Carol Keene: April 2014

Wednesday, April 23

Cool, Dry and High

"Cool, Dry and High"
5" x 7"
Oil on hardboard

I stood on the side of a road to shoot in the general direction of Pikes Peak near Garden of the Gods that mid-October day. I had the good fortune to be in the State while a few colorful trees still adorned the foreground, and of course, the red spires of the Garden repeated some of the warm tree colors.

This is a cute small painting of one of my favorite places to photograph and to paint.

Carol

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Tuesday, April 22

Warm, Wet and Wild

"Warm, Wet and Wild"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard

Okay, it may be a bit suggestive, but what would you have titled the painting, if you had painted a couple dozen warm-weather water lilies in the wild? Uh-huh. I thought so.

This is from a lake up in Wisconsin where my daughter's family has a summer cabin. It's the place where I get to kayak down close to the source. It's about time to go there again… once the lake thaws.

Carol

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Monday, April 21

Many Iterations of Fence

"Many Iterations of Fence"
5" x 5"
Oil on hardboard

Fences that meander like quilt stitching across the topography of hills and valleys intrigue me, but so do the ones that have been crafted at various times, from different materials. This one in particular, in all its iterations on fenced-ness, makes me smile.

This little fence painting brought me such comfort tonight. Must be tugging at my landscape roots.

Carol

CarolKeene.com

Sunday, April 20

Evening Blankets the Hills

"Evening Blankets the Hills"
5" x 7"
Oil on canvas panel

I saw a painting similar to this and tried to capture the essence of it in miniature. It's a lot like my regular sky paintings with a little more detail to the ground. I'd love to live where this view is common place.

It's not my habit to copy art, but it is a learning experience, just like the masters used to instruct their students. Simple strokes of color defined the topography of this hilly place.

Carol

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Saturday, April 19

Beached

"Beached"
5" x 7"
Oil on hardboard

In the soft peach light of the predawn, the water, sky and sand had "gotten the memo" as they say, when everyone chooses to wear the same color on the same day. Everyone, that is, but the beached rocks, who decided to show up in shades purple.

Carol

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Friday, April 18

Weeds, Wind and Wheat

"Weeds, Wind and Wheat"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard

The wheat field wore the burnt sienna color of its prime, and under the veil of last light, it was a spectacular view to behold.

I'm trying to put more ground in my sky paintings. Nobody has asked me to, but it's a challenge I'm imposing on myself.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
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Thursday, April 17

Still Waters

"Still Waters"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard

The season was nearly over for the waterlilies, but I liked that their color was the complement of the dark water in which they floated.

This is a similar painting to one I painted a few days ago. It's not even the same location, but very close to the same composition. This one is from a nearly black and white photograph, so I juiced it up to the colors I wanted to use.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
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Wednesday, April 16

Good Morning Rose

"Good Morning Rose"
8" x 8"
Oil on wrapped canvas

On this snowy spring morning I imagined what it would be like to wake up in a climate where when you opened the door to get your morning paper there was a red rose blooming in your front yard. What a glorious sight it would be to see it first thing. What a greeting it would be on any morning.

I'm not accustomed to painting red roses, but this one had my name on it. I love… roses.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
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Tuesday, April 15

Rust Never Sleeps

"Rust Never Sleeps"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas

I'm listening to Neil Young tonight again while I paint. His voice is casting a melodic spell in the sanctuary of my studio. MOG is in its final days of existence, so I won't be able to access him whenever I want… for free.

This painting of rust is from a photograph I took of a painted blue "space capsule" kind of device. And once again, the painting shows the detail and colors a lot truer than the camera can reproduce.

Carol

Monday, April 14

Surf

"Surf"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard

I've been yearning for my skin to be warm, moist and sunbaked. I've thought about the various beaches I've sunbathed on, and have willed my spirit to revisit them, if only for a moment.

Oh, to be forty degrees warmer than it is here today. Our weather is so blasted fickle. If I painted this painting en plein air today, the white you see on this painting wouldn't be foam, but the ice breaking up on Lake Michigan and pounding into the sand.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
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Sunday, April 13

White Rose

"White Rose"
5" x 5"
Oil on wrapped canvas

This day turned into such a joyful and productive day that late in the evening I decided to paint a small white rose as a token of my love. Spring is in the air. Gardening is being done, muscles are sore and plans are being made for beautiful things to blossom.

Friends everywhere have written to tell me that it's spring where they are. They've tilled the earth or planted or seeded. I have to believe it will happen… Spring is here!

