Mid-October Morning

"Mid-October Morning"
12" x 12"
Acrylic on canvas panel

An outing to the Botanic Gardens in mid-October proved to be more beneficial than I had thought on that particular day. My eyes were accustomed to layers of brilliant colors of that season, so I tucked the photos away.  But yesterday when I revisited my cache of landscape photos, this one caught my eye. 

Compared to the monochrome of snow and ice in the real world, this looked mighty yummy.

Carol

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Zowie

"Zowie"
6" x 6"
Watercolor on paper

This piece is made almost entirely of watercolor sticks and watercolor markers. The pines are markers. I held the sticks like my hard pastels and allowed my hand to do the squiggle like I do with pastels. Then I took a brush of clear water and wet the highly pigmented squiggles to drag color over the entire page. I may do more of these, but I need to control the intensity — just a bit!  Ya think?

Carol

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Impression-Scape

"Impression-Scape"
5" x 12"
Watercolor on Yupo 

The simple landscape was appealing yet intimidating as I taped the "paper" to my drawing board.  No easel here… gravity has her way with this material, more than ever before. 

The purpose of this painting was to see if I could do the natural progression; to paint something else I've done before, just not on this ground. I like the Impressionistic strokes that occur easily. I'll be doing more of these.

Carol

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Winter Sunrise

"Winter Sunrise"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard

This piece is a lot like a Maxfield Parrish painting of the same name. I purposely tried to make a sky and mountains like his. The brushwork shows better in person, but you get the idea. 

Every now and then I like to slip into the shoes of an artist I admire by trying to paint one of his pieces. This one appealed to me because of the sky, mountains and the simple trees. It was fun to do and somewhat successful.

Carol

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Somewhere in Texas

"Somewhere in Texas"
8" x 8"
Pastel on canvas panel

A while ago I found a photo of this Texas landscape and kept it on my desktop. I only remember that it was in Texas. The colors, the texture, the light all drew me to this spot. I'd love to go there some day to see a place where the land is so many different colors.  

I have about four or five more panels left from the dozen or so I painted black for this landscape series. I may have to prep more, as I'm getting a lot of favorable comments on my squiggle technique.

Carol

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Rural Quilt

"Rural Quilt"
4" x 12"
Oil on wrapped canvas

As I drove across Wisconsin last week I saw what the change of season offers to those of us who observe — rural quilts. No, not actual quilts, not even barn quilts, but the patchwork that the farmers create when they plant a variety of crops on the rolling hills. Hedges, fences and tree lines "stitch" the seams between alfalfa, oats, wheat, corn and rye. 

I'll be going back to LaCrosse in a couple of weeks to paint in another plein air competition. The colors will continue to change between now and then… much to my liking.

Carol

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Degrees of Ripeness

"Degrees of Ripeness"
5" x 7"
Acrylic on canvas panel

A field in one of my travels in Wisconsin showed various degrees of the grain. It appeared to be the same grain, except that some was blue-green, some russet, perhaps due to low-lying sections that got their start a bit later than others. It was strikingly beautiful to my eyes.

Carol

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Across the Way

"Across the Way"
6" x 6"
Acrylic on canvas panel

The top of a garden shed poked its tile roof through the vines and ivy on the other side of the hedge where I was painting.  It made for an interesting background detail, being the same terra-cotta as the middle ground pots and the pathway, too.

A knife painting from the Chicago Botanic Gardens' English Walled Garden.

Carol

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Babbling

"Babbling"
4" x 4"
Oil on hardboard

There were late summer colors and aromas already titillating my senses when I heard the sound of water splashing against rocks.  I rounded the bend on a walk through my friend's property and saw this sight.  I'd love to be invited back.  

Most of this was painted with a fan brush.  I'd love to find one with the fan size about the size of a dime. Anyone know of such a brush?

Carol

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Had A Nice Day

"Had A Nice Day"
4" x 4"
Oil on hardboard

If this was the sky I saw at the end of my day, I would probably be able to declare that I had had a nice day. If I had been in the hammock, or fishing, or at the beach or painting under the shade of a tree it would have been lovely. 

Carol

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Atherton Tablelands

"Atherton Tablelands"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard

Somewhere in Australia is this scene. A friend sent the photo and even though it's very green, it fits with my fence and gate theme.  I'm happy to try about anything in the way of subject matter. 

Carol

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Pond at the Divide

"Pond at the Divide"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard

I'm revisiting, by way of photos only, one of my favorite places, the Continental Divide near Winter Park, Colorado.  I shot so many photos of this little retention pond that I get to paint it over and over again.  

I'm in a landscape kind of mood tonight. I'd love to be driving around the western states gathering subject matter for the next few years. Oh, to be in the passenger seat saying, "Stop. Back up. Got it.  Thank you so much for bringing me along."

Carol

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Wire Gate

"Wire Gate"
24" x 36"
Oil on wrapped canvas

I pass by several interesting fences in my weekly circuit of destinations.  This is one of them, or at least it was one before the gate and its flanking companions, vanished. I suspect someone stole the gate, then there was no reason to keep the fence. I'm fortunate to have photographed her a couple of years ago.  

This is a large, labor of love. When I painted it on a six inch panel, it was more work than I thought, but this rendition proved to be even more difficult, what with all the twisted wire and every blade of grass.  I loved, however, painting the wood!  It took me back to my roots as a barn painter — a painter of barns, that is. Barns and the surrounding landscapes were my specialty when I was exclusively a watercolorist. Then, I painted every weathered piece of wood I could find. Painting this fence was a joyful return to a former passion.

Right after I finished writing this blog I read (the late) Robert Genn's twice weekly letter.  Robert has always inspired me, but tonight I feel compelled to pass on a quote in his letter. It confirms the reason I paint the things I do.  "The creative mind plays with the objects it loves." (Carl Gustav Jung)

Carol

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Lifting Fog

"Lifting Fog"
5" x 5"
Oil on hardboard

The fog burned off pretty quickly once the sun was up, but I got to see it against the distant trees, where it appeared to snuggle until the last possible minute. 

Carol

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Spring at the Divide

"Spring at the Divide"
7" x 5"
Oil on hardboard

The Continental Divide near Winter Park, Colorado  is one of my favorite places to paint. Here it is in a spring green version of my normal late-summer take on it. 

Carol

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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 

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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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Snake River

"Snake River"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard

The Snake River is the western border of Idaho at the Oregon border. I suspect this is the Oregon side, if memory serves.  I liked it here because of the colors. The sky and the weeds were opposites on the color wheel and appealed to me. 

I have a unique way of getting these images, but that's another story. I like that there was no snow in the photo or in the painting. It's spring and I need to begin painting like it!

Carol

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Mounds

"Mounds"
5" x 7"
Oil on hardboard

The sky and the weeds looked so beautiful that when a couple of mounds came into view, I decided to keep them in the photo. 

Here's another small landscape as I work on a larger painting.

Carol

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Lovin' Little Lilly Lake

"Lovin' Little Lily Lake"
6" x 6"
Pastel on black hardboard

I've painted this lake several times before, but in oil. She's one of my favorite things to photograph (as well as seven stand-alone silos) on my way to and from my critique class.  In the early morning, like I've painted here, she holds very still while I capture her serene smile. 

The morning light over Little Lily Lake never disappoints me. The only disturbing factor might be wind that fuzzes the reflecting shore across the way.

Carol

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