The Maroon Bells

"The Maroon Bells"
16" x 20"
Acrylic on stretched canvas

It was September, the aspens had changed their green coinage for gold.  The sun zapped orange at the tips of The Maroon Bells and the shadows responded appropriately in an array of violets and purple.  

This is a knife painting I cobbled from a stack of autumn photos of The Maroon Bells peaks in Colorado.  It was a larger painting than I'm used to doing with a knife, but enjoyable.

Carol

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Beck's Other Field

"Beck's Other Field"
9" x 12"
Acrylic on canvas panel

The thing I face when I paint summer in the Midwest is handling all the green and blue.  There are lots of shades and values of each in this painting, but it still reads as a green and blue painting.  

Fall is around the corner!  In fact, the large painting I'm working on today is autumn in Colorado.  I hope to finish it this afternoon so I can post it on Friday.

Carol

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Beck's Farmland

"Beck's Farmland"
8" x 8"
Acrylic on canvas panel 

I painted en plein air early this morning at Beck's farm while there was still pink on the horizon. The soybeans grew in various shades of green, depending on when they were planted, with a healthy crop of weeds separating them like fences.  

This is a palette knife piece, one of two that I painted in the presence of hummingbirds, crows and hawks.  It was an idyllic meditative day in Hebron, Illinois.

Carol

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Favorite

"Favorite"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard 

Of all the ...skyscapes... I've painted in this series, and there is a long line of them, you are my favorite. You have an astounding balance of color, a rock-solid base and a serene quality to your ethereal blues. Is it any wonder why I adore you?

Carol

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Rising On the Chanticleer Bay

"Rising On the Chanticleer Bay"
6" x6"
Oil on hardboard 

The red-orange of the rising sun took on a rooster-red glow the morning I wakened to see it for myself.  The Chanticleer Bay was named for its glorious sunrises, but they didn't bode well for the residents. Red sky come morning... take it as warning. 

Another sky while I sort out my... paints.

Carol

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Bleeding Heart

"Bleeding Heart"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard

The sun rose that morning with more fanfare than the day warranted.  It bled all over the horizon, leaking onto the coastal waters and even tinting a rock or two.  Nobody even saw the orb responsible for this much drama.  

Another sky while my life gets sorted. Or is it sordid?  Either way, you get sky.  :-)  

Carol

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Rising From the Depths

"Rising From the Depths"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard

Morning is so worth witnessing when there's a place to watch the sun rise from the depths of her nighttime hiding place. She brings with her such dandy colors and patterns and tosses them into the air with reckless abandon.

Sky, sky sky.  Does she know how to paint anything else?   Yes, and she's doing it behind your back.  Wait a few more days and you'll see.  Yikes, I hope so, anyway.

Carol

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Botanic Gardens Icons

"Botanic Gardens Icons"
25" x 13.5" 
Oil on four canvases

The Chicago Botanic Gardens, like many public places, has iconic spots that people designate as meeting areas. The English Walled Garden has many, including the three pictured here: the garden gate, the lily pond, and the Renaissance sculpture.

This piece was hanging in a corporate setting until it was removed to make room for team-building posters.  Fine art went out the door for propaganda. Sheesh. The three canvases are mounted on one large canvas that I marbleized. It's about an inch and a half thick.

Carol

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Sunrise Waves

"Sunrise Waves"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard

Long, tongue-like waves licked their way toward shore, some donning morning's light, others determined to drag night along as long as possible.

A sunrise is my warm up this time.  I bought more of these panels over the weekend so I can continue this little passion for a while longer. I'm figuring out how to paint that blue stuff that changes color and shape over my head.

Carol

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Tumbling Turmoil

"Tumbling Turmoil"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard

Sunsets are often yellow, orange, and red. And because red has the longest wavelength of any visible light, when it’s on the horizon, where its extremely long path through the atmosphere, it blocks all other colors.

It's another sky painting for while I'm working on a large rose painting— that's going slowly. 

Carol

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Puzzled

"Puzzling"
10" x 10"
Acrylic on wrapped canvas

The shape of puzzle pieces has entertained me for most of my life. I like the knob and the bite on every side; each one unique in its shape and size. Each one locking perfectly into only one other piece. 

This is not brand new, but my new pieces are taking longer on account of life getting in the way.  I'll post when I can until this bumpy road gets smoother.  Thank you for your inquiries and concerns on the days I didn't post.  I'm well, just engulfed.

Carol

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Majesty

"Majesty"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard

The sun nestled into a bank of clouds, upstaging the mountains, and snuggled in the downy fluff like a kitten in a basket of tangerine yarn. 

Here's another in my series of skies. I cobbled this one from several photos in my files.  While I still have paint on my tiny Styrofoam plate, I'll probably make one other one to post tomorrow night. I love making them.  Can you tell?  

Carol

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At Joanie's

"At Joanie's"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard

We were outside at sunset when Joan noticed the color of the treetops, that they were viridian, despite the drought.  "The sun's playing tricks," I said.  Joan was happy it wasn't the wine she had with dinner, instead.  

