Carol Lambert Artworks

Goodbye Blogspot

2015-12-06T17:03:00.000-08:00

Hi friends,

This is my final post from blogspot.com.

But I have a new blog!
If you received an email from me in the last 3 days about the launch of my new website design, you are already on the new blog mailing list. If you did not, and you would like to continue receiving my occasional posts, here is how:

This link will take you to my newly designed website and the new version of my blog: Diary of a Stealth Sketcher. Scroll down to the sign up form, enter your email, and you will continue to receive news bulletins, comments, and photos of my new work.

In the coming months I will be telling you more about the artist's life and studio practices, along with all the usual things I have been blogging about since June of 2008.

Thank you all for faithfully following, for your encouragement and comments over the years!
Let's keep in touch!

Very best wishes,
Carol Lambert

Sublime to ridiculous

2015-09-28T17:32:00.000-07:00

Well, perhaps not ridiculous, but oddly attractive and intriguing. I am referring to the Romanesco Broccoli, which is a popular crop here in Alaska. We grow cruciferous very nicely!

These two are from the South Anchorage Farmers' Market. The medium is silverpoint on a kind of sulphite paper called "Plike". It yields a darker line than traditionally prepared silverpoint ground.

Oddities of the Vegetable Family, silverpoint, 9 x 13.5

And here is the sublime, or at least the Rococo, that we find in Alaska during late summer. Fireweed in June is green, straight, and topped with magenta flowers. Fireweed in September is something else entirely.

September Fireweed, watercolor on paper, 20 x 16

For more information, and to find out about purchasing any of these pieces, please contact me through my website, at the following link: http://carollambertarts.com

Goblet, Napkin, and Vine

2015-08-10T17:55:00.003-07:00

Going through my inventory, I find that I never posted this one on the blog! I completed it last September, then life must have gotten busy.

The green goblet had been in the studio for a long time, waiting to take center stage in a painting. The drawing behind it is one of a grape vine I did on location in the south of France a few years ago. Now to pour the wine!

Goblet, Napkin, and Vine

11 x 14
Oil on linen panel

For more information, and to find out about purchasing any of these pieces, please contact me at

info@carollambertarts.com

At the cabin, time and materials abound

2015-08-05T20:55:00.000-07:00

Highbush Cranberry, watercolor,
12 x 16

It's berry season in the South Central Alaskan woods! This Highbush Cranberry is tart but flavorful, and full of bright red juice. I cut these samples a few hundred yards from my studio cabin.

Rosehips, watercolor, 10 x 7

The rose blossoms are gone, now here is the fruit, with leaves already showing signs of approaching autumn. Another specimen from around the cabin.

Amanita, watercolor and ink, 10 x 7

Here is an Amanita mushroom, with some of the forest richness attached. Not edible unless you want to go through a long process of leaching out the toxins, but a bright note in the forest. Another sign of summer waning, there were several just off the footpaths around the cabin.

Robin's Nest, pastel pencil, charcoal, and graphite, 12 x 16

The robin built her nest in the eaves of the studio cabin. Once the chicks were fledged, we took it down, as it was precariously balanced. The egg turned up on a footpath about 10 minutes away, probably part of a different nest. I love nests. This one has an orderly architecture of mud and dried grasses.

Black Cap Chickadee Nest with Eggs, silverpoint on prepared paper, 9 x 12

This specimen is from outside our house in Anchorage. We found it fallen from a tree, eggs all quite cold and some broken. In order to use them as models, I had to blow out their contents, difficult with an egg the size of the small joint of my little finger, but I managed it. The nest and eggs were delicate and light, perfect for a rendering in silverpoint.

For more information, and to find out about purchasing any of these pieces, please contact me at

info@carollambertarts.com

Where There's Smoke . . .

2015-07-11T10:36:00.000-07:00

This is a pen and ink drawing of a couple of objects I found at our cabin site. Sometimes two things seems to want to go together. It's a visual pun, I'm sure you will get it! It is currently on view as part of my solo show at Torchon Bistro in Anchorage.

Where There"s Smoke

7.23" x 10.5"

Pen and Ink on Paper

For more information, contact me at

info@carollambertarts.com

New Etchings

2015-07-10T12:55:00.000-07:00

In 2013 I began making etchings again, and posted some of my first work on this blog. You may recall the little guy with a sword. He grew up into this character. He may appear again in a different form. In the meantime he has become a kind of doorman.

