Beach Birds, 14x11 Seascape on Canvas Panel

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I enjoyed painting this bright and airy beach scene. The birds were very busy that day. This is an original oil painting on canvas panel, 11x14 inches, signed and ready to frame. 

Carmen

The Garden, 11x14 Oil on Panel, Painting of Cheekwood Gardens Scene

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We were in Cheekwood Gardens in Nashville when I saw this scene. It made me think of the many Impressionist paintings I have seen of people sitting in gardens. Impressionists frequently made use of dappled shade in their art, but there wasn't any of that in this spot. The people were sitting in bright sunlight, and seemed a bit overdressed for the warm day.

Carmen

Watermelon and Iced Tea, 14x11, Collage on Canvas Panel Still Life

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This collage is made entirely of paper torn from magazines and fixed to a canvas panel with liquid medium. It makes me think of a summertime barbecue. I must thank my friend Fay Picardi for finding all those beautiful pink pictures in a fashion magazine. They were perfect for my watermelon.

Carmen

Reflections of Venice, 11x14, Original Oil on Canvas

NFS

I've been reflecting (pardon the pun) on my trip to Venice with my sister. It is a different world, and looks much as it did when John Singer Sargent visited. I certainly understand why Sargent spent so much time in this beautiful and unique city. There is a painting around each corner.

Carmen

Beach Birds, 11x14 Oil on Canvas Panel, Seascape

This has been an interesting project because I used cold wax as my medium. I painted much of it before going on vacation, then added the foreground birds when I returned. Cold wax is very interesting to use and I am still experimenting with it. It has a soft look, and when painting over a layer that has dried it is very easy to wipe away any mistakes. Wax on, wax off. 

It also makes a nice final varnish and you don't have to wait months to do it. It is not recommended for stretched canvas, though. A rigid support is necessary to prevent cracking.

I realize if you're not an artist this is about as interesting as reading the Tax Code.

Carmen

Beachscape, 14x11 Oil on Canvas, Florida Beach Scene

$165, Buy Now

I usually paint from the beach looking at the ocean, so this is a departure. I am looking from the ocean to the shore. I like the palms standing like sentinels over the beach.

By the time this post is online, I'll be hiking in the Smokies, one of my favorite places in the world, with some of my favorite people in the world. Heaven!

Carmen

Mermaids and Sea Serpent, 14x11 Graphite and Watercolor on Nautical Chart

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This started as a graphite drawing on a nautical chart, like my last mermaid. My process is: I study the chart from a distance until I see something in it. In this case I saw the sea serpent first, and lo and behold, there was a stingray right in front of him. Then I noticed the possibility of mermaids toward the top. 

The sea creatures are actually made up of bodies of water, and I ignore that the chart is upside down; the aspect is determined by what the sea creatures dictate. After I did the drawing I thought I'd try some color, so I used watercolor. This is so different from my usual work, and I'm really enjoying creating these little fantasies.

Carmen

Working Man 1, 14x11 Watercolor

A few years ago I painted a series of working people for a calendar for the United Association union (UA). I really enjoy paintings of the working people who get the things done that make life comfortable for the rest of us. That makes it sound like I don't work; I do. I work at art, and right now I am frustrated that I have so much else to do that I can't get to the easel. That's why I am posting paintings from the past.

I have a poem on my desk that I read when it gets like this. It was written by my friend, the lovely and brilliant JoAnna O'Keefe.

Moment to Moment

One moment I feel my life

heavily burdened,

weighed down 

by the bone crushing weight

of a thousand, thousand stones.

And the next--

by some split-second 

rearrangement 

in the order of things--

I am a shooting-star streaking

through a severe clear night.

JoAnna O'Keefe

Reflections of Venice, 14x11, Oil on Canvas

NFS

As I was reflecting on my trip to Venice, I realized that I had never published this painting on my blog. Venice is a city I would love to revisit. I certainly understand why John Singer Sargent spent so much time in this beautiful and unique city. There is a painting around each corner.

Carmen

Cowboy, 14x11 Oil on Canvas

$295, Click to Purchase

I've been working on this all week. Quite a change from my previous post, isn't it? This was a very complicated painting of a cowboy in downtown San Miguel de Allende, resting against a wall. This is not a daily painting, except in the sense that I painted it every day. San Miguel is so colorful, and it's not just the locals. The Americans are pretty colorful too. Supposedly there are 17,000 expatriate Americans living there. The locals are hospitable, the climate is lovely, the city is beautiful, and medical care is cheap (and if you drink the water, you may need medical care).