Carol Keene: November 2012

Sunday, November 25

Dawn Over the Lake

"Dawn Over the Lake"
8" x 10"
Oil on canvas panel

Morning crept in as usual; colourful, radiant and mystical, with no apparent sign of turmoil. Yet some had been brewing off shore, so very far away. How strange to hear of it, when it was so beautiful here.

Lake Michigan is such a lovely place to see dawn. I'm glad I live near enough to her shores to enjoy the show on occasion.

Carol

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Saturday, November 24

Good Morning, Sun

"Good Morning, Sun"
5" x 12"
Oil on hardboard panel

The morning sky was showing off the day that I saw her looking like this. So many colours with which to greet the rising orb. Applause never looked so good.

Here's tonight's offering of sky while I paint mountains. Thank you for looking.

Carol

Friday, November 23

Detail, work in progress

"Detail, work in progress"
30" x 38"
Oil on hardboard

Here's the waterline with the beginnings of trees for The Maroon Bells painting. I'll continue to paint and alternate skies and mountains during the process.

Carol

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Thursday, November 22

Sandy's Red Warning

"Sandy's Red Warning"
5" x 12"
Oil on hardboard

My daughter sent me a photo of the sky over western New Hampshire the morning Sandy hit. Someone she knows took the photo and sent it to her. This testifies to the first line of the poem I quoted the other day... "Red sky in morning, Sailors take warning." It's graphic enough for me!

While I work on my commission piece here's something different to look at. I'll post more of The Maroon Bells tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who celebrate it today. I'm thankful for all of you who come to this place to see my art.

Carol

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Wednesday, November 21

IN PROGRESS

IN PROGRESS
30" x 38"
Oil on hardboard

The mountains were not prominent enough for my clients, so I brought them a little closer. Would that I could move mountains in my day to day life!

I've applied a base coat of color to the whole panel with my little snippets of sponge. Tomorrow I'll employ my Rosemary & Company brushes to chisel out some of the details that will begin to bring The Maroon Bells to life—stroke by stroke.

Carol

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Tuesday, November 20

Watery Dawn

"Watery Dawn"
5" x 12"
Oil on hardboard

Dawn lifts her silky veil to reveal the blush of a new day. Doze a few moments too long and you'll miss her show altogether. Best begin sipping your coffee in the darkest hour... and wait. It'll be worth your while.

When I had the panel cut for my commission piece, I asked that the rest of the board be cut into some different shapes and sizes. I've gessoed dozens of new panels to explore some familiar subjects in new formats.

Carol

Monday, November 19

Sailor's Delight

"Sailor's Delight"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard

My first mother-in-law spoke in rhyme all the time. She learned her lessons as a child and repeated them throughout her life. Hers was a time of memorization, not of Googling. I learned weather warnings, vowel placement and what to ride to Banbury Cross from her.

My offering this evening is a sky while I work on my commission piece. You'll see more of it tomorrow.

Carol

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Sunday, November 18

Artichoke

"Artichoke"
16" x 20"
Oil on hardboard panel

A friend sent a photo of an artichoke the other day. It was head-on—looked like this; green as Kermit, but the shape of a burgeoning rose. I cropped it, drew it and squeezed out my greens and reds and grabbed a sponge. Since she looked like a rose, I'd paint her like a rose.

I lay down the first wash of most of my large paintings with a sponge. Most of you who have been with me for the year and a half I've been blogging know that. Consecutive layers of color also go on with the sponge, a little snippet of it, and only the small or fine lines are brushed on. I enjoyed this one... a lot! I'll bet she was a good eat, too.

Carol

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Friday, November 16

Work in progress

"The Maroon Bells"
Oil on hardboard
30" x 38"

I've been commissioned to paint The Maroon Bells in Colorado. I painted a palette knife version of them a few weeks ago and a couple saw it on one of the daily painting web sites, and wrote to me. We've been communicating and I began the project today. It's a large piece, on a panel, and will be framed when it is finished.

The panel was gridded in pencil and drawn with burnt sienna.

I painted the sky with French Ultramarine blue, then added cobalt and horizon blue, similar to their photo reference.

The block-in of the middle ground vegetation is started. Big shapes...

Carol

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Wednesday, November 14

Serene

"Serene"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas

Across the lake, way on the other side is where I think morning originates. How small of me to limit my thoughts to only as far away as my thoughts wander and linger. But I think it's human nature to keep enormous concepts like orbits and the cosmos in human scale. Well, it's my nature, anyway.

I painted this sky and yesterday's on canvas to see if I could. All the skyscapes I've made have been on panels. I think my technique worked well enough to take sky to the next level. I'm going to try to expand my soft skies to include soft solid forms, too. I'll ease into it, but know it's coming.