"The Exit" 6" x 8" etching, monoprint

This character started out as a laughing plaster angel. He appeared in a painting some time ago. Since then he has become interested in geometry. He has both a comical and a serious side. He too may appear again.

"Rational" 4" x 6" etching, limited edition of 15

Here we are in Paradise, with intimations of things to come. Were we ever meant to be so peaceful and relaxed, not to say lazy?

"Before the Fall" 5.5" x 5", etching, limited edition in progress.

Now we learn to fall, possibly having been too prideful. Personally, I prefer this version of the Fall of Man over the one where Eve gets all the blame.

"The Fall" 6" x 5", etching, limited edition in progress

All but "The Exit" were printed on my new (used) press. Having a press is an inspiration, there will be more etchings.

You can see all of these right now at my solo show, available through July, at Torchon Bistro, 1921 W Dimond Blvd, Anchorage, AK.

It helps to get out of town!

2015-05-26T18:52:00.002-07:00

I spent two long weekends at my cabin studio and got a lot done. I've been experimenting with different drawing media. The Horsetail ferns are done in silverpoint, the bog blueberry branch is ink and pastel pencil, the birch bark is graphite and white chalk, and the nest is ink and watercolor. Can't wait to get out there again, no distractions!

New York Report 3

2015-04-24T19:48:00.003-07:00

On one weekend in the city I attended a 3 day still life workshop at Grand Central Atelier. Even though I have a lot of experience with still life, the instructor, Katie Whipple, caught my interest. In her mid-20's, she is already an accomplished painter and draftswoman. I like the intimacy and simplicity of her work. In the workshop I learned how organized and meticulous she is in the design and execution of those simple pieces.

When she showed us a selection of fruits and vegetables. I picked the Romanesco cauliflower. I have always wanted to paint one. Now that I have tried, I still want to paint one!

This was a preliminary effort. I hope this summer I can snag a nice one, with lots of pretty leaves, at the South Anchorage farmer's market, and give it the full treatment.

Thanks to Katie, I did a passable sketch. She helped me understand what I was looking at, since all the little fractals hypnotized me to the point of near blindness. With her help, I was able to see the essential forms. Then it was possible. Next one will be better!

New York Report 2

2015-04-24T19:48:00.002-07:00

In addition to studying at the Art Students League in March, I spent time sketching in the Metropolitan Museum. For some time I have been fascinated by the figure of the Virgin in this stunning Annunciation by Memling (1465 - 75). Her face has a subtle expression of someone listening with utmost calm, unusual in an Annunciation.

After several unsuccessful attempts to draw her face, I sat on the bench in front of the painting and analyzed it geometrically.

This is the result (still not quite perfect, but close!)

Most faces would not line up this way, but as I looked at other Madonnas, from the earliest icons to the Renaissance, I kept finding these proportions: long oval, long nose, small mouth, delicate chin. This face carries layers of meaning, century after century. Other depictions by other artist gradually became more naturalistic, but, even in this Picasso etching, the woman in the window with the white bird seems a distant echo of the ancient face.

Finally, another famous face. Here is a drawing of Alexander the Great from a Greek bronze bust in the Metropolitan Museum. As I stood drawing this I heard a lot of stories about Alexander. Parents, pastors, docents, teachers, they all had a version. Some were quite fanciful! I love the Greek bronzes, so much more lively than the most of the Roman marble statuary, many of which are copies of Greek bronze originals.

New York Report

2015-04-24T19:48:00.000-07:00

I spent all of March, 2015, in New York city, where I immersed myself in studies, including figure drawing, figure painting, and still life painting. I also made several visits to the Prints and Drawings library of the Metropolitan Museum. Here is just one of the many great drawings I got to see with nothing between me and it but a few centimeters of air. It's by Tiepolo, 18th c.

The librarians are wonderful, and you can request to view any of the thousands of original works they have in safekeeping. I learned so much by getting up close to Rembrandt etchings and drawings, works by Rubens, Tiepolo, Fragonard, Durer, Van Gogh, and Picasso, among others. I will incorporate my memories of those etchings and drawings in my own work from here on.

The weather was really cold! And I got the flu in my first week, with the result that I did not bring anything I started to completion. Perhaps that was as well, since the point of such a trip is to form new skills, not to make masterpieces. My main concentration was on rendering the figure.

If I had the time and energy the image above would have become a painting. However, the opportunity to work with this wonderful model over a few days was a privilege in itself.

