"Sassy Pear"

I gave this little pear the color of the season "tangerine tango" for background and to give it some attitude. The pear almost shakes with the vibrant red/orange behind it.

Two Red Barnes Sold

A drive through Tennessee provided very picturesque views of barnes and beautiful farm land.  This 12" x 12" painting of two red barnes is ready to enter in the Guild of Charlotte Artists show on June 1st.

Painting Mosaic

Did you know that you can use Picasa to make mosaic tiles of you paintings?  It is fun and easy.

"Purple Iris"

I am excited about showing my new artwork at Christ Church on 1412 Providence Road.  This iris painting and eleven others will be on display for the month of May.

"Blue Umbrella"

Baxter Village provided six of us with a Venue to show our artwork.  Thank you Sayago's for letting us share our paintings and photographs last Friday night while dining under the stars.

"Graceful" Sold

The Charlotte Garden Club put on a wonderful garden tour in Charlotte last weekend.  Seven beautiful gardens with artists adding to the ambience of the settings.  I painted in a garden Colville Road where this statue was a new addition to the garden.  She was beautiful and graceful.

8" x 6" on linen panel

Sold

McGill's Rose Garden

With over 200 varieties of roses, how do you pick just one to paint?  This is the one I chose.  McGill's Rose Garden is on North Davidson Street in Charlotte and open to the public free of charge.  It is a beautiful place to paint or just go for a peaceful stroll.

"Art Sale in Charlotte"

Cemetery Painting

Plein Air bud, Debbie captured this image of me painting in the Providence Presbyterian Cemetery last week.  Here is the painting that I just finished from last week.

6" x 6" on canvas panel

Creating in a New Way

 I promised my daughter that we would make her a necklace for her birthday.  One day I came up with the idea of using my foreign coins that had been stored in an old box for many years.  Now some of the coins are no longer used because many countries  use the Euro as their currency.  We had such fun creating our one of a kind necklaces today at a local bead shop.  Amy's is on the left and mine is on the right.

"White Azaleas"

After spending a beautiful day painting outside at a home which reminded me of Providence, I came home and painting these azaleas.  The black/green background was already primed for the contrast of the white azaleas.  I've been trying to get looser and plein air painting helps achieve that.  I love the contrast of the lights and darks.

12" x 12" oil on canvas

$195

"An Early Spring"

I visited the Biltmore Estates about two weeks ago and the weather was perfect.  The trees were beginning to bud and other things blossoming.

This oil painting is on 10" x 8" linen panel.  

"Painting Redwoods"

I painted this 10" x  8" last week on a linen panel.  I have also painted a 30" x 24" of this scene of the ride through the Redwood forest in Santa Cruz on the Roaring Camp Railroad.  The light magically filters through the leaves of the redwoods and creates wonderful shadows.

Lenten Roses

The sweet Lenten Roses do not last long in a vase.  That is why painting flowers are so special.  Just add a fragrance and the memory will stay forever.

Lenten Roses

I love Spring! The other day I wanted to paint some flowers.  Much to my disappointment the daffodils had lost their blooms already.  I found some beautiful Lenten Roses in my garden and painted them instead.  Lenten roses are so sweet and delicate.

Lunch at the Biltmore

I dropped my husband off in Tennessee to hike the Appalachian Trail.  On my way back to Charlotte, I decided to stop in at the Biltmore Estate to have lunch.  I have a twelve month pass so I can just come by anytime to meander around the gardens,  take photos and sit and enjoy the sunshine.  Besides the tourists there people walking their dogs, riding their bicycles, and having a glass of wine with their picnics.  My goal is to turn some of these photos into paintings.

I belong to TWA Silver Wings International which is a group of retired Flight Attendants that meet once a year at a convention to renew old friendships and raise money for breast cancer research.  I have donated many paintings for the live auctions at these conventions.  Some of my oil paintings have been copies of  vintage TWA posters by David Klein.

My real love of subject matter for my oil paintings are landscapes.  Whenever, I travel I take my Nikon with me and take photos that later I turn into paintings.  Many of my paintings are landscapes of my former home, California and my present home of North Carolina.

"Camels at Sunset"

On another layover in Cairo, my flying partner and I spent the day at Giza.  We took pictures of the Pyramids and the Sphnix until sunset. We hired a little Arab to guide us around and ask these camel riders to pose for this sunset photo.  We also rode around a little bit on these camels.  Before we knew it all the tourists and taxis were gone for the day.  Our little Arab friend walked to the town of Memphis and we caught a cab back to the Nile Hilton. (Yes, it was a little scary)

Photograph by Kathy Heil

"The Sphinx and Me"

As a TWA flight attendant, I was able to fly international in the 70's.  My flying partner took this photo on a layover in Cairo.  I have been back to  Giza several times and never found this exact spot of the photo.  I painted this self portrait about 10 years ago.

