Saturday, March 21, 2015

Spring In The Country (Reworked) - Landscape with Barns and Wildflowers

"Earth laughs in flowers." - Ralph Waldo Emerson


"Spring In The Country"
8" x 10" oil on archival panel
$595

Today I worked some more color and contrast into this oil landscape painting I posted earlier this week; take a peek at the previous post here .    I added more wildflowers as well and I am now satisfied with this country scene.     I should always wait a few days after completing a painting before I post here so I may look at it later with a fresh eye and decide if any changes need to be made.


To purchase this painting contact me at reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Friday, March 20, 2015

Pink Water Lilies - Oil Painting (Work In Progress)

"I must have flowers, always, and always."  - Claude Monet


Pink Water Lilies
Work In Progress 12" x 16"

The red water lily painting I began the other day has now turned into pink water lilies.   I will not leave them this rather "neon" pink look, but will refine the flowers with lighter and darker tones as I continue to paint.   Also, I am not happy with the color of the lily pads.   Much work needs to be done here.  

It seemed fitting to do a post of flowers today, as it is still the first day of Spring here in Hawaii.  Due to the time difference, it is already Saturday on most of the mainland except the West Coast.

As a child, I lived primarily with my grandparents (on my father's side) and my grandmother loved flowers.  She also had a concrete pond with goldfish and water lilies.   My young mind was more interested in the goldfish than the flowers.   Even as a teenager I was not particularly overly interested in flowers, but when my husband and I bought our home in Massachusetts, I went absolutely wild with flowers in the yard.   I planted various bulbs like tulips and crocus that would bloom in the Spring and I started many flowers from seed under lights in the winter to plant outside come sometime in May in Massachusetts.    My grandfather had always had a vegetable garden when I was a child, and all of a sudden with my new home, I discovered an interest in vegetable gardening as well.    

My point is,  I now feel like Monet in the quote above :  I must have flowers surrounding me.  I do not have any water lilies,  but I visit gardens and other areas here in Honolulu and Waikiki to photograph them and just to take in their beauty.   Beauty, Light, and Color inspire me to paint.  

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Spring In The Country - Landscape with Wildflowers and Barns

"Flowers.....are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty out values all the utilities of the world."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson


"Spring In The Country"
8" x 10" oil on archival panel
$595

This oil country landscape is based on an area in Texas I visited several years ago when I lived in that state.    There were more yellow wildflowers, but it seemed too overpowering to include all that yellow in the painting.  To see this new work in its beginning stage, scroll below to the previous post.

To purchase this painting contact reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Monday, March 16, 2015

What's On The Easel - Oil Paintings In Progress (Water Lilies and Barns)

"I just make stuff that transports me to a happier place where I can hum and whistle.  Art can do that."   - Joel Haas


Blue Water Lily and Bee
Photograph by Carol Reynolds


This is one of many photographs I have taken of the water lilies at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki.   I have meant to paint from this reference photo for a long time and today was the day I finally began a rough lay in with oils on gallery wrapped canvas . The very beginning stage is shown below.  Much work needs to be done and, yes, I intend to include the bee in the painting.



Blue Water Lily
9" x 12" oil  Work in Progress

Below is another photograph, this time of red water lilies; although, I admit, they look more like a dark pink.


Red Water Lilies - photograph by Carol Reynolds

This photograph is a reference for the oil painting in progress shown below:


Stage One of oil water lilies
12" x 16" oil on gallery wrap canvas


I wasn't very satisfied with the colors and the arrangement so I changed things up a bit in the very very rough work in progress below.


I intend to make some lily pads a brownish-pink and also maybe more pink in the water.   I wanted bright red water lilies but may change them to a dark pink for more color harmony.  I have really been experimenting with this painting.

Below is a rough beginning stage of barns in a field of wildflowers.  It has a long way to go.


8" x 10" oil work in progress

I felt the need to work small for a while, but once I finish these 3 paintings I intend to paint some larger works.    


Thursday, February 26, 2015

The Clouds Speak (Oil Sunset Seascape by Seascape Artist Carol Reynolds)

"The artist must say it without saying it."  - Duke Ellington


"The Clouds Speak" - Psalm 69:34

6" x 12" oil on gallery wrap canvas 
$595

This small oil sunset seascape, though based on a reference photograph, was created  mostly from my imagination, especially the dramatic clouds.   The reference photo has a dull grey sky.  