I got going with color on my next effort, below. With the encouragement of my teacher Daniel Thompson, who is known for his daring use of color, I let loose a bit. Sometimes less caution can be helpful, at least in terms of color decisions.

My approach to color in figure painting moved forward with this piece, I want to do more experimenting.

I worked on the piece below in a class taught by another terrific instructor, Michael Grimaldi. Taking his classes has inspired me to make a serious study of anatomy. To that end, I spent a week last August at the Stanford University dissection lab, in a class taught by Michael Grimaldi and Daniel Thompson. It made a great difference in my perception of the human form, and I want to go back for more.

This drawing looks dark because I toned the paper with charcoal before I began the work. This was never going to be a work of art: it is an investigation of the figure, its construction, movement, and relation to light. I would have loved to keep working on it for several more days, but I had to fly home. You can see that I was struggling to find the right forms for that left arm! It comes down to more study, more observation. Beside the figure is a drawing of the skeletal substructure to the pose, and another of the lights and darks on the model and in the background, with a dark-to-light scale drawn along the left border.

The models at the Art Students League are extraordinary. This young woman held this pose for 15 hours a week for 4 weeks! ( I'm sad that I only got to draw her for about one week.)

More about my studies in NYC in my next post.

Art Sale in Anchorage this weekend!

2014-11-21T12:07:00.000-08:00

If you are in the Anchorage area, drop by the Dena'ina convention center this weekend for the Christmas Arts & Crafts Emporium. My artist friend Emily Longbrake has a booth and will be selling some of my etched and watercolor cards, and also some cards by members of Tectonic Press. I have also thrown in some small watercolors and one small oil painting as well. Original art, very low prices!! Hope to see you there!

November 22nd & 23rd, 2014 -

10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Sat.; 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. Sun.

Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center

600 W Seventh Ave. , Anchorage, AK 99501

Basket of Linens

2014-07-01T09:55:00.001-07:00

It all started with a lovely detail from Zubaran's Praying Virgin. I loved how this simple set of objects held their own in the corner of a wonderful painting, and the economy of Zubaran's rendering.

Hard to find such nice baskets! I found one in a yard sale and removed the handle. Then I rummaged in my collection of old linens, and tried, unsuccessfully, to pose the folds with toothpicks. In the end, I arranged the folds without trying to get so close to my inspiration. You may recall this drawing.

I took the opportunity to play with the image as an etching. This 3 x 4 plate is waiting for me to print a little edition of baskets.

All this preparation was leading up to the painting. Here, finally, is the result.

Basket of Linens
Oil on linen panel

12 x 16

For more information, contact me at info@carollambertarts.com

Still having fun with pastels

2014-05-01T14:59:00.000-07:00

I got going with pastels last summer, and since then I have acquired some nice materials. I am indebted to my fellow Alaskan artist and friend Kaye N Goodrich, who kindly gave me an introduction to pastel technique.

I have oil paintings in progress, but this makes a nice change, especially during weeks when time is limited. The preparation time for working with pastels is shorter than for oils. (But the clean-up takes just as long!)

The piece below was inspired by an oil done in a drenching rain at Broad Pass. A virtue of oil paint is that it works fine even when everything is wet. I, on the other hand, got very soggy. Water's Return, 22 x 30, pastel on gessoed watercolor paper.

The second piece comes from colored pencil and oil sketches I made on trips through Broad Pass. The colors there are always vivid. Late Summer Hills, 12 x 15.5, pastel on watercolor paper.

The next item is based on watercolor and ink sketches I made in southern France in 2011. The terrain was hills, olive trees, paths, and vineyards. I loved it and I look forward to working more of my sketches into finished pieces. Windy Path, pastel on watercolor paper, 12 x 15.25.

I am showing you Bed of Nasturtiums, pastel on paper, 11 x 15, for the second time, because I was not happy when I looked back at the photograph I used the first time. This is an improved photo. Though the difference might not be obvious, I feel better about it!

I mentioned I was working in a few new media. This post is all about pastels, and I hope soon to post about my new printmaking projects. I will blog about new oil paintings soon as well. Thanks for your interest!

For more information, contact me at info@carollambertarts.com

Two small, whimsical paintings

2013-12-12T18:11:00.000-08:00

These two small paintings were auditions of a sort. I wanted to see how I liked the objects as models. I think you may see them again. I already have ideas for my Neanderthal friend in a more elegant setting. In the meantime, here are two very affordable original oil paintings.

