“Botkin Hill,” contemporary landscape painting

© Carolee Clark, “Botkin Hill,” 10″ x 10″ x 3/4″, acrylic

“Botkin Hill”
by Carolee Clark
10″ x 10″ x .75″
acrylic on wrapped canvas
$125 (shipping and handling included within US)

Click here for larger image

“Seclusion,” contemporary landscape painting

© Carolee Clark, “Seclusion,” acrylic, 24″ x 18″ x 1.5″

“Seclusion”    sold
by Carolee Clark
24″ x 18″ x 1.5″
acrylic on wrapped canvas

I only had a vague idea for this painting of a house on top of a hill with trees behind and land tumbling out in front. I wanted to use a smaller rectangular canvas in a vertical format.  My sketches were only half formed and I had trouble starting because I didn’t really know where I was heading.  I think that this may be why this piece has a slightly wilder feel.

“Tapestry Hill,” contemporary landscape painting

© Carolee Clark, “Tapestry Hill,” acrylic, 30″ x 30″ x 1.5″

“Tapestry Hill”
by Carolee Clark
30″ x 30″ x 1.5″
acrylic on wrapped canvas
$1575 (plus $78 shipping and handling within the US)

Click here for larger image

Contemporary landscape painting “Otter Crest”

© Carolee Clark, “Otter Crest,” acrylic, 28″ x 22″ x 1.5″

“Otter Crest”   gone
by Carolee Clark
28″ x 28″ x 1.5″
acrylic on wrapped canvas

This is a painting I had started a few years ago and just finished changing yesterday.

Contemporary landscape painting “Field Guardian”

© Carolee Clark, “Field Guardian,” acrylic, 22″ x 28″ x 1.5″

“Field Guardian”
by Carolee Clark
22″ x 28″ x 1.5″
acrylic on wrapped canvas
$1075 (plus $65 shipping and handling within US)

Click here for larger image.

Contemporary landscape painting “Ryals Lane”

© Carolee Clark, “Ryals Lane,” acrylic, 18″ x 24″ x 1.5″

“Ryals Lane”    sold
by Carolee Clark
18″ x 24″ x 1.5″
acrylic on wrapped canvas

I gave a talk to a high school art class the other day on being a professional artist.  I hope the students enjoyed it as I know that I did.

One of the things that I said was that as we continue to paint, our style cannot help but change and that I’m not even sure that I could paint how I did a few years ago.  I first painted this painting in 2008 and no longer have the photo of it back then.  Then I worked on it again about four years later and finally again this weekend.

Below is the photo of how it looked before I worked on it over the last couple of days.  I feel the new version is less jarring, more peaceful.  The golden hill really came forward and the texture in the bushes and some of the land demanded a lot of attention as did the black areas.

© Carolee Clark

Contemporary landscape painting “Muted Morning”

© Carolee Clark, “Muted Morning,” acrylic, 14″ x 14″ x 1.5″

“Muted Morning”
by Carolee Clark
14″ x 14″ x 1.5″
acrylic on wrapped canvas
$350 (plus $20 shipping and handling within US)

Click here for larger image.

© Carolee Clark, “Muted Morning” in progress

Contemporary tree painting “Longevity”

© Carolee Clark, “Longevity,” acrylic, 48″ x 48″ x 1.5″

“Longevity”
by Carolee Clark
48″ x 48″ x 1.5″
acrylic on wrapped canvas
$4000 (plus $280 shipping and handling within US)

Click here for larger image.

I pushed myself towards using a different color scheme with predominately blues and purples.

Other News:

• See some of my figurative work at the Corvallis Art Center (Corrine Woodman Gallery front and back rooms in Corvallis, Oregon) from now until March 28, 2015.  While you are there take a look at the Community Open Show which is always a treat to see.

• I have started Instagram!  My user name is caroleeclark.  Take a look on this blog’s right side under “Instagram.”

Contemporary tree painting “Companionship”

© Carolee Clark, “Companionship,” acrylic, 60″ x 48″ x 1.5″

“Companionship”    sold
by Carolee Clark
60″ x 48″ x 1.5″
acrylic on wrapped canvas

This is the second painting I have finished recently from reference photos that I took while walking in MacDonald Forest in Corvallis, Oregon.

