About The Artist

My photo
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!

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Hearts & Flowers, Folk Style

Hearts & Flowers: Folk Style, 2013. Hand colored, mixed media on rice paper.
The fun part of hand coloring my Boogie Board prints is altering the hues and patterns to see how it all turns out. The variety of possibilities is amazing. The saturated colors of this version reminded me of the bright and cheerful designs of American Folk Art styles, such as the Pennsylvania Dutch. Enjoy!

Thanks for visiting my blog and have a great day.
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Text and photo ©2013 Carol L. Adamec. All rights reserved.


Hearts & Flowers Folk Style is printed on rice paper and hand colored with Prismacolor pencil and metallic ink. The image measures approximately 7" x 5"  and comes mounted in an 10" x 8" black mat, ready to frame. The price is $85 with FREE SHIPPING, available for purchase on ETSY at www.ArtByCarolAdamec.ETSY.com. (On ETSY you can pay withPayPal or a credit card, and it's safe.)


Monday, June 17, 2013

Another Starry Night

Starry Night in the Garden 2, 2013, mixed media on rice paper.

How lovely to sit in the quiet of the garden on a summer evening, as stars twinkle silver in the deepening blue of the night. I can hear the crickets chirping now.

Thanks for taking a look. Have a wonderful day.

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Text and artwork ©2013 Carol L. Adamec. All rights reserved.


Starry Night in the Garden 2 is a mixed media artwork on ricepaper. The price is $85 unframed with FREE SHIPPING, available for purchase on ETSY at www.ArtByCarolAdamec.ETSY.com . (On ETSY you can pay withPayPal or a credit card, and it's safe.)


Sunday, June 9, 2013

Another View

Ancient Realm, 2013. Original plein air painting in oil, 6"x8"


A few weeks ago I was at Coronado State Monument again to do some plein air painting. The view of the Sandia Mountains I chose was similar to one I had painted in early May. Of course, the day, the light, the clouds, and the season were different; so of course, the painting has a different look as well.

Thanks for visiting my blog and have a safe and pleasant weekend.
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Text and photo ©2013 Carol L. Adamec. All rights reserved.

Today's painting measures 6"x8" and is painted on gessoed canvas panel. Available for purchase on ETSY at www.ArtByCarolAdamec.ETSY.com

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Why I Live in New Mexico...

To the Quiet Place, 2013. Original plein air painting in oil, alkyd.
I was buzzing around town late one afternoon, after several hours of endless errands and "to-do"s, and found myself at the foothills of the mountains. 

The clouds overhead created moving patches of light and shadow on the various mountain forms—a gift of beauty that grabbed my eye and my heart in a single moment and brought forth an involuntary "ahhhhh." All the stress of the day dissipated in an instant, and altered my drive home to a most pleasant excursion of looking and loving the views before me. 

Thanks for visiting my blog and have a safe and pleasant weekend.
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Text and photo ©2013 Carol L. Adamec. All rights reserved.

Monday, May 20, 2013

Return to Plein Air...Painting!

View from Coronado State Monument #2, 2013. SOLD

The weather has been lovely in New Mexico this month, and great for painting outdoors. 

The Plein Air Painters of New Mexico scheduled a "paintout" for the group on Saturday, May 4, at Coronado State Monument. This is a historic site, where in 1540 Francisco Vásquez de Coronado—with 300 soldiers and 800 Indian allies from "New Spain"—in his search for the fabled Seven Cities of Gold, came across a Tiwa settlement inhabited by native peoples instead. Adjacent to the Visitors Center are "new" ruins, reconstructed over the original pueblo ruins, along with a room full of kiva murals excavated in the 1930s by WPA workers.

This is a wonderful location for painting since there is a clear view of the Sandia Mountains, and the site slopes down to the Rio Grande River, lined with old—some very old—cottonwoods. (I can imagine the Conquistadores watering their horses at the river, or napping in the cool shade.) There are also a few scattered picnic tables with ramada covers to provide some shade.

The painting posted today is my second attempt to paint the Sandia Mountains as viewed from Coronado State Monument.  With great clouds floating over the ridge of peaks, the play of light, dark, and color was fun to capture on canvas. I hope you enjoy this painting.

