. This isn't exactly how her garden looked, but she didn't seem to mind receiving the painting as a gift. 

I either need to plant hollyhocks or befriend someone nearby with the same penchant for them as I've developed.

Carol

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At the Fence

"At the Fence"
7" x  5"
Acrylic on canvas panel
Here are more hollyhocks from my trip to Door County, Wisconsin.  They were nodding their pretty heads at every bend. I love adding spiky plants and flowers to my little landscapes.  

By the time this posts, I will have been painting in Wisconsin again. I'm hoping to find more lovely things to photograph and bring back to my studio.

Carol

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Golden Star

"Golden Star"
5" x 7"
Acrylic on canvas board
I attended a plein air event in Cataract, Wisconsin over the weekend. We could paint three pieces in the two day event. I painted this one first. It's a mosaic star at the Wegner Grotto. I painted three other pieces and eliminated this star. Wrong choice. The judge told everyone that my star would have won first place had it not been swapped out for a begonia piece I finished five minutes before the end of the competition.  I did not win, but I could have. Broke my heart. 

Carol

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Potted

"Potted"
7" x 5"
Acrylic on canvas panel
I'm so drawn to colorful potted plants and flowers this summer.  I haven't seen many roses so I'm making do with what's available.  

I found a tool to scrape the canvas to "fracture" the paint as I apply it.  It's the Princeton Catalyst Silicone Wedge No. 1. I couldn't find the kind of scraper Julie Ford Oliver recommended, then remembered the ones by my friends at Princeton Brushes.  I'm using the dark gray one and I love the way it feels to hold it and the way it pushes away the paint… but also reapplies it where needed.

Carol

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Hot Pink Hollyhocks

"Hot Pink Hollyhocks"
7" x 5"
Acrylic on canvas panel
I photographed this part of a public garden in Fish Creek, as you come into town. It delighted me in the dark, so I photographed it the night we arrived in town. Come morning it was in deep shadow, but by afternoon, when I had already painted and turned in my canvas for the competition, the sun shone on these gorgeous flowers.  You'll see more of them in days to come. 

Carol

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White Hollyhocks

"White Hollyhocks"
7" x 5"
Acrylic on canvas panel
When the sun rose, I was able to see the color of the pale hollyhocks I had found the night before — white. They were in full bloom and luscious, ripe for painting.  

I'm preparing for another competition. This one is for small art, either 4"x 6" or 5"x 7" postcard size.  I'm excited to be going up to Wisconsin again, this time to a plein air competition sponsored by the Kohler foundation.  We'll see how it goes!

Carol

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Hollyhocks

"Hollyhocks"
6" x 6"
Acrylic on hardboard
Hollyhocks were prevalent in Door County. I love their spiky stalks of color and the shape they afford in a composition.  I grew up with hollyhocks in the yard, but haven't seen many in recent decades.  I photographed several, so you'll see them popping up over the next few weeks.  

As promised, this is a new way of handling my knife painting. I "squeegeed" the paint as I applied it to the black background. It took courage, but I did it… to some extent. The next time won't be as terrifying.  Or if it is, I know I won't die trying.

Carol

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Delphiniums

"Delphiniums"
6" x 6"
Acrylic on hardboard
After painting delphiniums for the competition, I decided to give it another try, close up this time.  It was fun, but in my next painting, you'll see that I'm trying a new style with my knife paintings.  

I bought Julie Ford Oliver's video on how SHE uses her knife. I tried it today and think with a bit of practice, I'll be wielding my knife with a little more finesse.  She's the master (mistress) in my book.  Thanks for making your video, Julie. It was fab!

Carol

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