"Symbols of Flight"

"Live in the moment so you can fly".  This struck a cord with me in "Mindful Yoga" this morning.  "Symbols of Flight" was painted in 2002.  It was a break through painting as far as what painting means to me.  Painting to me is freedom and a way of flying.  In others posts I will share some of my past with you so you will understand who I am as a painter today.

CPCC's Annual Student Art Exhibition

Last semester I took an art class at Central Piedmont Community College.  It was fun to be with a group of

artists and out of my studio at home.  "Jellyfish"  was accepted into the school's annual student art exhibit.  

March 1 – April 3, 2012

Reception:  March 15, 4:30-6:30pm

"A Path in Charleston"

I put the finishing touches on this painting today.  I thought I was finished but I couldn't help add a touch here and there after looking at it for weeks.  Do you all wait a few weeks to add the final touches?

24" x 18" $450

"White on White"

I was inspired by "The Daily Paintworks" challenge to paint white on white.  I know white is more colors than just white.  I used a light yellow background and a white teapot and cup.  There are so many choices when one wants to portray white with light and dark values.  I enjoyed this challenge.

24" x 18" $450

"Tangerine Tango Again"

On January 30, I posted about the color Tangerine Tango being the color for 2012.  Today's Charlotte Observer was full of designers offering their ideas on how to this color.  Since it is a nice rainy day, I jumped on the chance to paint something in my house that was Tangerine Tango.  Here is the before and after photos of my antique wash stand in my kitchen.  I love it!

Sunshine and Blue Berries

I love sunshine and blueberries.  Yesterday was a day to sit in the sunshine and eat blueberries.  After lunch, I went to my studio and painted these berries.  Three little blue berries on a 6 " x 6" Ray Mar panel.  I sold the last two paintings of blue berries so I'm hoping for the same good luck.

Featured Artist on the Guild of Charlotte Artists website.

www.guildofcharlotteartists.org

About Carol

Carol is a native Californian

and a graduate of San

Francisco State University.

Carol and her family moved

to Charlotte, North Carolina

in 1995. Shortly after

moving to Charlotte, Carol

began taking design,

drawing, and oil painting

classes at CPCC. Oil

painting became her

passion and a way to

express the beauty that

she had seen throughout

the world while working as

a TWA Flight Attendant.

(Yes, she did wear hats 

and gloves and flew on 

the Boeing 707 like in

the Pan Am TV series.)

Carol has studied art under

Elizabeth Ross, Eleanor

Rufty (through the Virginia

Museum of Fina Art), and

Andy Braitman at Braitman

Studios. She has taken

workshops with artists like

Andy Braitmen, Kelley

Stanford, Judy Greenwood,

Margaret Hoyback, and at

the Ringling School of Art.

"Chanel Bottle"

Experimenting with the new home and fashion color of the year, "Tangerine Tango".  It is a strong color which I can see as great accents in paintings, clothes, and homes.  See how you can use it in a painting.

"A Helpful Critique" of California Ranunculus.

                         

Beautiful Ranunculus

I received a critique that the horizontals were monotonous on the painting to the right.  I changed the rows to follow a single point perspective far off to the right.  Do you like the improvement?
Painting on the left:  24" x 18" $450

New Painting "Mission Santa Clara"

After Christmas and New Years, all my artist friends are back painting.  My art was delayed due to a bout with bronchitis.  I finished a painting today and started a new one.  It feels great to be back in the studio.  I have to thank for husband for taking care of me for a week and my cats for staying by my side during my convalesce.  I have one more painting in my mission series.  I'll try and get more photos of missions on my next trip to California in September.

Merry Christmas to All!

"Mission San Rafael"

This is California Mission San Rafael.  I painted this on a 6" x 6" panel.  My fifth painting  in my California Mission Series.  Until I started visit missions in California, I must have passed this one on the street many many times when I lived in Marin.

"JellyFish"

This painting was done with Galkyd Lite and oil paint.  I painted many layers of transparent paint and Galkyd Lite medium.  I have been wanting to paint jellyfish for years but did not know how to proceed.  The glazing technique was the right medium to show the transparency of these beautiful creatures.  Now that I have completed this in a 18" x 24", I want to try this same subject much larger.

