Red, White and Black

"Red, White and Black"
6" x 6"
Oil on canvas panel

Tea with lemon, tea with sugar, but never, ever tea with milk!  Yet the placement of these two vessels appealed to me.  They were on the counter at my friend's home in Colorado when I came down to breakfast. 


Her counter top was green granite.  It was great for her home, but not for this painting.  I wanted to come as close to "graphic" as I could without tipping the scale.  I am quite happy with the outcome.

Thanks for meandering by today.
Carol

DPW
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.netc

Reservoir Pond Island

"Reservoir Pond Island"
16" x 20"
Oil on panel 

Reservoir Pond is in Wisconsin. It's where I kayaked for the first time, shot waterlilies from inches away, saw eagles and circled this little island at least twice with my toy poodle on my lap.  


Go north for the fall colors. They're amazing. Well, they certainly were.  The dark value of pine makes a dramatic backdrop to the outrageous fashion statements of the deciduous.

Thank you, thank you for reading my blog.
Carol


DPW
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Lily Lake Autumn

"Lily Lake Autumn"
8" x 20"
Oil on panel 

My favorite body of water wears autumn with panache.  She dons an unusual assortment of foliage colors, including aqua, prior to the traditional golds and browns most plants succumb to in their final days.

It's Lily Lake again, you're right if you suspected that.  She's so accessible, calm and photogenic—like the beauty of a lioness, with the temperament of a kitten. 

Thank you for visiting today. I appreciate that you come back regularly.

Carol

DPW 

My DPW Gallery

Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Lily

"Lily"
20" x 16" 
Oil on panel

From my earliest recollection, I've loved water lilies and their gaggle of pads.  I think it's the roundness of their leaves, the invisible stems, and their unspeaking mouths. I remember sitting quietly in a rowboat as my father fished, looking at the mysterious plants that didn't appear to grow in dirt.

Yes, it's this color on the painting. The lily was blue, the leaves golden, and the sky was reflected in the water droplets.  It was an exercise in painting what I saw despite the believability of it.  I like the colors, and it looks pretty cool sitting here in my studio.

Thanks for peeking in.
Carol

DPW
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Ghost Island

"Ghost Island"
12" x 12"
Oil on panel

Not too far from the cabin was this little island.  I saw it during the day and it was unremarkable, but in morning's magical light, she struck a ghostly pose, against the pink sky. 


I like knowing that light changes the story I get to tell about the simplest objects.  I would have neglected this little mound of rocks with three trees on it, had I not known about atmospheric conditions.

Thank you for floating by today.
Carol

DPW

My DPW Gallery

Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Little Lily Lake #2

"Little Lily Lake #2"
17" x 15"
Oil on panel 

I love this little lake!  I pass it every week and it's so close to the road, with an easy to access parking lot, that I stop to photograph it every time I pass.  The water lilies are on the shallow parts of the lake.  The fishermen are on the deep parts.  It's a still lake, so the sky is always looking at herself in this natural little mirror. 


Lily Lake is already and will continue to be subject matter.  I have photographed her in all her glory for a few years, and still find her to be compelling.

Thank you for pausing to take a look at my art.
Carol

DPW
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Apricot Rose

"Apricot Rose"
12" x 12"
Oil on panel

She came with a heady scent, as thick as her petals, as ripe as her color.  This rose was in a bouquet with twenty-three others.  I painted her sister on a 36" x 36" canvas, and couldn't help but honor this one when I revisited my reference photos. 


I love a square format for my single blossom paintings—large or small, the flowers I love to paint seem to fit well in this shape.

But do you think I can find a ready made frame in a square?  Wouldn't you think with as huge as the daily painting movement is, and the thousands of square paintings that are painted each week, that some company would latch on to that market?   I'd do it if I didn't already wear so many hats!  If you are reading this and thinking about it and rubbing your chin, we need: 6x6, 8x8, 10x10, 12x12 and 14x14.  Not even just for us, the painters, but for the wonderful people investing in our art.

Thank you for reading today.


DPW
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Autumn Crescent Puzzle Moon

"Autumn Crescent Puzzle Moon"
18" x 24"
Acrylic on wrapped canvas

One steamy indian summer night when he thought nobody was looking, the Autumn Crescent took a refreshing dip in a rippling brook.  I saw him from the nursery window, as I rocked my feverish child and wished we could join him. 


