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
CarolKeene.com
Dailypaintworks.com
Dailypainters.com

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

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

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
CarolKeene.com
Dailypaintworks.com
Dailypainters.com

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
Carolkeene.com
Dailypaintworks.com
Dailypainters.com

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

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

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
CarolKeene.com
Dailypaintworks.com
Dailypainters.com

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

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