Contemporary floral painting “Joys of Summer”

© Carolee Clark, “Joys of Summer,” acrylic, 12″ x 12″ x 1.5″

“Joys of Summer”    sold
by Carolee Clark
12″ x 12″ x 1.5″
acrylic on wrapped canvas

Our outdoor painting group “Vistas & Vineyards” has started up again with our annual trip to Garland Nursery in Corvallis, Oregon. There is always so much to choose from to paint here, but I settled on some pots of flowers and a steel bike “planter.” The temperature was cool but it felt great to be outside to paint again.

Contemporary painting of a couple hugging “The Hug”

© Carolee Clark, “The Hug,” acrylic, 10″ x 10″

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

Art Reception alert … in Philomath, Oregon this coming Friday! If you are in the area, please come and see me and artists Tom Allen and Sue Harrell and our work “Shared Landscapes” at:

Benton County Museum
1101 Main Street, Philomath, OR
Reception May 15, 2015
5:00 – 7:00 pm

Contemporary portrait painting of a horse, “Grace”

© Carolee Clark, “Grace,” acrylic, 10″ x 10″

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

Contemporary figure painting with woman and dog “Small Steps”

© Carolee Clark, “Small Steps,” acrylic, 10″ x 10″

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

Contemporary figure painting with bicycles “New Friends”

© Carolee Clark, “New Friends,” acrylic, 10″ x 10″

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

Contemporary floral painting “Just for the Fun of It”

© Carolee Clark, “Just for the Fun of It,” acrylic, 12″ x 12″ x 1.5″

“Just for the Fun of It”    sold
by Carolee Clark
12″ x 12″ x 1.5″
acrylic on wrapped canvas

Contemporary horse painting “Quick Nibbles”

© Carolee Clark, “Quick Nibbles,” acrylic, 10″ x 10″

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

Sketch for this painting is below.

© Carolee Clark, Sketch for “Quick Nibbles”

Contemporary horse painting “Grazing Green”

© Carolee Clark, “Grazing Green,” acrylic, 10″ x 10″

“Grazing Green”    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 Bhutan. Here is the Google street view link.

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.

Abstract painting “Elements of Truth”

© Carolee Clark, “Elements of Truth,” acrylic, 10″ x 10″

“Elements of Truth”
by Carolee Clark
10″ x 10″ x 3/4″
acrylic on wrapped canvas
$125 (includes shipping and handling within the US)

Click here for larger image.

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

One might not know that the reference for this painting was taken from something real. I really wanted to pull away from trying to make it look true to life.

Contemporary floral painting “Three Daisies”

© Carolee Clark, “Three Daisies,” acrylic, 12″ x 12″ x 1.5″

“Three Daisies”    sold
by Carolee Clark
12″ x 12″ x 1.5″
acrylic on wrapped canvas

I continue to make a liar out of myself by painting flowers. Three weeks ago I stated in public that I don’t paint florals or still life because I’m not a gardener or a collector of things.  I think that I paint landscapes or figures like crazy for a while and then need a visual break and a different kind of challenge.  This must be my break.

Contemporary floral painting of tulips “Welcome Back”

© Carolee Clark, “Welcome Back,” acrylic, 36″ x 48″ x 1.5″

“Welcome Back”
by Carolee Clark
36″ x 48″ x 1.5″
acrylic on wrapped canvas
$2900 (plus $190 shipping and handling within the US)

Click here for larger image.

Contemporary floral flower painting “Among Friends”

© Carolee Clark, “Among Friends,” acrylic, 10″ x 10″

“Among Friends” 
by Carolee Clark
10″ x 10″ x 3/4″
acrylic on wrapped canvas

I started sketching these flowers and came up with a decent composition.  First I started painting big white blossoms but it never wowed me.  I kept painting from the sketch and photo the first day, but when I came back to it the next day I put those away and concentrated on what was happening on the canvas.   Next I plan on doing a large canvas full of flowers!

© Carolee Clark

Contemporary boat painting “Off Season”

© Carolee Clark, “Off Season,” acrylic, 10″ x 10″

“Off Season” 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 Greenland. Here is the Google street view link.

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 dog portrait commission “Lilly”

© Carolee Clark, “Lilly,” acrylic, 14″ x 14″ x 1.5″

“Lilly” sold
by Carolee Clark
14″ x 14″ x 1.5″
acrylic on wrapped canvas

I wanted to paint this beautiful sheltie and her sister the moment I saw them.  Absolutely gorgeous dogs.

Other News:
Commissions
Some people have asked whether I do commissions and I am officially saying yes now.  You can see more on my commissions page.

Instagram
I have started Instagram!  You can see some behind the scenes photos of my studio and works in progress.  My user name is caroleeclark.  Take a look on this blog’s right side under “Instagram.”

Newsletter
I just sent my newsletter showing the ugly stages of a painting.  One of the reasons I don’t like painting in public is that my paintings will go through all sorts of really ugly stages and I hate for people to see this, but I have been asked ….

If you’d like to receive future newsletters – please sign up here.

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 figure painting of a woman on a bicycle “Cycling Chic”

© Carolee Clark, “Cycling Chic,” acrylic, 28″ x 22″ x 1.5″

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

Click here for larger image.

© Carolee Clark, “Cycling Chic”

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 figure painting “She’s the One”

© Carolee Clark, “She’s the One,” acrylic, 24″ x 24″ x 1.5″

“She’s the One”
by Carolee Clark
24″ x 24″ x 1.5″
acrylic on wrapped canvas
$995 (plus $60 shipping and handling within the US)

Click here for larger image.