I posted the companion piece to this one back in August, and forgot to follow up with this one.  Here it is now—strangely out of order, but included, now.

Thank you for stopping by today.
Carol

DPW
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Turbulent

"Turbulent"
8" x 10"
Oil on panel

Everything was turbulent; the sky, the water, the light flashing between cloudy and clear, everything but me. 

I assessed the essence of what I saw, on my favorite little lake, then set about to record how it felt. Turbulent.  Upon seeing it a while after I painted it, it really speaks of that day.

Thank you for blowing through today.
Carol

DPW
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Typical of the County

"Typical of the County"
16" x 20"
Oil on panel 

When I drive to my daughter's home in Wisconsin I imagine building lovely homes on top of the hills, all along the the way.  The view would be magnificent, for the mid west.  But then I consider borrowing a cup of sugar from the nearest neighbor... 


This was done from the memory of a particular field, in the comfort of my studio.  I particularly like the way the clouds lined up.

Thanks for visiting.
Carol

DPW 
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Here's Looking at You

"Here's Looking at You"
10" x 8"
Oil on canvas panel

It's winter, snow is on the ground, here I am looking to paint this hot image. I shot this in the crystalline confinement of the cactus house at the Chicago Botanic Gardens during the summer.  It was hot in there that day.  Probably not quite as warm today.    

The spines were my concerns as I plotted to paint this image.  I use a flat or a bright to paint everything.  So I trusted that my Rosemary and Company beauties would do the trick for me. I love those brushes.  I've had them since March.  I paint every day and wash them in Murphy's Oil Soap.  The tips are still knife-sharp.  Love 'em! And I managed to paint the spines with them!

Thank you for peeking in today.
Carol

DPW
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Succulent Season

"Succulent Season"
10" x 10"
Acrylic mixed media

Succulents, with their whorled profusion of thick, velvety leaves that unfurl into a full-blown swirl, like roses, cabbages and kale, give me a sense of satisfaction. 

I'm finding out so much about myself by writing words to go with my paintings.  It's one thing to create with imges, but another still, to explain why. I taught myself to paint by teaching others. Formulating words to explain a process ingrains it into one's very being.

So many images, so little time.
Carol

DPW
My DPW Gallery (195 paintings)
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Water Lilies

"Water Lilies"
8" x 8"
Acrylic mixed media

In a world where lilies bloom in shades of sapphires and rubies, and their leaves are burnished in coppers and golds, tranquility is as common as sand.

I changed the color of the lily pads to match a particular copper paint I wanted to use, and the blooms went along for the ride.  I accepted their choice in the matter and accented the piece with a spiral sun-like swirl.

By the way, the "Adam's Grapes" painting was not spotted by my son.  He missed the opportunity to receive the piece as a gift from his ol' Mom.

Thank you for looking.
Carol

DPW
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Kale Comes of Age

"Kale Comes of Age"
8" x 8"
Acrylic mixed media

She grew this way, purple and green, just as you see her.  The sheen on her background is merely her radiance searing the metallic around her.

In my neighborhood, there was one tree affected by a voracious insect.  It ate the leaf, left the veins.  From an art perspective, this was cool. But the tree lost a lot of leaves.  I collected many.  They paint-up nicely.

Thank you for taking the time to look today.
Carol

DPW
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comast.net

Kale for the Soul

"Kale for the Soul"
16" x 16"
Acrylic mixed media

The kale was just so green, lovely but green, so I took her to my laboratory where I gave her a new outlook on her pedestrian life. Now she's a meditative kind of gal, surrounded by onlookers and worshipers of her spiraling self.  

I did Photoshop miss kale, here, to make her fit in with my plan.  I painted all the papers, tore the swirls from metallic painted waxed paper and stuck all the elements together like a grade school project.  Then I added shadows, and smiled at the result.

Thanks for stopping by to have fun with me today.
Carol

DPW
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Ornamental Cabbage



"Ornamental Cabbage"
8" x 8"
Acrylic mixed media



I was drawn to the marks of found Asian symbols used in lines, in squares, and overprinted. Without knowing what they actually read, I was brave to place them in the corners of my composition.

My color photo of ornamental cabbage dictated the colors for this piece. I've become good at tearing edges.  It's a skill I never thought I'd want or need to master. But I'm in it now.