Thanks for visiting my blog and have a great day!
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Text and photo ©2013 Carol L. Adamec. All rights reserved.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

"Red or Green?" Part 2


Today's post is the second pair of "Red or Green?"  The luscious red one is "Hearts & Flowers" and the lush green one is "Garden Varieties #8".

If you're interested in purchasing one of today's artworks, visit www.ArtByCarolAdamec.ETSY.com  

Thanks for visiting my blog and have a great day!
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Text and photo ©2013 Carol L. Adamec. All rights reserved.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Red or Green?


In New Mexico, "Red or green?" is a common inquiry heard at most restaurants, when the waitperson is asking you which chile you prefer with your meal. (Hint: Get both—red AND green—on the side.)

With only a few days left before Mother's Day, I'm giving my readers a choice of "Garden Varieties 8" in two New Mexico color versions: "Garden Varieties RED" or "Garden Varieties GREEN (with yummy turquoise in the background)".

These two new versions are hot off the printer, matted 8"x10" in black.

If you're interested in purchasing today's artworks, visit www.ArtByCarolAdamec.ETSY.com (on ETSY you can pay with PayPal or a credit card, and it's safe!) 

Thanks for visiting my blog and have a great day!
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Text and photo ©2013 Carol L. Adamec. All rights reserved.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

10 Days until Mother's Day



Starry Night in the Garden 1, 2013. Handcolored mixed media on ricepaper.
Starry Night in the Garden 1, 2013

Printed on archival rice paper.
Handcolored with Prismacolor pencil and metallic silver.
Comes in 8" x 10" black mat.
Comes with Signed Certificate of Authenticity.
A One-of-a-Kind Mixed Media Artwork.

To purchase, contact the Artist.

Thanks for visiting my blog and enjoy a wonderful day.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

12 Days until Mother's Day....

Hearts and Flowers, 2013. (Hand Colored on ricepaper)
How about some "Hearts and Flowers" for Mom?
SOLD
See other artworks at www.ArtByCarolAdamec.ETSY.com

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Spring Lilies for Mom...

Spring Lilies, 2013. Boogie Board Drawing w/ Photoshop Coloration
Available for purchase in my ETSY shop:

Sunday, April 21, 2013

21 Days Until Mother's Day...

Garden Varieties #7 in Golden Light, 2013.
Garden Varieties #7: In Golden Light, 2013.

Printed on archival rice paper.
Handcolored with Prismacolor pencil, color inks, and metallic gold.
Comes in 8" x 10" black mat.
Comes with Certificate of Authenticity.
A One-of-a-kind mixed media artwork.

To purchase

Thanks for visiting my blog and enjoy a wonderful day.
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Text and photo ©2013 Carol L. Adamec. All rights reserved. 

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Spring ... and Mother's Day


Garden Varieties #6 w/ Gold Drops, 2013. Mixed media on rice paper.
Now that we've made it through Tax Day, we can turn out thoughts to Spring, gardening, flowers, and the next major celebration: Mother's Day, coming up on Sunday, May 12, just about 3 weeks away.

I've been looking through the hand colored version of my Boogie Board drawings and found one to give to my mother for her special day in May.

However, there are several others, like the image posted today, that are quite nice, too. So, for the next few weeks, I thought I would share these with you, Dear Readers, in case you are looking to give to your Mom (or someone else special) something a little different this year. (Today's image is Garden Varieties #6, w/ Gold Drops.)

Printed on archival rice paper, each Boogie Board drawing is embellished with color pencil, color inks, and/or metallic media, creating a truly, one-of-a-kind mixed media artwork. Each one is matted and ready to go into a standard size 8" x 10" frame. The price for each hand colored version varies.

To purchase, go to www.ArtByCarolAdamec.ETSY.com.

Thanks for visiting my blog and enjoy a wonderful day.
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Text and photo ©2013 Carol L. Adamec. All rights reserved.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Florida Waterlilies


Waterlilies, 2013, Original Boogie Board Drawing.
Available for purchase at www.ArtByCarolAdamec.ETSY.com.

