Day 22 - "Passing the Tower"

I mentioned the other day that I sometimes get inspiration from the Morguefile, an online free file sharing website.  Well, I also love to use Google street view to wander the globe and see places that I otherwise may never get to see.  This inspires me so often and I have painted many pictures from scenes I have found in street view... Prague, Ireland, Idaho and Paris are just a few of the most beautiful areas of the world, at least on street view anyway.  So, this scene  which I found while 'wandering' around Paris, inspired me because, one, this view of the tower is just impeccably perfect, and two, the young man on the bike in the foreground presented a nice mystery.... What exactly is his story?  It made me wonder "where is he was going?"  Maybe university?  A quiet cafe to meet a secret rendezvous? Maybe he's a delivery guy delivering important documents.  Maybe he's on his way to visit grandma.  Who knows?   Anyway, I liked the mystery this scene presented and I also loved the composition when I cropped it to fit one of my narrow panel left-overs.

Passing the Tower, oil, 4"x18"
to purchase please click here

The Process of Art

I have the good fortune to be hanging my work in the Double Tree hotel in Reading during July and August. The body of work I created for this show is representative of everything I have been considering in my painting in recent months.  I have found that I am generally what is called a process artist, meaning simply that I appreciate and study the process of making art above all else in my artwork. To further explain, this quote from Helen Van Wyck sums it up for me right now... "It doesn't matter what you paint, it's how you paint it". I love color, the paint itself, elements and principles, brushwork, simply put, the language of art... These 5 paintings represent my latest in my endeavor to convey my own personal language in the art of oil painting.  I chose these subject matter because I am drawn to the lines, colors and form of 'things' from the 1950's and 60's.  If manufacturers started using the aesthetic of this time I would rejoice and probably... buy everything! So, I ask you to enjoy and please look closely at these paintings...  I love the abstract quality my paintings take on when viewing closely.  I revel in texture, edges, brush stroke, color and the juiciness of oil paint!  If you are interested in purchasing these paintings, please contact me at karelyn1772@gmail.com     Thank you!

Blue Chuck Taylors, 24"x36", oil, $1050

Green Metallica, 24:x36",oil, $1050

It's Not a Bug, 24:x36",oil, $1050

Rotary Dial, 24:x36",oil, $1050

Schwinn Phantom, 24:x36",oil, $1050

Beach Ride

My family and I recently took a beach vacation... One of my favorite sites are all of the beachy bikes that people get around on... The colors are so pretty and they are made for cruisin'.... enjoying the sites.  I snapped a few pics of them and now I wish I would have snapped more because they make great subject matter!  This is my first go at painting a beach ride and I have another planned out... Well, now I have an excuse to take another day or so in the sand and the sun!  I have titled this one "Beach Ride" and it is for sale at my Daily Paintworks site.

Beach Ride, Oil on panel, 6" x 6",
For purchasing information, please click here

This is the original photograph I took... My next painting is of the same bike, different crop. 

For You

Sometimes as an artist I am inspired in unexpected places.  This painting came from such an experience.  One of my all time favorite things to do in life (although time does not always allow) is read to my kids at bed time.  Currently, I am deep into the "Little House on the Prairie" series with my son.  He is loving it and I am reliving the books because I read them to my daughter years ago.  A few weeks ago, I came to the end of a chapter and there was just a beautiful passage about 'Pa' playing his fiddle in the evening and a Nightingale singing back to his playing.  Laura drifted off into blissful sleep listening to the two of them talking back and forth to each other.  It was so eloquently written.. such a beautiful and inspiring image... I immediately knew I had to respond to the emotions I was feeling just reading those words with some artwork of my own... a painting.  So, while this is not a picture of 'Pa'.. and it definitely is NOT on the prairies of wild North America.... This is what I came up with!   I ended up in Paris... with an older gent... with a nightingale on his head... I also had to put that young lady in red bicycling by in the background... She seems to be showing up in many of my paintings... :)    Anyway... I am loving this new direction my art is taking me.  I attribute the new work somewhat to my research into vintage posters, as they 'tell a story' in their own way.... This new painting, I hope, tells a story also... whatever story you want it to tell....
It will be available, framed (with a solid wood frame hand crafted by yours truly) in the upcoming Art Plus Gallery show which opens Friday, May 8th.

For You, oil on panel, 18" x 24",
contact me for pricing on this painting