Thank you for taking a few moments to view my art today.
Carol

DPW
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

July Wisconsin

"July Wisconsin"
12" x 12"
Oil on canvas panel

You could hear the insects summer song from the car—with the windows closed. It was July in the heartland. I liked the thought of painting in Wisconsin, but wanted to do it in January, from home.  So I did! 


Thankfully, cameras work in July and computer screens reflect those images in the dread of winter.  Did I type dread, I meant dead.  Same difference. 

Thanks for trudging through today,
Carol

DPW
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Moons Over the Desert

"Moons Over the Desert"
10" x 10"
Acrylic mixed media

Certain parts of the world are privy to Dual Moonality.  Usually they're located in the deserts of continents that have deserts, but from my studio, I occasionally get peeks at places just like this painting.  I love being an artist!  It affords me such luxurious privileges. 

This is one in a series of mixed media pieces I'll be posting over the next few days.  I painted the paper, tore it and shot the photos.  The leaf was in my yard, and I stenciled the decorative stuff with joint compound.  I repeat... I love being an artist.  

Come back tomorrow for more fun stuff! 

Carol  

DPW 

My DPW Gallery

Brushstokes@comcast.net

Plein Air Wisconsin

"Plein Air Wisconsin"
16" x 20"
Oil on canvas panel

It was earlier than I'm accustomed to being awake, as we drove north out of Illinois. The light was warm and the sky was hazy on the horizon. Clouds hadn't even decided what shapes they'd be for the day, at that hour.


Painting outdoors is a passion that reveals itself only when I'm doing it. The thought of dew, bugs, heat, humidity and sunburn line up in a pretty impressive list before each outing. I love it once I'm in it, but man, oh, man, I don't delight in adversity of outdoors versus my lovely studio.

Thank you for reading my rant.
Carol

DPW
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Gossamer Trio

"Gossamer Trio"
11" x 14"
Acrylic on canvas panel

There were three sheer, papery roses mixed in with some carnations and a tulip when I rescued the bouquet.  I snipped 'em short, added foliage and buds, and a few herbs from my garden then painted the gossamer trio before they wilted.  


The colors were perfect for this background.  I worked it fast and deliberately, adding a retarder to the paint, so it wouldn't dry too quickly.  I especially like the blue flowers and leaves tucked between the three gals.

Thanks for taking a look!
Carol

DPW
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcas.net

Adam's Grapes

"Adam's Grapes"
10" x 8"
Oil on canvas panel 

"I shot this with my phone," said my adult son. 
"Explain," I replied.  
"Shot a colored photo, then told the phone to make the background black and white." 
"On your phone?  Explain this to your mother."  
"Here's the original photo," he wrote as a caption under the full color photo in his next e-mail.

I liked the look of the ghostly grapes and leaves in the background, and the unaltered colors of the actual grapes.  So I used my son's image to see if I could attain the same feeling in paint as he did with a click of a button.  Let's see if he's reading Mama's blog. If he responds to this within a week, I'll give it to him.  Meanwhile, it's for sale on DPW.  Wanna place bets?

DPW
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Thank you for playing along with me today.
Carol

Asian Pear

"Asian Pear"
6" x 6"
Oil on panel

It sat in my kitchen for two weeks, this gift from a customer of my daughter's. It was wrapped in white paper and a meshy-net.  Once again, there was food in the house that mystified us.   


I brought the the mystery fruit to my studio tonight and researched it.  It's an Asian Pear—possibly Korean.  I liked the unblemished skin of one color, top to bottom.  I shone a light on it and painted the direct complement around it, smashed some design into it and then painted the pear.  I'll slice into it tomorrow!

Thank you for stopping by.
Carol

DPW
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Festive Rose

"Festive Rose"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard panel

She's one happy posy, this little beauty! 

The festivities have been going on around me for over two weeks.  But today I found the perfect subject to depict the tenor of my life.  I've had the flu. And I may be finally getting over it!  I painted this today and it's indicative of how I feel.  I missed Christmas and all the celebrating from the 23rd of December until today.  Fortunately, I had painted a lot in preparation for the holidays, and wrote posts in advance, too.