It's been awhile since I posted on my blog, due to the fact that my elderly mother took a bad fall in early March and was hospitalized twice within a 12-day period. So I drove to Florida to give my sister some help in caring for our mother for the past month. (Mom's doing fine now. )

I didn't have the spare time to do any art while away. But being in Florida put me in the mood to finish up this Boogie Board drawing which I drew probably a year ago at Lake Lily in Orlando. When I got home to Albuquerque last week and back into the studio, I was primed to finish it.

That happens occasionally: I get all fired up about starting a piece, work on it to a point, and then just leave it. Sometimes it never gets finished and sometimes it does.

Thanks for taking a look. Enjoy your day.
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Text and photo ©2013 Carol L. Adamec. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Bear Canyon...colorized

Bear Canyon Foothills, 2013. Boogie Board Drawing w/Handcoloring.
Just a month ago I posted the Boogie Board drawing I did en plein air while up in the east foothills of Albuquerque.

That was fun to do, but you know how much I like to add a little color. So, here's one of the "colorized" versions, completed with Prismacolor pencils.

Thanks for taking a look. Enjoy your day.
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Text and photo ©2013 Carol L. Adamec. All rights reserved.


Available for purchase on ETSY at www.ArtByCarolAdamec.ETSY.com

Thursday, February 28, 2013

Studio Open House...Friday!

If you're in the Albuquerque vicinity, please come by and say "Hello."

On display in my studio—for just this one evening—are several "Sunset Strip" paintings, daily paintings done in Florida and New Mexico, a selection from the "Sherd Series", and some Boogie Board drawings, too! 

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Winter Greetings from New Mexico!


With an average of 278 days of sunshine a year, it's not often that one wakes up to gray skies in Albuquerque.

So when I opened my eyes Thursday morning to soft diffuse light coming in the bedroom window, I knew there was some type of moisture in the air, and jumped out of bed to take a look.

When I saw the snow on the ground, I grabbed my camera and ran out in my pajamas to take a few quick photographs, knowing that by noon, the sun will most likely have melted our brief winter wonderland.

As an ex-Chicagoan, this is my favorite kind of snow: Lovely to look at, and no shovelling!

I hope you are enjoying your Sunday afternoon.
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Text and photo ©2013 Carol L. Adamec. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Hearts and Flowers

Hearts and Flowers, 2013.

To all my Dear Readers:

Happy Valentine's Day!

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Text and image ©2013 Carol L. Adamec. All rights reserved.



























































Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Adding Color

Winter Lilies, 2013, Boogie Board Drawing w/ handcoloring
I've been "coloring" again with my Prismacolor pencils...this time on the Winter Lilies drawing that was featured last month.

It is available for purchase in my ETSY shop, with FREE SHIPPING right now, at
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ArtByCarolAdamec.

Thanks for taking a look. I hope you are enjoying a pleasant week.
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Text and image ©2013 Carol L. Adamec. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Plein Air Drawing


Bear Canyon, 2013. Boogie Board Drawing en plein air
I went out to plein air paint last Saturday—a beautiful clear sunny day in the 50's. No excuse not to go! I had all my gear ready, so out the door I went for a pleasant drive to the Sandia foothills on the east side of town.

I must admit that I suffer from the typical novice plein air painter's dilemma: I see too many details (which excite me) and try to cram all of the view into a little tiny panel, which is impossible to do in a 2-hour window of changing morning light.

Most plein air instructors encourage students to do a few quick preliminary thumbnail sketches to get down basic shapes, values, and composition. Since I am a slow painter and want to get going ASAP, I never want to take the time to do this. Well, it is a new year and I am trying to change my ways...

So I took along my Boogie Board thinking that, since it works fast, is limited to dark and light, and is about the same size as a painting panel, I would enjoy doing a preliminary sketch. And I did.

In fact, I got so absorbed in drawing the view in Bear Canyon on the Boogie Board that I never did get my paints out! (sigh) So today's post is my plein air drawing.

Thanks for taking a moment to visit my blog. Enjoy your day.
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Text and image ©2013 Carol L. Adamec. All rights reserved.