THE AKANSAS RIVER

Title: The Arkansas River
Medium: Oil on canvas
Size: 8"x10"
Available at: $75.00 unframed + $5.00 s/h in U.S.
How to Purchase: Contact the artist CharArtist@msn.com

This is a the Arkansas River near Salida, Colorado. I love this whole area around Salida, Chalk Creek, and Buena Vista, Colorado. We used to take our camper up in the spring and leave it in a campground in Chalk Creek for the entire summer and early fall. I have never, in all my life living (mostly) in Colorado, seen such beautiful aspens anywhere as I have in this area. The trees are first of all huge; not groves of small whispy aspens, these are giant trees and they have the whitest bark I have ever seen. The trunks are huge in diameter, the white bark is so white, and the trees in the fall are bright aspen yellow to bright orange and every shade in between. The area is just amazing. We did a lot of four wheeling in this area "going where no man has gone before" I used to tell Dan because I felt like we were so far up and back into the mountain that if something happened; nobody would ever find us. What beautiful and amazing photos I have taken on those four wheel trips. I pulled out this photo and decided to paint it again and again until it looks like I want it to feel. Sometimes it doesn't matter how beautifully a painting is executed; it's the feeling that tell me "yes" that's exactly what I wanted to say. This was a beautiful area on the river and I can't wait to go back. Thanks for looking today.

SPRING PASTURE

Title: SPRING PASTURE
Medium: Oil on stretched canvas
Size: 8”x10”
Available at: $75.00 unframed + $5.00 s/h in U.S. How to Purchase: Contact the artist CharArtist@msn.com

This painting is SOLD to a collector in Littleton, Colorado

In the summer we have the cows and their new calves in the pasture behind us. They are fun to watch and a little scary too. For one, they are huge animals and you never quite know what they are thinking. And also, they always have the big, giant bull with them and he is very intimidating....the babies are so cute tho and I love seeing them, taking pictures of them, and of course, painting them. This painting is from a photo I took last summer. I still need a little more work in the sky and also I think on the hill area. Thanks for looking at my daily painting.

Painting away today, the high temperature for today here was 14 degrees; and now it is around 6 degrees outside! What a great day to stay inside all day and paint. Early this morning I worked on a small oil from some "summer" photos of the cattle that hang out at our back fence. My hubby says it's a keeper; I'll post it tomorrow. The rest of the afternoon I worked on a commissioned rendering. So, tonight, I was reading some e-mails and came across this (see below) on The Pastel Journal site; it is an excerpt from Richard McKinley's blog and it just really hit home with me. With all the bad news out in the big bad world, it's feels good to read something like this and say YES! I do what I do because I love to paint and nothing is going to get me down. I know that I would paint "no matter what".




NEW YEAR, NEW THOUGHTS by Richard McKinley THE PASTEL JOURNAL
"As the worries of the global economic problems unfold, it's good to remind ourselves of why we paint. As a dear art friend once stated, “If I never sell another painting, win another award, or get accepted into another exhibit, I will paint.” When we internally embrace that statement is when the real work of painting begins, reminding us that something much deeper motivates us to make marks for others to see. It becomes more than decoration, there is a purpose to it that fills our life. None of us wish for rejection. We want to sell; we want to experience the gratification of someone opening their wallet and parting with hard-earned currency. We revel in the exhilaration of being acknowledged when excellence is obtained, and we feel validated when our peers accept us into their circle. But, if these never happened again, we would still paint. Historically, in times of crisis, art has been of great benefit. Whether as a form of escapism to help in dealing with everyday stresses or the realization of what an important aspect it plays in our common humanity, art serves a purpose. Even if it's a few hours a week spend enjoying the pleasures of raking a pastel stick across a surface, reading the new issue of The Pastel Journal, or visiting an art museum, we all feel better having art in our lives.With this in mind, I offer this New Year's wish: May you continue on your journey to your artistic goals, enjoying the process as much as the end result."

ARCHITECTURAL RENDERING

Well, I said in a previous blog "what can I say about architectural renderings" and after having a small break thru the holidays; I'm back at it! I love to paint architectural "anything" . When the trees and bushes and flowers have all been long gone, and the grass is as brown as a paper sack; I love to make all things "alive" and beautiful in the painting. It's a big "WOW" when you see the before and after. Above is the before...and then the after......I enjoyed painting this home; making it soooo much more attractive that it looks right now in the dead of winter here in Colorado. All of my architectural rendering work is by commission so if you are interested in a rendering, please contact me.

CharArtist@msn.com

back again

So where have I been for months and months.....still painting all summer; many, many architectural renderings which I guess I have decided are sort of boring to blog about. I mean what can I say about all the architectural work I do?? I'm still working but because of the economy it has seemed to slow down somewhat and I am a little relieved. Maybe now I can paint more for myself.
For several months; my computer was an absolute mess and I was not able to download my paintings onto this site. Now that we have all of that fixed; I can start blogging again and all will be well I hope. Keeping my fingers crossed.
I'll start posting some of the paintings I did over the summer.