Well, I'm back!  Although, I was never really gone, was I?
Carol

DPW
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Spaceballs

"Spaceballs"
12" x 36"
Acrylic/colored pencil on wrapped canvas 

Oh, my gosh, if you ever get the chance to play with spaceballs, hop the next shuttle and do it!  Never mind the cost. You won't be disappointed. It's a totally intuitive game, they do whatever it is you think they should do, with a dozen colorful balls at a time!  

Other than that goofiness, this piece was created in a similar fashion to the watercolors frozen below zero that I showed you a couple of weeks ago. These area acrylic with plastic wrap applied and left to dry and then I colored in the wrinkled areas with colored pencils... neon colors, no less.  It is a stunning piece.  The Spaceballs made me say that. 

Thanks for stopping by.

Carol 

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My DPW Gallery

My email 

Angel Blueface

"Angel Blueface"
"6" x6"
Acrylic on clay board

As soon as I was ready to shoot this stand of fan coral, an Angel Blueface darted in front of my specimens. Wouldn't you know, a simple project of making marks turned—all about fish! 

Okay, here's the panel I chose to imprint with the mark made by paint squeezed on a wet background and pressed with a firm piece of plastic, then lifted.  I could see through the plastic this time, so I relocated the paint to the height and area I wanted.  It looked like fan coral to me. So I made a miniature under water scene with pearlescent and gold coral.  Then it needed a fish.  I went to the internet and found this guy, then put one more little fan in front of him.  Thus ends this  experiment in making meaningful marks.

Thank you for bearing with me on this excursion. 

Carol

DPW

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Lovely Bunch of Coconuts

"Lovely Bunch of Coconuts"
9" x 12"
Acrylic on canvas panel

The rainforest was noisier than I had anticipated, and not with animal sounds.  A sudden breeze rattled the overlapping fronds. Water droplets plinked through the canopy, and the creaking of large stalks and trunks that teetered in the breeze sounded like sequoias about to topple. 

I added a dollop of wet paint to the background play of color, and smashed it in with the sheet of plastic. Pulled up and released. Hmmmm. Just a circle of paint.  Wiped it and sprayed water where I wanted to press in paint.  Voila! It worked. Made more of the same frond-like marks.  It's moisture around the paint that makes it act this way.   I'll try one more canvas to see if I can make this mark with purpose.  

DPW

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Thank you for visiting.

Carol 

Fronds

"Fronds"
8" x 10"
Acrylic on canvas panel

In the humidity of the tropical dome at the conservatory were numerous varieties of fronds. The late afternoon light bounced around in that moist environment, revealing a spectrum of color. 

Number two in the series is similar, in that it is on a black canvas with metallic colors.  And once again, I took it this far and let it dry.  Tomorrow I will see what it's like to work on a dried piece and introducing new elements.

Thank you for taking a peek at my work. 

Carol 

DPW

My DPW Gallery

Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Golden Needles



"Golden Needles"
8" x 10"
Acrylic on canvas panel


When the moon zapped a silvery sheen over the snow in the forest, the pines preferred gold, and took on a glow of their own.

What started as an exercise in two colors on black, became a finished piece in short order. The sparse gold "needles" spoke the essence of forest on top of the metallic silver paint, so I left it to dry.  I made another one or two in metallic colors, that I'll post over the next couple of days.

DPW
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brushstrokes@comcast.net

Thank you for looking at my blog today, As always, I appreciate it.
Carol

Without Leaves

"Without Leaves" 16" x 20" 
Acrylic on gessoed panel

I maundered through a forest so captivating and magical I didn't realize until I got home that there were no leaves.  


The first time I used a palette knife I made a mess. I thought "peanut butter and jelly" instead of marks.  This was an exercise in linear marks on a sponged background.  I used fluid paints, so the actual tactile texture is smooth.  It's the same palette of colors as yesterday's piece, too.

Dailypaintworks
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Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Thank you for looking!
Carol

City Brights

"City Brights"
11" x 14"
Acrylic on canvas panel

As the plane glided along the lakefront in a final approach to home, I took comfort in the colorful and textural contrasts of the place I am blessed to reside.  


As promised a few weeks ago, I've committed to painting abstracts and experimental pieces in January.  "City Brights" is a warm up.   And while I had this paint out, I did one for tomorrow, too!  Happy New Year!

Thank you so much for visiting my blog.  I appreciate that you take the time to look at what I've painted and read my words.
Carol

Dailypaintworks
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Brushstrokes@comcast.net