Sketch Journal: North Carolina

These are scenes from my journal of the recent Pieces of 8 artists' retreat to North Carolina. We happily sat on rocks and sketched a waterfall, and we didn't mention to Donna that we passed a large example of bear scat on the trail. Ignorance is bliss.

Carmen

Sunshiny Day, 10x8 Oil on Canvas Panel, Original Landscape Art

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This was the kind of day that just lifts your mood, and I hope I got that in my painting. It was sunny and bright, with nice fluffy clouds in a bright blue sky. It's hard to feel like a curmudgeon when you get to live in an environment like this. Makes me feel like going kayaking, which is on my bucket list. After all, the water is all around us here, what am I waiting for? It's got to be a lot easier than that whitewater rafting adventure that threw four of us women out on the rocks in North Carolina. My friend Donna said at the time that we bonded over a near-death experience--and I think she was right!

Carmen

Cathedral Rock, 20x20 Oil

After what I went through to get this scene, I thought it deserved a bigger painting, so this one is 20x20 on stretched canvas. My husband and I went to a park, looking for this view of beautiful Cathedral Rock. We turned the wrong way and hiked and hiked, but that was a treat, because it was a beautiful path along the river. We came upon a forest of cairns that people had built of stacked stones--hundreds of them. We finally found the above scene 100 yards from our car after we hiked back. This is a much-photographed Sedona spot, and you can see why.

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Cairns

On the Upside, 6x6 Oil on Canvas Panel

"Ocean"

Upside down, "Whitewater"

This is two paintings in one. Rightside up, it is an ocean scene. Turn it upside down, it is whitewater in a river. I am feeling very original today. This can be set on a little easel, or if framed, put two hooks on the back of the frame, and you have an absolutely unique work of art. What fun!

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Leap of Faith, 8x10 Oil on Canvas

This painting just returned from my exhibit and I am now putting it "out there." I find this painting exhilarating, capturing the spirit of childhood and fun. I paint so much that I am forgetting to have other kinds of fun. I need to correct that. I could go jump off a big rock into a river, but Florida doesn't have big rocks. We are as flat as a flitter (whatever that is).

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The Everglades, 8x10 Oil on Canvas Panel

The Everglades is a wild and wonderful place, constantly threatened by damage caused by human greed or carelessness. The latest problem is pythons, and they are consuming huge amounts of small game, which leaves large game without food. A recent python hunt got rid of some of them, but they reproduce in large numbers, so this is an ongoing battle. I try to look at the beauty and hope for the best for this important ecosystem.

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River Cave, 8x10 Oil on Canvas Panel

I haven't posted for a while because we were in Virginia during the hurricane, and we delayed our return home. My heart goes out to the citizens of New York and New Jersey. As Floridians we are very practiced at preparing for hurricanes, and the number one item on my checklist is: Evacuate! I so wish everyone had heeded that warning.

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On a more peaceful note, the scene above is no longer accessible to the public, so I am glad I got this done. I've painted it twice, and here is a painting of me painting it. It's called My Happy Place.

Near the Falls, 8x10 Oil on Canvas Panel

This is such a peaceful spot, the stream just trickling by. However, a few yards further down there is a spot that looks completely calm, even though it is a prelude to a huge waterfall. I feel sorry for the first person to ever discover this. Below is the waterfall, and if you look closely you can see two foolhardy youth who later jumped in.

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Mountain Stream, 5x7 Oil on Board

I live by the ocean, but I enjoy the soothing environment of a mountain stream. What a wonderful place to be.

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Green Pond, 16x20 Oil on Canvas

What is  more calming than a setting like this? The reflections in the pond, the trickling of the water--it is hard to be stressed in such a peaceful place.

This is one of my larger paintings, 16x20.

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Calm River, 6x6 Oil on Canvas Board

Sometimes I don't see certain things until I have posted them. In this case, I have to laugh because I notice that the rocks that are just below the surface in the river look a bit like a body. I don't suppose that's a selling point...or is it?

I am looking at the work I have scheduled to upload in the next week or so, and it looks like I dabble in everything. My previous post was collage, this one is an impressionistic oil, coming next are a watercolor, an abstract, then a 16x20 landscape. All that's lacking is one of my cartoons. Hmmm...there's an idea.

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Big Oak, 6x8 Oil on Canvas Board

We visited the Hopsewee Rice Plantation on the North Santee River and it was fascinating to find out how rice was grown in the old days. Did you know at one time they grew more rice in the Carolinas than anywhere in the world except India? There were beautiful buildings to paint, but this tree was so interesting that I couldn't resist it.

Of course, I got home with bits of dirt stuck to my painting, but I got it out. On the plus side, I didn't bring any bugs home on my painting this time.

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Little Waterfalls, 6x8

Sometimes it's the unexpected that gives the most pleasure. We were on an out-of-the-way road in the Smokies and not seeing much that was interesting, then we took a better look. There was this beautiful little river tumbling down the mountain. It's a verdant, peaceful scene, and just looking at it reduces my stress. 

Nature is the art of God - Dante Alighieri                                                                       BID

Mangroves, 6x8

Here are mangroves, reaching down to the water to establish a foothold and do their good work in the Indian River. I love them; their weirdness, their beauty, their usefulness.

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Leap of Faith, 10x8

I got tired of painting single objects and decided what I really needed was something difficult to give me a spark. This is my granddaughter leaping off a rock into a beautiful river. The stop-action shot is just filled with the joy of anticipation. This is the kind of fun that can be had without any technology or admission price whatsoever.

NFS

Hangin' With Dad, 10x10

This was a tender moment between a father and son, sitting on a rock beside the Nantahala River. I wonder if Dad once had hair like that?

NFS

Riverside, 8x10

I'd probably be content sitting by this river and painting for several more days.

But I'm back in Florida, and for you Brevard County locals, I must tell you I visited The Laughing Mermaid shop today on Highland Avenue in Eau Gallie (it's across from the now-defunct Mezzaluna Restaurant). For the yummiest soaps, balms and other organic products, they are just the best! Everything smells fabulous and there are no harmful chemicals in anything. They sell clothing and jewelry and art, and it's just a fun place to shop, especially if you are looking for unusual gifts. That's my tip of the day. I love local shops with local flavors, no matter where I am.

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River Cave, 5x7

The Pieces of Eight were scattered along this river, painting peacefully and (very unusual) silently. The water trickled and splashed, the weather was perfect, and a fine time was had by all. We were near Boone, NC and we spent the week so absorbed in our painting that we forgot to do any touristy things. Maybe another time.

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