Blue Egg Cup, oil on linen panel, 6 x 6
SOLD

Old Boyfriend, oil on gessoed panel, 8 x 8

For more information, contact me at info@carollambertarts.com

A little bit more on printmaking

2013-11-18T15:38:00.000-08:00

This week I posted about etching, drypoint, linocut, and woodcut as methods for making durable, quality prints by hand. I also experimented recently with "soft ground" etching, which delighted me by producing a print that looks like a drawing.

"Soft ground" is a softer version of the "hard ground" wax used for etching. When etching with hard ground, one must use a needle to scratch the image into the hard wax. For this technique, one can press a design into the soft ground with a pencil. One transfers the image by drawing on a piece of newsprint placed over the wax-coated metal plate. The wax will stick to the other side of the paper, leaving a duplicate image on the plate, ready to be exposed to the acid.

I lay this little sketch (based on a drawing I made last summer, at the Kenai River) on top of a plate waxed with soft ground. I went over it with a pencil, pressing my marks into the wax.

When I lifted my drawing off the plate, this image, in wax, appeared on the reverse of my paper:

Wherever the wax stuck to the paper, the plate was exposed. Into the acid bath it went. Then I inked it and ran it through the press with a piece of wet paper. Here is the print:

Now I can make as many of these as I want! Neat, isn't it?

I like this image a lot, but I liked the soft brown of the wax so much I might print it again using a sepia colored ink. I could also hand color the final print with watercolor to give it the Alaska Landscape finishing touch. Mostly, I want to experiment more with this wonderful, simple way to make prints.

Next post, back to oil painting. I am doing some small pieces (6 x 6, 8 x 8) which will be very affordable, especially if bought unframed. Stay tuned, shoppers.

A Little Background on Jack Lambert

2013-11-17T20:57:00.000-08:00

I mentioned a few posts ago that my grandfather, Jack Lambert, had attended Art Students League. Some readers found that interesting, so I thought it would be fun to post a few pieces of his work.

These examples are both inscribed to his friend Allen Porter, who met my grandfather in the 1940's, when Allen, as a very young man, worked at the Chicago Sun. My grandfather also worked at the Chicago Sun, as a cartoonist. Later he moved on to the Baltimore Sun, and stayed there until he retired in the 1960's.

Allen became an accomplished designer, and a member of the Chicago Bauhaus community. He found me online and offered me these pieces, which I readily accepted. He has graciously kept in touch and encouraged me in my work.

This image, an original drawing for a cartoon, dates from about 1943, according to Allen. The issue of red-baiting must have been in the news. The pencilled caption on the cartoon is "Let's Ration Red Paint." As you can see, my grandfather packed a lot of energy into an image, just what a cartoonist needs to do. I love the classic, 20th century look of this character, especially the spats!

Allen also sent me this photograph. My grandfather was an innovator, combining photography, sculpture, and cartooning. He used this same technique on two covers for Look Magazine, illustrating the Democratic and Republican convention coverage. On one, painted clay sculptures of donkeys are running across the page, on the other it's elephants. This example evidently was an illustration for the war bond drive. Two of his sons were in Europe, pilots in the Army Air Corps, at the time.

This little guy has spats too.

I am very pleased to have this photo. Many of my grandfather's sculptures were in clay, and used for purposes such as this. Later he used the clay for new pieces, so none of them has survived. He was a funny guy, and a serious artist. When, as I child, I asked him for advice about how I could become an artist he told me just one thing. "Learn to draw."

Some corrections, and more on printmaking

2013-11-16T17:26:00.001-08:00

I wrote several things in the last post that were not accurate. First, regarding Japanese woodblock prints, I should have noted that they were not printed on a press. Those prints were hand-rubbed onto the paper.

Second, I said that for my color linocut print "Eden" I printed the dark outlines first, then the color sections. In fact, the colors went through the press first, then the outlines were printed on top.

Third, I talked about putting the "Falling Sword" plate into a dye bath, when I should have said acid bath! Alert printmakers will have caught my mistakes. Did my time dying wool gave me a wooly brain?

Now a note about another way to make prints from a copper plate: drypoint.

Drypoint does not require an acid bath, because the grooves are made on the plate directly with a sharp point. The drypoint grooves have edges, like a furrow, which catch the ink and hold it, giving a deep rich tone to the darks. The effect is softer than etching. You can see the difference in two images I made of the same object.