Price:  $450

"Mineral Springs"

I liked the way the alcohol ink worked in "Hot Springs"so much  that I made a slightly larger one for "Mineral Springs".  I framed this one to give to a dear friend for a graduation present.  It is in a floater frame.  What do you think?

"Hot Springs"

After watching artist June Rollins demonstrate how to work with alcohol inks, I tried this one.  The two colors I used were stream blue and butterscotch yellow.  I used metallic gold and metallic silver which adds a shine to the painting.  It is a fun process.

California Coast

Painting 6" x 6" study for "Pacifice Waves" 12" x 12" showing at Providence Gallery December and January.

"San Francisco Ferry"

Feeling a little nostalgic during the holidays.  My brother discovered old negatives of my father's who was once  a photographer.  Lucky Dad rode the San Francisco Ferry to work everyday.   He watched the San Francisco Oakland Bay bridge being built in 1935. I have some amazing photographs that he took on his daily journey to work.

"Christmas Card for 2011"

Last winter's snow fall which was recorded by my husband, made a beautiful photograph.  I used this photograph to make a  6" x 6" painting.  I turned the painting into a 7" x 5" Christmas card by stretching it in photo shop.  I ordered these cards through Vista Print.  I'll let you know how they turn out.

"Pacific Waves"

Providence Gallery accepted this painting for their Holiday Squares exhibit.  I am so excited about this painting.  I took this photo from Pacific Coast Highway 1 somewhere between San Francisco and Santa Cruz last June.  Thank you Candy for driving me the scenic route.

Reception at Providence Gallery

Friday, December 2, 2011, 6-9 PM

"The Pickers"

Fields of colorful flowers bring happiness to me whether it is a memory, a reality, or artwork.  I just returned from Sacramento, California and a celebration of life of my dear cousin.  Love and memories live on in our hearts forever.  Life and beauty are to be celebrated and enjoyed each day.

"Mission Carmel"

This is my fourth California Mission that I have painted.  Mission Carmel is one of the prettiest of the California Mission started by Father Serra on the Camero Real.  These missions were founded from 1769 to 1823 from San Diego to Sonoma.  Watch for my next mission painting which will be Santa Clara or San Rafael.

Recycled Art

For this collage, I cut up two of my painted canvases.  The colors were great so I thought I could make new art out of old art.  The canvas base was also a recycled canvas.  The combinations of designs were countless.  I used a good sturdy glue to secure the canvas pieces to the canvas (Sobo).  While the pieces were drying I held them down with a glass brick and anything else heavy that I could find.  This is the end result.  What do you think?

"How Can You Recycle old Canvases?"

This is going to be a future collage.  This was so much fun cutting up two canvases that had lost my interest.  The colors were beautfiul.  Stay turned to see what these pieces turn into

Carol's Art Week

The week started out in the North Carolina Mountains where the trees are just starting to change color.  The day began with a tour of histoic Todd (Timbertown) led by my daughter.  Above is the New River where the towns people were baptised when the town was young.  Then to a Bed and Breakfast in Roan Mountian, Tennessee.  I spent a couple hours plein air painting the next morning.  Tuesday was a painting class and then off to Spring Hill Suites in Charlotte for their 1st Annual Art Exhibit.  About forty artists showed up for this event.  Wednesday night was the Guild of Charlotte meeting at the Mint Museum.  Miriam Durkin painted a quick portrait of one of our members.  It was poetry in motion watch Miriam work.  Thursday was off to the Mint Museum Uptown to see Romare Bearden art exhibit.  Friday back to the Tennessee Mountains to pick up my husband after hiking the Appalachian Trail.  During this busy week, I took some beautiful mountain photos which I hope later will turn into paintings.

Challenging Yourself

"There is a Season"

When putting together a collage, you challege all parts of your creativity.  Instead of painting from a photograph or real life,  this was a big challenge for me.  What will the theme be,what colors to use, what textures to use, how many layers, and what is the design.  This collage has watercolor, two real leaves, wallpaper, bark, and written sayings.  Not only was it a challege but I thought about it day and night.  Do you like to make collages and do you find it very creative?

"Learn to Use Social Media"

Although I love to spend my days painting, I also love to read about how social media can help sell and brand your art work.  Yesterday, I mentioned "Artists Helping Artists".  Below is a another website for more tips.
12 Compelling Reasons Why Artists Should Use Twitter
by Lori McNee
http://www.finearttips.com/