I’ve included a couple of photographs of it hanging on a wall in my house too.   (Note:  the wall outlet is 4.5″ x 2.75″).   In the second photo you can see how I’ve continued the image around the edge of the canvas.

© Carolee Clark, “Companionship” hanging on the wall, 48″ x 60″ x 1.5″, acrylic

© Carolee Clark, “Companionship” hanging on the wall, side view

 

Contemporary landscape painting “At the Lake”

© Carolee Clark, “At the Lake,” acrylic, 18″ x 24″ x 1.5″

“At the Lake”
by Carolee Clark
18″ x 24″ x 1.5″
acrylic on wrapped canvas
$750 (plus $45 shipping and handling within the US)

Click here for larger image.

 

Contemporary aspen tree painting “Wind Chimes”

© Carolee Clark, “Wind Chimes,” acrylic, 40″ x 30″ x 1.5″

“Wind Chimes”
by Carolee Clark
40″ x 30″ x 1.5″
acrylic on wrapped canvas
$2100 (plus $150 shipping and handling within the US)

Click here for larger image.

Aspen trees!  One of my favorite subjects.  Although this is a pretty large painting it felt small compared the one I finished last week (“Entanglements.“)  This one would fit into my car.

Contemporary tree painting “Entanglements”

© Carolee Clark, “Entanglements,” 60″ x 48″ x 1.5″

“Entanglements”
by Carolee Clark
60″ x 48″ x 1.5″
acrylic on wrapped canvas
$5000 (plus $400 shipping and handling within the US)

Click here for larger image.

There are some beautiful trees where I enjoy walking in MacDonald Forest at the end of Oak Creek Drive.  I have taken some photographs of them.  They are huge!

This is the largest painting I have ever finished.  We hung it in the living room so that I could photograph it on the wall and it made the 4′ x 3′ painting that had been hanging there look very small indeed.

It is raining and quite dark today so I had to turn on every light I could which made the light look a warm yellow.

© Carolee Clark

© Carolee Clark

 

Contemporary rural landscape painting of a farm “Farm Country”

© Carolee Clark, “Farm Country,” acrylic, 10″ x 10″

“Farm Country” sold
by Carolee Clark
10″ x 10″ x 3/4″
acrylic on wrapped canvas

The Willamette Valley is full of farms and fields.  I am inspired by the buildings and farm land surrounding me and take great liberty with the subtleties in the land with rolls, sweeps, caligraphy and color.

Contemporary landscape painting “Ribbon Ridge”

© Carolee Clark, “Ribbon Ridge,” acrylic, 14″ x 14″ x 1.5″

“Ribbon Ridge”
by Carolee Clark
14″ x 14″ x 1.5″
acrylic on wrapped canvas
$350  (plus $20 shipping & handling within the US)

Click here for larger image.

I had done some sketches and smaller painting studies of this scene from a winery in Yamhill County a few years ago.  These were the fields beyond the winery on which I focused.

Contemporary landscape painting “Finley Pond”

© Carolee Clark, “Finley Pond,” acrylic, 24″ x 30″ x 1.5″

“Finley Pond”
by Carolee Clark
24″ x 30″ x 1.5″
acrylic on wrapped canvas
$1260 (plus $75 shipping with the US)

Click here for larger image.

Last month, I did a commission for a collector who wanted a painting similar to one I had done previously. He requested a few alterations to the original and a smaller size. I was happy to give it a go. I liked his finished painting so much that I altered the original.

I had received feedback about the trees looking scary and dead (okay winter does remove the leaves) but they all had a point. I don’t want to paint dead and scary … I’m all about happy!

I wish I knew who first said that a painting isn’t finished until it is sold.  That is so totally true.  If you know, please leave a comment!

Below is the original and the sketch.

© Carolee Clark, acrylic, 24″ x 30″ x 1.5″

© Carolee Clark

Contemporary painting of a house “Elmwood Avenue”

© Carolee Clark, “Elmwood Avenue,” acrylic, 10″ x 10″

“Elmwood Avenue”    sold
by Carolee Clark
10″ x 10″ x 3/4″
acrylic on wrapped canvas

This painting is a submission for the Virtual Paint Out blog. The area of concentration this month is Philadelphia.  Here is the Google street view link.

