Daniel Wright Pond Again

"Daniel Wright Pond Again"
8" x 10"
Oil on canvas panel  

In the nine o'clock hour this morning, this little pond near my home reflected colors other than green. From this time on, we will be noticing more orange creeping into the landscape. And a fair share of it creeping across the pond, in the form of some sort of scum, as well. Corn flowers dotted the foreground and so did a few magenta and peach-colored leaves. It's changing, I tell you. 

Carol

Dailypainters.com
Dailypaintworks.com
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Purple ... Phase

"Purple... Phase"
6" x 6"
Oil on canvas panel

I saw the most gorgeous deep purples and cobalt blues in the night sky just before dark the other night. I was driving in the country and was able to stop and enjoy the view at the edge of a field.  It was a colorist's treat. 

Carol

Dailypaintworks.com
Dailypainters.com
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Another Day

"Another Day"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard

I've wakened early enough lately, to see the transitory colors of dawn handing over the wand to another beautiful day, a clean slate. 

Here is a sky painting for your enjoyment as I finish up a series of house portraits.

Carol

Dailypaintworks.com
Dailypainters.com
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Eriksen's Farm, Bull Valley

"Eriksen's Farm, Bull Valley"
8" x 10"
Oil on canvas panel

I painted en plein air in Bull Valley this morning on a farm that is close to the barn where my 8'x8' barn quilt hangs. I painted this family's flowers along the picket fence that shone in the morning sun.  I sold the painting on the spot. 

My barn quilt is included in a slideshow of the McHenry County Barn Quilt Project.  Mine is around the 29th quilt featured.  It's a rainbow colored star quilt with an eight-point star in the center.  It appears to be polka dotted, but each "dot" is a rubber stamped image of a sun, leaf, heart, spiral, rose, etc., twenty four different ones in all.  The white background does have a medium blue polka dot on it — thousands of them.

Carol

Dailypaintworks.com
Dailypainters.com
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Ireland House Portrait

"Ireland House Portrait"
10" x 20"
Oil on wrapped canvas

One of my house portraits led to a commission to paint a home in Ireland. I was given two gloomy photos of the place and urged to, "Make it look beautiful." During the interview I got permission to change the time of day, step inside the fenced field, and add sheep. I'm tickled with the outcome, and so, too are my clients.  It's a gift to the homeowner. A thank you for letting them stay in their home, this home, in Ireland.  

House portraits are a loving gift. I do quite a few of them for the agents where I work as a receptionist in a large real estate office on the north shore of Chicago.

Carol

Dailypainters.com
Dailypaintworks.com
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Flooded Field

"Flooded Field"
5" x 7"
Oil on canvas panel

As I drove to my destination in Iowa a month ago, I passed numerous fields that still had standing water after the late June rains. They were impromptu lakes with ragged, dirt beaches.  I enjoyed seeing their reflective bodies, but the farmers probably didn't share my sense of delight. 

Little landscapes are taking the place of small sky paintings as I work on house portraits and a large "Toulouse Your Moose... " painting to be juried into a show in a few weeks.  Enjoy them, there will be more.

Carol

Dailypaintworks.com
Dailypainters.com
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Duck Nap

"Duck Nap"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas

Wouldn't you think it would be easier to hunker down on a flat surface to sleep, than balance on one skinny leg?  

A friend sent me a photo of this napping duck, and since I had never painted a duck, I thought it would be fun.

Carol

Dailypainters.com
Dailypaintworks.com
Brushstrokes@comcast.net