Thursday, June 25, 2015

New on the Easel - Utah Oil Landscape - Work In Progress


Work In Progress
16" x 20" Oil Landscape


This is the beginning stage of a Utah oil landscape.   It is based on a photograph I took while visiting that state.   That is a woman and her dog at the fence which will have hollyhocks and other flowers around them and the fence.    Please check back soon to view more stages of this work in progress.


Monday, June 8, 2015

"Peace In The Valley" - Oil Landscape Painting of Pinnacle Buttes, Wyoming

"An artist's job is to surprise himself.  Use all means possible."  -  Robert Henri



"Peace In The Valley"
16" x 20" oil on archival panel 


This oil landscape painting is of Pinnacle Buttes in the Absaroka mountain range of Wyoming, which is in the Shoshone National Forest.  The mountain range is about 24 miles Northwest of Dubois, Wyoming.    After taking in all the beauty of Jackson Hole, WY, I spent a few days in the charming cowboy town of Dubois, WY.   This scene was before I reached Dubois.   

I considered adding elk or bison to this scene, but since I decided on "Peace in the Valley" as the title of the painting, I thought it more "peaceful" to leave out the wildlife. The Pinnacle Buttes area is known as grizzly bear country, by the way.   

If you are interested in acquiring this painting, please contact me at reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com



Thursday, May 28, 2015

Wyoming Oil Landscape (Work In Progress - Third Stage)



Pinnacle Buttes Wyoming
Work In Progress - Third Stage

This Wyoming oil landscape painting was photographed indoors and the lighting makes it look a bit different in color than the previous post  (scroll down).   Sometimes the lighting outdoors gives a "pasty" look to paint that is not quite dry.    I believe that photographing a painting can be more difficult at times than the actual painting of it.  At any rate, this photo image is more accurate than the previous one in the post directly below this.   Much more detail needs to be added to complete this work.   


Tuesday, May 26, 2015

On The Easel - Wyoming Oil Landscape (Second Stage - Work In Progress)



Pinnacle Buttes Wyoming
2nd Stage - Work in Progress
16" x 20" oil on panel

This oil landscape of Pinnacle Buttes in Wyoming is coming along and this is the second stage of its progress.   I intend to finish this painting this week.   I have also been working on other projects.  The evergreens need more work and, as you can see, so does the foreground.   

To view the reference photograph I took and the painting in its first stage go here


Monday, May 18, 2015

Photographs of Kualoa Ranch - Oahu, Hawaii


Entrance to Kualoa Ranch

The center building has a nice gift shop as well as tasty food at their cafe.   In the not shown foreground is the beach across the road at Kaneohe Bay.



See the ATV's in the middle ground?   I was not adventurous enough to try them, but I have taken their jeep tours (which go more in the jungle) and also their bus tours.   The tour guides keep you informed and entertained as you travel along, and they are generous about stopping to let you take photographs.    Some shots I took from the windows as well.   




From the two photographs above you can see they have horseback riding at the ranch as well.   By the way, you can find out more information about the ranch and their tours at www.kualoa.com .   At more than one tour listed, they have short videos of beautiful scenery on their site. 
You can also have a wedding ceremony in different areas of the ranch.   This is a sixth generation working ranch complete with cattle and it was first established in 1850.


Above is yours truly when I took the Kualoa Ranch's catamaran boat tour.   Behind me is Chinaman's Hat Island, or Mokoli'i;, and behind that is the Koolau Mountain Range.   


Desert rose plant on the property




Above is what is left of the movie set "Mighty Joe Young".    Many movies have been filmed here; like 50 First Dates, Pearl Harbor, Jurassic Park, and Godzilla.  And of course most of the TV show  "Lost" scenes were filmed at Kualoa Ranch.   The ranch has a special "Movie Tour" you can choose if you wish. 

For more photographs and information on Kualoa Ranch, please visit my photography blog .

I am still painting so check back again soon.   


Saturday, May 9, 2015

Took a Break, Took Photos at Foster Botanical Gardens Oahu

"I have not tried to reproduce nature: I have represented it."  Paul Cezanne


Cannonball Tree Flowers
Photography by Carol Reynolds

Since it is May, it is time for the Magnolia Trees on Oahu to bloom.  They are rare introductions on this island, and I only know of two spots where there are magnolia trees.   One is at Foster Botanical Gardens, so I went there this morning to see if I could photograph it.  There were no blooms on the tree there and no buds whatsoever.   I went later to the other tree in a Makiki suburb of Honolulu and that magnolia tree had several buds on it so I will return there again in 4 or 5 days.    

The photograph above was taken at Foster Botanical Gardens this morning, and I have several photos of  the cannonball trees there.  For more information, visit my photography blog  here and once there in the box saying "search this blog" type in cannonball tree.   I am sorry, but I could not get the link to work on the exact post there.   

Below are more photographs showing the cannonball shaped fruit on this tree, which when it falls to the ground it makes a loud cannon-like sound and also gives off a foul odor. 







Foster Botanical Gardens has a nice gazebo, and today when I first arrived there a wedding was being held at the gazebo.   I have several other photos of this gazebo taken previously, but the one below I took today.    I fully intend to paint this gazebo soon.



Below is a shot of an ornamental pineapple plant at the gardens today.


It felt good to get out and take photographs today, but now I need to finish some paintings I have started .   Please stay tuned !

Thank you for visiting today!



Tuesday, April 28, 2015

What's On The Easel - Pinnacle Buttes WY (Oil Landscape Painting - Work In Progress)

"If one really loves nature, one can find beauty everywhere."  -  Vincent van Gogh


Pinnacle Buttes Wyoming
Photograph by Carol Reynolds

Remember this photo from a previous post ?   I am currently working on an oil painting of this Wyoming landscape.    Below is the stage as I finished today.   Much work still needs to be done before this painting is finished.


Pinnacle Buttes Wyoming
Work In Progress
16" x 20" oil on gessobord panel 

The treeline needs to be a bit higher, thereby making the mountains not quite so tall; compare with the photograph above.  This painting shows promise and I am getting excited about it now.  

Thank you for viewing my art.