Mark the October calendar

So, you already know about the Friday Night Painting Party that's happening on Sept. 30. Of course it's on your calendar and you're ready to paint the really cool beach piece. Just to get a little jump ahead we thought we'd also show you what we're planning for the Oct. 28th Painting Party. We're doing this lovely little landscape. This is one of my favorite scenes from the Trinity River in CA. It's 8x10 acrylic on canvas and I'll take you through it step by step. More details to come later.

I hope you're doing something creative,
Carlynne

Happy to be busy!

It's been a busy time in Etsy land lately! Both of these pieces above sold along with two other original paintings, a giclee and a copy of our book. I love making those trips to the post office.

Believe

5x5

Mixed Media

Remember in a previous post I had a bunch of canvas panels that I had started on? There were two with nothing but purple handmade paper glued on. Here they are finished. I just added them to the Etsy shop this week. I'm falling in love with violet and blue together. There's some more of that color combo in my future. I also want to do some more with words. Anyone have any suggestions for words they'd like to see added to a little abstract?

Purple Passion

5x5

Mixed Media

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Carlynne

A little detour

Golden Prairie

I took a little side trip from my work on the adoption series which you can see on my other blog, to work on the gold skies again. I'd been wanting to go back to these for a while. They just intrigue me when the light hits a certain way and the look of the painting changes. It's like the sky in the painting changes with the sky outside. These 3 pieces are 12x12, acrylic, oil and gold leaf on canvas.

The Avocado Grove

Morning at the Lake

Happy Thursday!
Peace,
Carlynne

Getting Unstuck

There are times when you hit a brick wall. I guess this is one of those times. I'm working my way through it though. This canvas has had a landscape painting on it twice now. The sky is gold leaf and that hasn't changed at all. Everything below that however has changed multiple times. It started out with a red base coat, palette knife work put the landscape greens down and it just wasn't working. I took out a nice big brush and painted over all the land with another layer of red. Again, with some knife work and brushes, putting in the greens and yellows of the prairie. Again, hated it! This time I took out a nice big palette knife and smeared red on top - again. There's a wonderful rough texture going on, I like that part and when I put the red on this time the knife skipped here and there and left wonderful peeks of greens coming through. I may have an inch of texture built up on this thing by the time I'm done but that's okay. I'm liking it a little more each time I paint over it.

This is one that I thought was done. Funny how our vision changes with time and it's not something the eye doctor can fix. I took it out again and studied it.........

and this is where it is now..... gessoed over and new color washed on. When I did the gesso layer I left some of the original blue showing through, I liked the texture in that area. Now I'm building up layers of color and sanding in between to bring back some of the contrasting color.

I don't know where these pieces are going to end up but that's part of the fun. When I'm stuck and can't figure out where I'm going I drag out old canvases and play with them. I'll let you know how it goes.

Have a great weekend,

Carlynne

Texture still floats my boat

Mosaic 22

16x16

Mosaic 23

16x16

I'm having fun with some more abstracts and textures. Dripping, glazing, sanding, gluing and glazing some more. It's so much fun building up layers of acrylic paint and tissue paper and sanding between the layers. Organic shapes and geometric shapes come together to create contrast.

Hope you're doing something creative and fun this weekend.

No point to this post

There's really no point to this post except the lusciousness of paint! Some people think that's weird but I don't really care. I'm having fun today working in the studio and when I squeezed paint out onto the canvas it was just so beautiful I had to take a photo or two. Saturday afternoon painting and listening John Lee Hooker and Bonnie Raitt..... it's a good day. :)

hope you're having a good weekend,

Peace,

Carlynne

It's all about the pictures

The 2 above are pieces in progress. I actually have 4 of these I'm working on this weekend. I haven't spent much time in the studio lately so this weekend is dedicated to painting. Today's post is all about the pictures. I think I used up all my words on the other blog. I started another blog because I felt the need to keep this one more about the art. The other one is about adoption and my experience as a first mother. So, if you want to see where all the words are they're here

Prairie Path

7x5

Oil Pastel

This one will go up in the Etsy shop soon.