 

Contemporary landscape painting “The Drive Up”

© Carolee Clark, “The Drive Up,” acrylic, 10″ x 10″

“The Drive Up”     sold
by Carolee Clark
10″ x 10″ x 3/4″
acrylic on wrapped canvas

I wanted to try and keep this one a little stormy or dark maybe with the sun just coming up.

 

Contemporary landscape painting “Donahue Pond”

© Carolee Clark, “Donahue Pond,” acrylic, 18″ x 24″ x 1.5″

“Donahue Pond”    sold
by Carolee Clark
18″ x 24″ x 1.5″
acrylic on wrapped canvas

This commissioned piece was finished last week and it is happily in place in the collector’s home.

Contemporary autumn tree painting “November’s Pause”

© Carolee Clark, “November’s Pause,” acrylic, 10″ x 10″

“November’s Pause”    sold
by Carolee Clark
10″ x 10″ x 3/4″
acrylic on wrapped canvas

I’m gearing up to do a few more larger landscape paintings so needed to do some studies.  This is the first one.

Philomath Open Studios – Thank you to all of you who came out to see my work in my studio during this year’s Philomath Open Studios!  This is the painting I was working on during the second weekend.

Contemporary landscape painting “Chilcoot Creek”

© Carolee Clark, “Chilcoot Creek,” acrylic, 24″ x 24″ x 1.5″

“Chilcoot Creek” sold
by Carolee Clark
24″ x 24″ x 1.5″
acrylic on wrapped canvas

Contemporary landscape painting, “Sunflower Garden”

© Carolee Clark, “Sunflower Garden,” acrylic, 10″ x 10″

“Sunflower Garden”    sold
by Carolee Clark
10″ x 10″ x 3/4″
acrylic on wrapped canvas

This was started on site at Peoria Farmer’s Market a few weeks ago.  I finally had time to get back and finish it.

Contemporary landscape painting “Salt in the Air”

© Carolee Clark, “Salt in the Air,” acrylic, 10″ x 10″

“Salt in the Air”    sold
by Carolee Clark
10″ x 10″ x 3/4″
acrylic on wrapped canvas

This painting is a study for a larger one that I am doing.  The form factor is going to be different so I did a sketch for the study, the small painting and another sketch for the large one.  I’m painting the large one right now.

Below are the sketches for both paintings.  You might notice that I don’t adhere to my original sketch but make changes as I move through the painting process.  Painting the small one helps me to come to some decisions before I do a larger one and hopefully waste less paint!

© Carolee Clark, sketches for “Salt in the Air”

Large contemporary painting of birch trees “Birch Banter Echo” completes diptych

© Carolee Clark, “Birch Banter Echo,” acrylic, 36″ x 36″ x 1.5″

“Birch Banter Echo”    sold
by Carolee Clark
36″ x 36″ x 1.5″
acrylic on wrapped canvas

I loved the first “Birch Banter” painting that I did and was very excited to do a sister painting to expand the experience.  If you are planning to do a diptych I would suggest doing it all at once rather than one at a time, but sometimes one doesn’t know that the urge will be there to do another one.

Here they are together.  I’m hoping to sell them as a set but they do work as well separately.

© Carolee Clark, “Birch Banter” and “Birch Banter Echo”, acrylic, 36″ x 72″ of painted canvas

Contemporary landscape painting “Burch Farm”

© Carolee Clark, “Burch Farm,” acrylic, 10″ x 10″

“Burch Farm”    sold
by Carolee Clark
10″ x 10″ x 3/4″
acrylic on wrapped canvas

This was started on location near Airlie Road outside of Corvallis.  It is over the hill from Burch Farm.

Contemporary landscape painting with a flour mill and pond, “Mill Pond”

© Carolee Clark, “Mill Pond,” acrylic, 30″ x 30″ x 1.5″

“Mill Pond”
by Carolee Clark
30″ x 30″ x 1.5″
acrylic on wrapped canvas
$1575 (plus $78 shipping & handling within the US)

Click here for larger image.

I did a small painting of this a few weeks ago (Thompson Mill Pond) and liked it so much I wanted to paint it larger.