Garden Tour

Sunlit Arbor, 2011

Original Painting:
Oil, alkyd on 6" x 8" canvas panel
SOLD

A few years ago I participated in the Eola Heights Garden Tour, held every April in this historic neighborhood of Orlando. Yesterday I spent the most lovely Sunday afternoon painting in the garden of one of the homes on this year's tour.

It was an absolutely perfect day—sunny but cool in the shade, a light breeze with very low humidity, and everything in full bloom. The homeowners had employed a harpist who entertained the 650 garden lovers who passed through, viewing the abundant herb plantings, gigantic Meyer's lemon tree with fruit the size of grapefruits, and many fragrant flowers. So the entire ambience was "heavenly" and I overheard many great gardening tips, too!

Last Thursday I visited the site to preview the garden, which offered several picturesque views. I finally decided to do the arbor area. On that visit, I completed a monochromatic value study in burnt sienna—that orange-ish color you still can see here and there in the final painting—to work out the composition and the sunlight and shadow areas. By Sunday that underpainting was dry, so during the tour I was able to focus on the final colors mixtures to complete the painting. I was very flattered by the many kind comments about the painting from the tour goers, and especially pleased that the owners added the painting to their collection.

Later this week I will be posting a second painting for the week...just in time for the Easter weekend.

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

Home Sweet Home

John & Mary's Back Porch, 2008

Oil, alkyd on canvas panel

10" x 8"

SOLD

Today's painting is of another home in the Eola Heights historic neighborhood of Orlando, where I painted with the Central Florida Plein Air Artists last April. The owners were most gracious to allow me to setup and spend a lovely spring day in their yard. And they purchased the painting, too!

I am still working on another painting from my travels in Italy. It is larger (9x12") and is taking a bit longer to complete than the smaller panels I have been working on. I hope to post it on Wednesday.

Thanks for looking and have a really good day.

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Text, art, and image @Carol Adamec. All rights reserved.

Back in the Garden

Morning Light, 2008
Original, oil on canvas panel
10" x 8" unframed
SOLD
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This is another painting inspired by the Eola Heights neighborhood where the Central Florida Plein Air artists had their April "paint out" this year.

I started the painting a few months ago, then let it sit around the studio, unfinished. This week, I was determined to complete it, and I'm glad I did.

The painting challenge of this piece was to convey the "temperature" of the morning light, which is cool and bluer than the warm sunny light of the afternoon. The method is to cool down all the colors while retaining the warmth of the spring season. The other challenge was the interplay of light and shadow patterns on the garage wall and trellis.

For a painting which I had almost given up on, it came together rather nicely. Many thanks to the Muse of Inspiration for all of her guidance!

I hope you have a great weekend planned. See you Monday.
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Text, images, and artwork ©Carol L Adamec. All rights reserved.

July Flag: Done!

"July Flag" 2008
Original,

oil on canvas panel
10" x 8" unframed
Contact Artist to purchase.
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Last Friday (July 4th), I posted this painting as "in progress." Here is the final version.

If you compare the two, you'll see that there's more sunlight in the foreground in the sidewalk and lawn area; and, in general, the flag colors are more vibrant. There are several other "tweaks" throughout the painting, too—all intended to focus attention on the flag. Do you think it works?

Thanks for taking a moment to read this post and see today's painting.

Keep cool this weekend. See you Monday!
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Text, Images and artwork ©Carol L Adamec. All rights reserved.
BLOG URL: http://www.CarolAdamec.blogspot.com

Fourth of July

July Flag, 2008
Original painting
Oil and alkyd on canvas panel
10" x 8" unframed
In Progres
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Back in April, I photographed this Eola Heights front porch in Orlando, in preparation for the Central Florida Plein Air Artists paint-out event later that month. Many of the homes in this historic neighborhood were built between 1900—1920's. Except for the palm trees, the neighborhood has a Norman Rockwell flavor about it...kind of like this painting.

As I mentioned in Wednesday's post, photographs are very handy for capturing a moment "right now." I saved this photo with the intention of having the painting ready for today.

Well, it's almost done—done enough to share with you on this 4th of July. I'll complete it and show you the "final" version next week.

I hope you enjoy a pleasant and peaceful Fourth of July.

Have a great weekend. See you Monday!
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Images and artwork protected by copyright ©Carol L Adamec. All rights reserved.