I began to make an etching of a basket, but I didn't like the first state, so I set the plate aside and started over on a new plate. The print is very small, 3 x 4 inches, so I had not lost much effort. Here are some states of the etched basket.

First state:

A state from the middle of the process:

The last state:

I then went back to the plate of my first, failed attempt and used it to experiment with drypoint. While this version began as an etching, you will see that it ended up with softer, darker qualities.

Looking at these last two images, I wonder, which do you prefer? Because these prints are from two different, plates, I could do an edition of either, both, or neither of them.

Here, by the way, are the two plates. The etched basket:

The drypoint basket:

I would love to hear from you. Which one you think would be best for an edition?

My New/Old Love, Printmaking

2013-11-16T15:01:00.001-08:00

Along with drawing and painting the figure, while I was in New York I renewed my familiarity with printmaking.

One frequently sees the term "print" used to refer to a reproduction of a work of art,. These can be posters, or the more expensive "giclees" produced digitally from photographs. In this post, I am discussing the older technology of making a print by hand on a printing press.

The "press" of rollers under pressure transfers the image from a metal plate, a block of carved wood, or other hand-prepared, inked surface into damp or very lightweight paper. The product can last for many centuries. You have probably seen such prints by Rembrandt, or woodblock prints by great Japanese artists of the past.

Printmaking is process-rich and lots of fun! It is thrilling to put a plate through the press and then raise the paper up, seeing the image in its new form. Having just joined a printmaking co -op in Anchorage, I will soon be doing more.

I got into printmaking in college, many years ago. I still have some of those pieces, here is one, a woodblock from about 1968.

Later, I took a class at University of Alaska. This etching titled "Family Portrait" from 1987, commemorates my time living on a boat in Kodiak with my young son, husband, and the dog. If it looks a little grim, well, it was!

The process of etching involves coating a metal plate with wax, cutting through the wax with tools to make the image, bathing the plate in acid to bite away grooves where the metal is exposed, putting ink into the grooves (or tiny dots, as the gray areas on this plate had) and running it through the press with paper. Voila!

At that same period I experimented with multicolor linoleum block printing, with this result, titled "Eden". (Forgive the reflections on the glass, this one was photographed in its frame.) The dark outline was carved and printed first, then each separate color was inked onto a piece of paperboard and dropped into place for a second trip through the press.

Here is a sequence of "states", or increasingly developed images, from my recent studies in New York. This is a simple etching.

State 1 of "Falling Sword":

A state midway along the process, after a few trips back to the acid bath and the press:

The last and seventh state. From here I can continue to develop the image, or print an edition of 20 or so, mat them, and sell them to people who want very affordable original art!

Finally, here is the plate. (The dark spot at upper left is just my shadow, its 's hard to take a photo of such a reflective material.) I love working with copper, it's lovely.

Re: the photos in this post, several are slightly distorted as they were taken quickly with a hand held camera. The corners really are square, despite what you see here. I preferred to get this post out quickly rather than set up the good camera and lens, that's a morning's work all by itself.

I hope this will give you some idea of the process and of the value of a genuine "print" made by hand, by a human printer on a real mechanical press.

Report from New York, Part 2

2013-11-13T11:29:00.000-08:00

All my instructors emphasized the importance of values. In this context, value refers to the lightness or darkness of a section of a drawing, painting, or print. Very dark areas are referred to as "low" value, and very light areas as "high" value. To depict anything in a realistic manner, the values must be rendered correctly, which is harder than it sounds. Conceivably, one could work with two, three, or beyond twenty levels of value. We did lots of value studies.

This drawing (18 x 24) was a month-long value study. The model posed for 20 days, 3 hours a day (with breaks), giving me a rare opportunity to develop the drawing. However, I made the mistake of adding the background somewhat late in the process, only to discover that I had to change all the values of the figure, in order for the whole image to make spatial sense. Lesson learned!

The model below was beginning a 4 week pose, but I had to leave at the end of 4 days. I sped up my process, but the drawing (18 x 24) is unfinished. I was struck by the model's dignified bearing, and wanted to do her justice. It would have been very satisfying to show the rich darks of the shadows moving down the figure from the head, through the arm, along the leg, to the feet. Even so, I learned much from this drawing.

My color studies over the last few years, combined with all that practice on values, helped me greatly on this 2 week figure study. Again, a wonderful model.

