About The Artist

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Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States
Hello! I am a fine arts painter, with a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. My primary painting medium is oil and alkyd, and mostly I work in a representational style. My greatest challenge as a painter is to capture the effect of light; and my greatest joy as a painter is to accomplish that. Many thanks to those readers who have been following this blog since Day 1 (May 19, 2008). To those who are visiting for the first time today...Welcome, and thanks for dropping by!

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Still Under the Influence

Sunset Series #15 (Homage to Albert Pinkham Ryder)

Original Painting: oil, alkyd on gessoed wood

6" x 1.5" 
SOLD

Albert Pinkham Ryder (American, 1847–1917) is one of those artists who defies easy categorization. His work is often described as moody, poetic, surreal, allegorical, and dreamy. Considered a "Tonalist"—an artist who relies on light and dark contrasts rather than color to describe form and distance—Ryder painted mostly landscape and seascapes. His work is also notable for the number of forgeries that have been done. It's estimated that over 1,000 fake Ryder paintings exist, in private as well as  museum collections!

I've been a fan of ol' Albert since art school days. I find his work mysterious, even mystical, especially his Seacoast in Moonlight painted in 1890, which inspired my Sunset Series version posted on today's blog. Other famous works by Ryder are The Race Track (Death on a Pale Horse) and The Flying Dutchman.

Thanks for taking a look. Have a great week.
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Text and image ©2011 Carol Adamec. All rights reserved. 

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Under the Influence, Again


Sunset Strip #14 (after Winslow Homer)
Original oil, alkyd on gessoed wood
SOLD


After working on last week's Georgia O'Keeffe inspired Sunset Strip, I got curious about sunset paintings by other well known artists. I happened to come across a painting by Winslow Homer called "Crossing the Pasture" (1871-1872) shown below.

Ironically, my favorite part of the painting was the distant sky, beyond the hills. So I "appropriated" that portion of Homer's painting, modified the shapes and colors, and tinged the far clouds with color to suggest the coming sunset.


It's interesting—and quite educational to copy the work of a great artist, even from a reproduction. Within even this small segment of the painting, there is a lot going on—color variations, light changes, and spatial dynamics—all happening in the background of this larger painting.

Thanks for taking a look. Have a great week.
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Text and image ©2011 Carol Adamec. All rights reserved. 

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Under the Influence


Sunset Strip #13 (O'Keeffe Sunset) 
Original oil, alkyd on wood panel

7" x 1.5"
SOLD



I can't deny it. I've been a fan of Georgia O'Keeffe's paintings since I was a freshman in college, standing dumbstruck in front of "Black Cross, New Mexico" at the Art Institute of Chicago.

If you take a look at that painting, you'll see that I was still under its influence this week when I did this study. Sunset Strip #13, measuring 4" x 36" is currently in progress (a lot of blending to do). I'll share it with you when it's finished.

Thanks for taking a look. Have a good week.
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Text and image ©2011 Carol Adamec. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Caliente!


Sunset Strip #12 (Red Rising)
Original oil, alkyd on panel
4" x 12"
$145 with Free Shipping
Contact Artist to purchase




It's hot in Florida. I guess in some subliminal way, that heat is seeping into my sunset paintings. Hence the strong reds and oranges in the lower portion of the painting.

Thanks for taking a look. Keep cool!

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Text and image ©2011 Carol Adamec. All rights reserved.