Carol

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Tuesday, November 13

Quiet

"Quiet"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas

There had been so much going on; planning, laughter, cooking, conversation, entertaining, frivolity, feasting, then nothing but quiet. The quiet of a household after a five-day party is often as unnerving as the commotion of a full to overflowing house. This painting depicts what it felt like when they all left. Quiet.

My family celebrated a fifteen-year tradition of Faux Thanksgiving over the weekend. Friends and family came to eat turkey and play for five days. It happens two weeks before real Thanksgiving every year. And every year it gets louder while they're here and quieter when they leave. For all of this, I am thankful.

Love,
Carol

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Monday, November 12

Withering

"Withering"
6" x 6"
Oil on canvas panel

The second leaf to flutter from Mark's tree landed later the same day, after I found the first red leaf. It was already closer to becoming compost than that first one. The turning curls of leaves have always delighted my eyes. Leaves are like fabric, in that their backsides are seldom the same color as the front... thankfully, or it would make painting them less interesting.

Carol

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Sunday, November 11

Grapes

"Grapes"
8" x 8"
Oil on canvas panel

I eat a lot of grapes. They replaced mangoes, which replaced cherries waaaaay back in summer. I don't think grapes go out of season, but they may not be as good as they are right now. I adore the globe table grapes I'm finding at Whole Foods. They are LOUD to eat, though. I'm always startled when the skin pops and the juice flows under my tongue, or down my chin if I'm laughing on account of my noisiness.

Another pre-painted panel. I made about ten of them one day. I work like that, at times; do all one kind of thing, assembly-line style.

I love that you come to visit me.
Thank you.

Carol

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Saturday, November 10

Daybreak

"Daybreak"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard

Maxfield Parish titled one of his most popular paintings with this very same word. His, of course is so much more, um, famous and filled with light, people and columns. All we have in common is one tint of blue-violet. But it's STILL Daybreak.

Carol

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Friday, November 9

Morning Fluff

"Morning Fluff""
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard

The sun rose in the usual way that morning, but I slept right through it. Someone described it to me, so I used that information to paint what I imagined it looked like. No matter, it pleases me anyway.

Carol

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Thursday, November 8

Homage to Wolf Kahn

"Homage to Wolf Kahn"
11" x 14"
Oil on wrapped canvas

One of my followers mentioned Wolf Kahn in a conversation we had over the weekend. She told me she was a fan, so I described this painting, and promised to post it. Here it is for everyone to see. If you know the title, please let me know.

In an attempt to simplify my work, a few months ago, I painted a copy of one of Wolf Kahn's images. I don't recall the title, but it was in the palette of colors I wanted to explore, so I copied it relatively closely. Understand, it's not my own composition or subject matter, but a copy. Have you ever known me to paint like this, besides?

Carol

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Wednesday, November 7

Purple Haze

"Purple Haze"
8" x 10"
Oil on canvas panel

Two ginkgo leaves tumbled across the path where I found a maple leaf the other day. They tumbled because they had withered and curled. I'd only seen these leaves flat and sprinkled like gold coins spilled from a parking meter. I brought them in and drew them before they curled into cocoons or spooned like lovers. The purple haze is a glazed complement to the golden leaves, and placed on another of my textured backgrounds.

Carol

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Tuesday, November 6

Maple

"Maple"
6" x 6"
Oil on canvas panel

The trees are bare in my zip code, except for one maple in my neighbor's yard. He's been waiting for a month to tend to them. They've been reluctant -- no, rebellious about letting go until it's too cold to rake, and the village no longer picks up leaf bags. Yup, this is one stubborn maple, and here's the first leaf to fall from it. I picked it up while walking my dog today. Adamant, I say!

Carol

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Monday, November 5

Turban Squash

"Turban Squash"
9" x 12"
Oil on canvas panel

I had never touched a turban squash, let alone painted one, yet I plan to eat this one now that I've done both. Apparently designed by a committee of fashion engineers, this beauty is cinched in at the waist in an attempt at containing her ample girth. Tres chic? Not hardly, but I'll bet this fat lady can sing!

The background is another of my previously-painted panels, made just for displaying a single subject such as this.

Carol

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Sunday, November 4

Properly Propped Pepper

"Properly Propped Pepper"
9" x 12"
Oil on canvas panel

Peppy's pretty pebble properly propped the perfect pepper by a paisley-patterned, printed paper. Please palliate this pitiful post.

Shame, shame on me for subjecting you to such nonsensical silliness.

Carol

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Saturday, November 3

Peel Me

"Peel Me"
8" x 8"
Oil on canvas panel

I saw the light and shadows on the loose outer peel of this Bermuda onion and decided if I could get her home without the cashier mishandling her, I'd paint her on one of the backgrounds I had prepared for exactly this purpose. It worked.

I could grow to like painting from life ... more regularly.

Carol