Mosaic 8

8x8

Acrylic

Mosaic 7

8x8

Acrylic

These 2 acrylic abstracts were listed on Etsy today.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Peace,

Carlynne

Birthdays

Hi folks, been making progress in the studio. Here's where I am on the birthday painting. The journey through this series is an emotional one. I've gotten great responses from first mothers - 9 of them wanted to be included on this canvas so their names and baby's date of birth is up there. My daughter's birth date is at the bottom with my signature. I really wanted this to have the feel of people writing all over this canvas so there's no perfect lines or letters anywhere.

If you're unfamiliar with what I'm up to..... I'm working on a series of paintings about adoption from the birth/first mother perspective, particularly during the time that is now known as the Baby Scoop Era - between 1945 and 1973. Although my daughter was born in 1980, the treatment of women still hadn't changed. Many women are now coming out of the closet and learning to heal. This series about us.

Time to put the brushes away for the day and get ready for a BBQ. We're having the Gem and Mineral society over for the end of year get together. Yep, we're rock hounds. We have rocks in the house, the garage, the shed, the yard, our heads. Guess where some my abstract designs come from......

Hope you're having a lovely Sunday,
Peace,
Carlynne

Wow, it's early

Good morning. I have no idea what I'm doing up. I've been awake since 3:30 so I just gave up the tossing and turning and came out here to the computer to mess around. So.....here's an acrylic landscape just for the heck of it. This was really fun to do. One of these days I'm going to do some more like this. I toned the canvas with red first and did the landscape with a palette knife. The sky and some highlights on the ground and tree trunk are gold leaf.

I have a question for any photographers out there. Are there any tricks to getting gold leaf to read a little better in a photo? I know it won't be the same no matter what but it would be nice to get some of the effect of the golden glow.

Back to bed, maybe I can fall asleep in time for the alarm to go off......
peace,
Carlynne

Baby dreaming

Well, you just never know what I'll be working on in the studio. I did this yesterday for my new grandbaby. She's due to arrive in about 3 weeks. The nursery is coming together, crib is in place and now she just needs some artsy touches from Grandma. The vinyl letters were a gift to the new parents from my sis-in-law Leigh (no, I didn't do the lettering - there's no way it would look that good if I did!) but they weren't going to work that well on the paneled walls so I thought doing a canvas background for them would work and then they could hang it wherever they wanted.

That was my Sunday fun, now back to the work week...... hope your Monday is happy and peaceful,
Carlynne

Movies, guppy babies and string gel

It's been a great Saturday! It started off with Amazing Hubby not having to go to work this morning so we watched a movie and had breakfast in bed - fabulous omelets made by Amazing Hubby. We watched The Time Travelers Wife - good flick.

Then..... we watched fish. We just got this tank set up so we've been having a good time with it, it's very meditative. There was a momma guppy about to pop so she got put in the birthing tank and there she went dropping the babies. I do have to say it's a little creepy to see a creature give birth and immediately turn around and gobble the baby up. ewwww. I think she ate 6 or 7 of them and we might have 20 survivors. Maybe when they're bigger I can get a photo of them.

Then..... it was off to the studio. I just get so excited by textures! This is what I was playing with today - string gel, acrylic and foam squares for stamping. I'm definitely going to have to experiment a little more with this technique. Oh, made some progress on a painting commission and walked a couple of miles too. Yay for productivity!

Now..... it's time for another movie, Blind Side. I've heard it's very good. I hope ya'll are having a nice peaceful evening.

Carlynne

It's April

It's April, it's a new month. This is a month of meaning for me. This month my oldest child turns 30! This month will be the 9th anniversary of my quitting smoking - that's a biggie too. This month I get my first tattoo - that's tomorrow! Kelli said she wants to document it with photos so maybe you'll see it here. And yes, for a short time I fell for the Google/Topeka name change thing. LOL! The lengths people will go to for April fool's day.