I went back to painting a smaller canvas for now.  I have been ill with bronchitis with other side effects and have not felt like painting.   I tire easily and need to rest more, so the going has been slow lately.    I will resume painting larger canvases when I am feeling better.     

To purchase this painting please contact reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com


Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Happy Day at Santa Monica Beach and Pier (Acrylic Seascape by Carol Reynolds)


"Happy Day at Santa Monica Beach and Pier"
16" x 20" acrylic on canvas 

This acrylic beach scene of Santa Monica Beach and Pier was painted about 15 years ago.  I  just thought I would share it with you as I ran across it while doing some changes to my living room and studio this week with the help of my son.    There has been no painting for me all week as I have been very busy with this other work.    Hopefully by Saturday I can begin working in oils again.

When I lived in the area I used to visit Santa Monica frequently, and the other beaches along the famous "Strand".   


Saturday, February 14, 2015

"Brokenness Amid Beauty" (Wyoming Landscape - Wind River) by Landscape Artist Carol Reynolds


"Brokenness Amid Beauty"
8" x 10" oil on museum quality gessobord 
$575

The broken wood in the foreground seems to attract all the attention in this oil landscape of Wind River in Dubois, Wyoming.   Life can be like that for us as well;  we can be all broken when all around us is grandeur and beauty.    This painting depicts twilight time, although I livened up the color a bit.  

To inquire or purchase please contact me at reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Wyoming Oil Landscapes - Next Stages of Works in Progress

"Art and I have an agreement..... I won't ask where we are going and art won't ask, "Why me?"
-Bob Brendle


Pinnacle Buttes Wyoming
Reference photo by Carol Reynolds

Shown below is stage 2 of my oil painting of Pinnacle Buttes in Wyoming.


WIP  Stage 2 oil painting of Pinnacle Buttes
16" x 20" on gessobord

I wish now I had chosen an 18 x 24 canvas or preferably a 15" x 30" size for this work.   The mountains are way too large here and much work needs to be done. 

Below is stages 2 and 3 of the WIP of Wind River #2 oil painting.


Stage 2


Stage 3
Wind River WY
8" x 10" oil on gessobord 

The orange hills need quite a bit of toning down.   I am rather excited about this work.  

"Bring something new, something beautiful and something filled with light into the world."   This art quote by Ross Bleckner could also very well apply in a spiritual sense as well.   When you think about it, art can be rather a type of a spiritual experience. I feel extremely spiritual and/or I am reminded of the Creator especially when I paint clouds.  Just a note,  I have been considering doing a series of sky paintings, or perhaps with some landscape or ocean showing in the work but with the sky predominating.    

I am reminded here of another quotation, this time by Martin Kippenberger: "A good artist has less time  than ideas."    I have so many ideas for new works, but there will never be enough time to complete or begin most of them.  Time is short and I am getting older.   

Thank you for visiting !


Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Wyoming Oil Landscapes (Works In Progress) and WY Reference Photos by Landscape Artist Carol Reynolds


Wind River at Dubois WY
Reference photo by Carol Reynolds

I could not resist painting this scene of the Wind River in Dubois, Wyoming; I particularly like the broken tree log in the foreground.   Below is the beginning stage of the painting.


Work In Progress Wind River #2
8" x 10" oil on gessobord

This is obviously the very first lay-in of color.   I "sketch" on the panel with the brush and general color instead of drawing lines or painting it in grey or sepia.   I have always worked in this manner.
Below is another reference photo I posted previously, but today I began an oil painting of the scene below so I am showing the photo again.


Pinnacle Buttes WY
Reference photo by Carol Reynolds

And below is the beginning stage of the painting from the above photo:


Pinnacle Buttes WY  16" x 20" 
Oil Work In Progress by Carol Reynolds

To be honest, I hesitated to show these two paintings in the very very very beginning stage, but then it occurred to me that you might like to see how they progress as time goes on.   Sometimes, in my anticipation to begin work on them, I forget to take photographs of each stage.   But with these two works I will make an extra effort to remember to record each stage by photos.  

Below are some more of my Wyoming reference photographs you might enjoy.