Carol

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Saturday, April 12

Fleeting Flames

"Fleeting Flames"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard

The sky that evening dispersed its color with such abandon that I had to check to make sure that it was only the setting sun and not a raging fire giving off that kind of light.

I love to paint skies with this much color and motion. Of course, as I've said before, it shows better in person — has more depth and variety.

Carol

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Friday, April 11

Roadside Splendor

"Roadside Splendor"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas

I drove through some pretty textured areas of Iowa last summer when I visited friends there. It was the peak season for many of the weeds and some of the crops. I'm glad I shot as many photos as I did. Days like today seem to beg for lots of plant matter.

Nibs of spring greens are bursting through the soil and bringing me great joy. As I look at my Iowa photos, I think about how I took all that green for granted.

Carol

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Thursday, April 10

My Quiet Place

"My Quiet Place"
5" x 7"
Oil on hardboard

Near my home is a place where waterlilies toss their leaves about like breadcrumbs on water. It's a quiet place, but certainly not a drab one when the sky is strutting her stuff.

I've painted this pond several times before, but it always gives me such comfort when I do, that I revisit my photos periodically.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
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Wednesday, April 9

Lavender

"Lavender"
12" x12"
Oil on wrapped canvas

A bush of … these bloomed over my shoulder at the conservatory in Chicago the other day. I liked the blossom because the ornamentation was specific to one petal with spillage onto the ones next to it. I was amazed to see asymmetrical patterning in nature.

I'm not certain of the name of this flower, but it was beautiful in its lavender petticoat with the painted panel and numerous reaching tentacles.

Carol

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Tuesday, April 8

Indian Paintbrush

"Indian Paintbrush"
10" x 8"
Oil on wrapped canvas

In some parts of the country there are flowers blooming already — wild flowers, not in a conservatory, not in a clay pot or wrapped in a clear plastic sleeve from the grocery store. Spring is in full bloom in some parts of the country, not here, but somewhere. Oh, to be where there are blooming things. . .

I grew up where a plant of this name was a rusty orange and not particularly … pretty. I find this species of the genus quite fetching. I wonder if it has a fragrance as divine as its color?

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
Carolkeene.com
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Monday, April 7

Bluebonnet Pansy

"Bluebonnet Pansy"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas

It's her season. She's in full bloom, receptive and open to the possibilities of Spring. The bluebonnet pansy was one of the beauties I dropped my hat to at the conservatory the other day. Imagine a field of them… I have.

The veins on this beauty reminded me so much of my celestial/synapse paintings. I had to exercise restraint as I dragged color across the petals, and not make them into little works of art in and of themselves.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
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Sunday, April 6

Over the Dark Water

"Over the Dark Water"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard

The sun was setting over the cold, dark water of one of the large lakes near me. It went down in a flourish becoming a summer night. But it's not summer. Not even close. In fact, it feels like summer will just slide by with a passing wave this year.

I seem to be grousing about the temperatures in my zip code again, don't I? I'm just so ready for warmer weather, brighter skies and for color. I miss color.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
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Saturday, April 5

Camellia

"Camellia"
12" x 12"

Oil on wrapped canvas

I had the good fortune to attend three different flower shows in Chicago yesterday. I lunched at Macy's on State Street, stood on one of those perspective-distorted chalk drawings, saw the Tiffany domed ceiling, photographed a man proposing to a woman, ate fine chocolates and met charming people on the train.

This camellia painting is from one of over two hundred photos I took in the course of one magical day.

Carol

Friday, April 4

Oranges

"Oranges"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas

Shades of orange fill this loosely-painted square image. A poppy, some tulips, a few oranges and a couple of clusters of roses are tucked around some boxwood and pine greenery.

I felt like making a bright and loose painting today, and this is what happened.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
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Thursday, April 3

Ribbon Ripples

"Ribbon Ripples"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas

Here is another of revelation of what's going on in my brain. I just paint these. They emerge. Develop. Evolve as my brush drags across the canvas. I have no explanation for them. I just do them.

Once again, however, what appears to be blue here would be categorized more as purple in my mind. If you are considering buying it, it's not a BLUE painting.

Carol

Brushstrokes@comcast.net
Carolkeene.com
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Wednesday, April 2

Magenta Stocks

"Magenta Stocks"
12" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas

I happened on several plantings of stocks in the Lincoln Park Conservatory last spring and delighted in their generic "posy-ness." They are the epitome of what the word flower means to me. I wish I had a garden full of them in all their various colors.

I hope I get to see stocks in bloom again this year. While they are beautiful in their own way, they appear to be early prototypes for roses.

Carol