Anyway..... above is one of the pieces I finished today. I just couldn't get the violet color to show up the way it really is which is warmer in tone and more vibrant. Oh well.

I know I've been absent from here recently but I've been focused on painting. This is a good thing! I've been working on a hopefully promising project. If it pans out I'll share more info so keep all of your fingers and toes crossed for me. In the meantime I'll be breathing through the tattoo process and then setting up for the First Friday Art Walk in downtown Ocala. Come say hi to me and Kelli. We'll be on the square from 6-8 tomorrow night at the Sushi Bistro of Ocala.

Peace,
Carlynne

Go Green

Have you ever had a morning when you're startled awake at 5 a.m. for no apparent reason? That was this morning. I have no idea why, all I know is the headache that came with the sudden awakening wouldn't let me go back to sleep, so here I am......

So, happy St. Patrick's Day! Yeah, I know, I'm Puerto Rican, so what? In honor of the day I thought I'd post something green - as if that's different from what I usually paint :) This one is still on the easel so there's a few things left to be done. I'm working on two of these at the same time and hope to be done this week. It's a busy time - classes, workshop coming up this weekend and of course many canvases to paint. Ain't life grand!

Hope you have a great time today whatever you're doing,
Peace,
Carlynne

I really want to know...

Good morning! What a pretty day, finally some sunshine. We've had nothing but rain for the last few days and it was starting to get depressing. So, happy day and favorite things. Today I just thought I'd show you some of my favorite things - books. One of the first things I do when visiting an artist is check out the book shelf to see which art books they like to keep around. Here's a few of the shelves in my office. What are your favorite books? I'd really like to know, just call me nosy.

My own version of our book cover photo. These seem to be the colors I'm attracted to at the moment. Maybe I've been willing spring to come by using these colors all winter. Apparently I haven't done a very good job - this has been the longest, coldest winter we've had in Florida in many, many years!

Collage and creativity.... of course notice the 3rd book from the left. :D

Landscape and light.

Many colored pencil books of course......

Acrylic and abstraction.

Now all I need is a cup of coffee and my comfy chair - I'll get some inspiration and then unwrap those two new canvases I brought home yesterday. Hope you all have a lovely day!

Peace,

Carlynne

Wednesday night.....

You've seen these canvases before but they didn't have as many layers of paint on them. When I walked in the studio tonight nothing was coming to me. I was feeling very ....... blank....... It happens. Just wasn't feelin' it. I sat and stared. I sat and stewed. I decided the thing to do is to just pick up a brush and sling some paint and where it takes me, it takes me. Sometimes that's what you have to do to get past a block. It may not even be a block but just a ...... blank...... spot in the brain. When that happens it's time to let the hands just take over. Let the tactile quality of the materials work on you and not think so much. Let intuition take over, so far that feels better........ I'll be back in the studio again tomorrow, we'll see how it feels then.

Hope you're having a good night,

Peace,

Carlynne

I'm feelin' it

I absolutely LOVE textures. Anyone that knows me knows that I can't keep my hands off of a cool looking textured surface. From the time I was a little girl I was fascinated with textures in nature - tree bark, veining in leaves, bird tracks in the snow (I didn't always live in Florida), the fuzz on new spring leaf buds, the indentations of raindrops in dirt, the bubbles of tar on the side of the road in the summer.

Of course the natural progression of things is that I would end up incorporating texture into my paintings. I play with textured papers, pastes and gels, sand, glass beads and rocks. There's nothing I love more in the studio than watching the fluid acrylic paint seep into the crevices of crackle paste and puddle around the bumps of glass beads. The nuances of color as it concentrates into a smooth valley or gets absorbed into a soft paper surface is just plain exciting! Call me weird.... I don't care!