Grand Tetons Wyoming
Reference Photos by Carol Reynolds 

The photograph directly above just screams out to add buffalo grazing, as many other artists would  do. 




Hope you enjoyed the beautiful scenery.  Looking again at my above reference photographs gets my enthusiasm to a great big high and I want to paint all of the above images at once !

Thank you for viewing my art !



Monday, February 2, 2015

Twilight At Wind River (Wyoming Oil Landscape by Landscape Artist Carol Reynolds)


"Twilight At Wind River"  - John 7:37-39
12" x 16" oil on gessobord
$1575

This oil landscape shows the Wind River in Dubois, Wyoming, as it was over 10 years ago.   This scene is right in the town, behind the motel I was staying in.   Still, it is rather a romantic painting; I toned it down somewhat from when I first began painting it, but my love of color shows here in that I should have toned it down even more, maybe.

Scroll down to view the reference photograph I took and to see the painting in its beginning stage.   Or just click here .

For inquiries or to purchase this landscape painting - reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com


Thursday, January 29, 2015

Work in Progress - Oil Landscape Painting (Dubois WY) by Landscape Artist Carol Reynolds


Reference Photograph by Carol Reynolds
Wind River Bank in Dubois, Wyoming

This reference photograph above was taken on the banks of the Wind River in Dubois, Wyoming, several years ago and below is a photo of  my work in progress oil painting of this scene.


WIP   Wind River Bank - Dubois, WY
12" x 16" oil on panel

The color is a bit exaggerated in the above image, but I often do that at the beginning of a new work.  I will tone it down some as I continue with the painting.   Besides,  I tend to want to exaggerate color somewhat for beauty's sake and my own personal preferences.

I work in stages; this stage will have to dry completely before I begin work on it again.   Which is not a bad thing, as I am considering painting another Wyoming landscape soon and may begin work on the new one while the present painting is in the process of drying.    Below is the reference photo I took over a decade ago, which is true also of the photo of the above scene on Wind River.


Wyoming Reference Photo by Carol Reynolds


Thank you for viewing my art !





Tuesday, January 27, 2015

"Endurance" - Windswept Tree on Beach (Oil Seascape Painting by Hawaii Seascape Artist Carol Reynolds)


"Endurance"  (Matthew 24:13)
6" x 12" oil on gallery wrap canvas
$425

This oil seascape of a windswept tree on the beach in Kapaa, Kauai, has been on my mind to paint for a long time.   I admire trees and their character; each tree is unique and has a different story to tell.   This particular one could really tell some whoppers, judging from its weather formed shape.   

It is painted with exceptional artist oils and, since it is on gallery wrap canvas and the sides are also painted, you need not frame it.    However, I always recommend a nice frame for a more elegant presentation.

Please contact me at reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com to purchase this new work.

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Fishermen At Kailua Bay For Halalu Run - Oil Seascape by Hawaii artist Carol Reynolds


"Fishermen at Kailua Bay - Halalu Run"
8" x 16" oil on canvas
$1275

This oil seascape shows fishermen with their net anticipating a good catch of Halalu, which are juvenile akule, a fish indigenous to Hawaii and often called "Big Eyed" scad.   They can be eaten or used for bait for much larger fish.    I was at the right place at the right time to snap reference photos of the fishermen at Kailua Beach on Oahu.    

The peninsula in the background is known as Mokapu peninsula, as well as King Kamehameha's Turtle.   Legend says that the "Turtle" hides a secret underwater tunnel that King Kamehameha  used to travel to the island of Molokai.  This peninsula is now home to Kaneohe Marine Corps Base.

To purchase this painting, please contact me at reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com

Below is a video of  people fishing for halalu at Waimea Bay, another beach on Oahu.



Thank you for viewing my art.



Friday, January 9, 2015

Kayaks In Paradise (Oil Landscape - Hawaii)


"Kayaks In Paradise"
16" x 20" oil on canvas


This oil landscape of kayaks on the Kawainui Canal in Kailua on the island of Oahu is near Kailua Beach Park.  In fact, the Kawainui Canal empties into the ocean there (in the unseen foreground).   Everyone refers to Hawaii as "Paradise", thus the title of the painting.

For more information on this area and photographs, please visit my photography blog here .

To purchase or inquire about this oil painting, please contact me at reynoldsrenditions@gmail.com