Another twenty minute painting, done with Joan in my studio with me!  No wine was consumed while painting this sky... well, almost none.

Carol

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Nipped in the Bud

"Nipped in the Bud"
6" x 6"
Oil on canvas panel

She was one of the last ones standing when I happened by.  Not particularly attractive, but a rose, nonetheless.  I hoped she'd survive the frost, but knew her sister probably would not.  I didn't go back to check. 

This format is just too small for the large, swirling motions I enjoy when I paint with my sponges.  It must be the mural painter in me.

Carol

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Peg's Again

"Peg's Again"
10" x 8'
Oil on canvas panel

It's hot and steamy and the colors are intense in the garden this time of year, if you can get past the humidity and bugs.  

This was a thirty minute painting, but it would never have gone longer, no matter what, with the bugs and the heat of this summer.  I'll wait until it's cooler to venture into another plein air experience.  I'm not made of the right stuff for this!

Carol

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Alpenglow

"Alpenglow"
8" x 10" 
Oil on wrapped canvas

When the sun is just below the horizon, a horizontal red glowing band can sometimes be observed on the opposite horizon. Alpenglow is easiest to observe when mountains are illuminated but can also be observed when the sky is illuminated through backscattering, according to Wikipedia. 

This is at Devil's Thumb Resort where I stayed in Colorado.  I was fascinated with the pink light cast back on the mountains after the sun had set.

Carol

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Evening Attire

"Evening Attire"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard

My destination was further away, and took longer to get to than I expected. I had been looking down at where I would step next as I crossed the field.  When I looked up the sky was wearing evening attire the color of ripe mangoes.  

Another sky painting for the collection. I tried not to make this one too soft.  Edges on clouds present a different atmosphere. I had to concentrate on leaving them.  I'm a soft cloud person.  

Carol 

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Path to Dehlias's"

"Path to Dehlia's" 
8" x 10" 
Acrylic on canvas panel 

I had walked it so many times it didn't even occur to me to wonder why the path zigged and zagged through the meadow on the way to Dehlia's, until Lindy brought it up. I looked behind us and ahead again, then shrugged it off as one of those questions to which I would have to invent an answer. 

After painting Peg's Front Garden I was inspired to try another quick landscape using acrylic and my imagination. Purely a fantasy, this one.

Carol

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Untitled

"Untitled"
12" x 12"
Acrylic on wrapped canvas

When the results came back, I asked to see the image.  It was black and shades of gray and white. I liked the patterns and I imagined the actual internal color of my breast.  I decided to paint my perfectly normal mammogram. That's my nipple on the right, by the way.  Just the way you envisioned it, right? 

I painted this with acrylics and accented it with interference paint, so it has a metallic shimmer when seen in the right light. And the title... well, the word "Untitled" contains the word tit, so I thought it would be appropriate.  

Carol

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Peg's Front Garden

"Peg's Front Garden"
8" x 10"
Acrylic on canvas panel

In June, when the larkspur are blooming, that's when I enjoy painting in Peg's front garden. There's no rhyme or reason to this garden, as things reseed where they wish, but Peg keeps it weeded and walkways clear... enough. 

I use acrylics when I paint outdoors, and usually a palette knife, but this one was done with a brush.

Carol

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Frosty Morning

"Frosty Morning"
8" x 10"
Oil on hardboard

It was November.  Frost had chilled autumn's remaining foliage with her prickling needles. Then Morning showed up with her heat lamp to thaw Frost's crystalline web.  

Morning skies are so much more interesting than the ones we see at noon.  I'm enjoying morning a lot more now that I am painting sky without fear.

Carol

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Canadian Sunset

"Canadian Sunset"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard

Where I live the sunrise and sunset are blocked by buildings and trees. My memory serves me in the area of these daily occurrences, and when I can, I photograph particularly stunning sunsets for reference.  This one is a recollection of one summer when I was in Canada at sunset. I loved how the primary colors reflected on the water, and how the trees, in the absence of light turned black.  I remember saying, "Good night Canada, I loved today." 


I painted this in twenty minutes.  I love these little sky studies.

Carol

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House Portrait

"House Portrait"
8" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas

Here's another house portrait for a customer in my county in Illinois. Real estate agents give them as closing gifts.

Carol

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Julia's Peony Bud

"Julia's Peony Bud"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard 

I painted this subject before, and it sold.  I was asked to paint it again and I sold it, too.  There's something about the bud of a peony that resonates with some people.  I'm happy to have them following me and purchasing my work.  Thank you!

Carol

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Letter S

"Letter S"
12" x 12"
Acrylic on canvas 

Here's a commission piece for a little girl.  It has seven stars, six sunflowers, a spotted snake, a sand pile with a sand shovel, a smiley-faced sun, a strawberry, and the S has stripes and snowflakes and scallops, too!  

I paint these for kids' rooms.

Carol

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