So..... for the people out there like me, Kelli and I will be teaching a workshop on playing with these textures. Since the texture gels and pastes usually take overnight to dry we're going to prepare some panels ahead of time and then focus on what to do with paint and collage elements to enhance the textures and make them sing. The workshop will be in Ocala at Red Swan Paint & Art on Sunday March 21st from 1-5. Give us a holler if you want more info and contact us soon before the class fills up. mailto:andhershbergerhuff@hotmail.com

Now go touch something and feel the texture - you don't have to tell me what it is. :D

Peace,

Carlynne

Myth of Perfection

Myth of Perfection

16x16

Mixed media on canvas

Good morning! It's another chilly start in the south. I've got a few minutes before heading off to work today so I thought I'd share another piece in the Body of Work series. This one is called Myth of Perfection. I'll go back to the altered book later and show you some more pages from that but I thought bringing out the canvases would be nice.

I think the words on the canvas pretty much say it all. Isn't perfection what we're supposed to be striving for? I know women understand this pressure to look perfect. Just look at the women's fashion magazines and the airbrushed models. Who in the world could possibly live up to those standards? I truly think these magazines are a bad influence on young women. They send a damaging message - you're not okay. As we get older we add more things to the list of things to be perfect at - raising kids, careers, housekeeping and caring for elderly parents. We put so much pressure on ourselves - yes, there's the outside influences but we allow those influences to push us to the point of extremes. There's nothing wrong with having high standards but there has to be some sanity thrown in there too, some feeling of it's okay if everything is not exactly perfect. It's okay to let the less important things sit for a while so we can sit for a while and be at peace.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Peace,

Carlynne

Yesterday's Progress

It was a good productive day in the studio yesterday. Remember the hubcap? Back to work on that. Amazing Hubby sandblasted it for me and then I gave it a primer coat. Next was a coat of gesso, a layer of crumpled tissue paper and a thin layer of acrylic paint. We'll see where it goes from here.

While layers of the hubcap were drying I worked on a new canvas - this one 48x48. It takes up quite a chunk of space in the studio! I had to work flat for the first layer of texture so I had it on the dining room table for a couple of days. The rest of the painting can be worked on the easel. At the top of the photo you can see where I'm putting in the lines for the geometric shapes.

Today I'm at Red Swan all day so I'll get back to the studio over the weekend. Hope you're having fun and TGIF!

BTW..... if you're interested in taking our workshop next month, send us an email and we'll get a registration form to you. hershbergerhuff@hotmail.com

Peace,

Carlynne

Acrylic Textures Workshop

Good morning people! I'm thrilled to announce ~ it's Thursday! I love Thursdays, it's studio day. I'm actually here to announce that we have a workshop coming up so you can mark your calendars. We're doing a half-day workshop on acrylic textures. Work on canvas with acrylic mediums to achieve exciting textures and color patterns. In this workshop you will learn about texture mediums and how to use them in an archival way with acrylic paint on canvas. Paint abstractly or use textures to enhance your realistic work. Do you like palette knife painting? Collage or assemblage? Interested in the look of encaustic painting? Just love texture? Then this workshop is for you. Once you learn these skills, the possibilities are endless!

Join us Sunday, March 21st from 1-5 at Red Swan Paint & Art . They are located at 2730 NE 14th St in the Oakbrook Plaza. The cost of the workshop is 45.00 and we'll be providing some of the supplies. When you sign up you'll get a list of the supplies to bring. Contact us for more info.

Time to paint,
Peace,
Carlynne

More layers

Mosaic 4

16x16

More layers, more layers, more layers. It was time to zero in on the colorful shapes and tone down the others. I woke up this morning and just didn't like what was going on on the right hand side of the painting so I did some drybrushing with a white that has a touch of green in it. You can still see some of the underneath color, it has more depth now. What I ended up with is acrylic, gold leaf and tissue paper on canvas. I think it's done. If you have a different opinion, share it, don't be shy. I can take it (as long as you're not too brutal).

While I'm painting I'm watching the speed skaters in Vancouver, what an inspiration. Maybe I should try speed painting - set a timer and do 30 minute expressions. That could be fun, and messy!

Short post today.... the kids are coming over for dinner tonight. Can't wait to see them! Have a lovely evening and if I'm not on here again tomorrow ~ a very happy Valentine's Day!

Peace, and go kiss someone,

Carlynne