Our figure painting instructor, Dan Thompson, gave me permission to be as colorful with this piece as possible, which was lots of fun. As noted, it is just a study (20 x 24), and my time ran out before I could finish that extended arm and hand.

Next post, a short tutorial on etching.

Report from New York, Art Students League Part 1

2013-11-12T14:11:00.002-08:00

I spent the month of October in New York, attending classes at the Art Students League. I was following in the footsteps of my grandfather, Jack Lambert. He attended the Art Students League approximately 100 year ago, then went on to be a well known political cartoonist, as well as a portraitist and sculptor. I had fun picturing him working alongside me in the same studios!

My instructors, Michael Grimaldi for figure drawing, Dan Thompson for figure drawing and painting, and Bill Behnken for printmaking, were all outstanding. I also admire and appreciate the models who pose for ASL classes. They maintain the same position during every class period for up to 4 weeks. Their talent and professionalism are key to the student experience.

Our instructors emphasized the importance of understanding, at great depth, the energy and structure of a living body. In the drawing below, if you look very closely, you will see that I made lines going through the figure, noting the angle of hips, ribcage, head, and feet in relation to the entire figure. (The lines are easier to see if you click on the image to enlarge.) I also found anatomical landmarks, such as the top of the pelvis, and the connection point of the thigh and hip bones. Learning to get these angles and structures right saves a lot of trouble later on! This was a 20 minute pose.

Later in the month we worked with much shorter poses, and I found that practice had brought me some progress. Below is a page from my last week at ASL, four 5-minute poses (the arrows indicate light direction.)

I got to work on the same kind of "starting moves" in Dan Thompson's painting class. In the oil sketches below, I tried to capture the model's gesture and energy, while also noting the physical structures most key to the pose.

On this next one you can see Dan Thompson's visual notes on the right side, helping me to see how to keep the whole figure as open as possible as I worked.

This is not glamorous stuff, but it is very important to the skill and craft of being a painter. If anyone reading this went to an art school where these things were not taught, I know you are jealous reading this! Next post, a little more color, I promise.

Memories of Summer

2013-11-11T21:11:00.000-08:00

Here are the last florals of the summer, with the flowers that were most plentiful in my garden, nasturtiums and lobelia (some of my favorites!) The piece below also features a red cup I fell in love with, plus some of my collection of glass bits.

The piece shown below is a pastel on paper. Colorful, isn't it? Pastel just tempts me to go all out with the color, it is such a lush medium. This piece looks great in a mat, the energy is nicely contained, just the thing to brighten a winter day.

Red Cup with Blossoms and Shards
Oil on Linen Panel
9 x 12

Bed of Nasturtiums
Pastel on Paper
11 x 15

For more information, contact me at info@carollambertarts.com

An opportunity

2013-09-29T19:52:00.000-07:00

Hi all,
This is a note to let you know that if you would like to buy a small piece at a reasonable price, this one is going to be available in October at International Gallery of Contemporary Art, as part of their 100x100 show. The show title refers to the fact that they get as many members as they can to enter a small piece priced at $100 (or less.)

This one is selling for $100. It's nicely framed, and would be an attractive, warm presence in a kitchen or dining area

The show opens on October 4, at the usual late afternoon First Friday hours. Otherwise, they are open Tuesday through Sunday noon to 4PM. The address is 427 D Street, Anchorage, AK. I hope you will make a visit and see what is on offer, a purchase will benefit a very unique gallery and all the artists associated with it.

Squash Study
Oil on linen panel
6" x 8"

August Floral SOLD!

2013-09-21T17:56:00.001-07:00

Not 24 hours after posting this painting on the blog, I had inquiries about availability and price. This afternoon I delivered the painting to the new owners, which was very exciting. As you can see by the photo (that's me on the left), they are pleased, too.

In fact, they expressed a hope that this sale, coming so soon after I published the photo, will inspire others to follow through quickly to inquire about a work they admire. I can only agree! Don't hesitate to contact me for more information when you are interested in one of my pieces.

If you regret missing out on this one, there will be more. I was able to complete a different floral to my satisfaction, to be posted soon. It is very different from this one, less formal overall, but it turned out pretty well. Stay tuned.

August Bouquet

2013-09-19T20:40:00.000-07:00

Most of these blossoms were growing in my Alaska garden during the month of August, thus the title. It started as a quickly assembled decoration for the table when I had guests early in August, and eventually became this painting. Those of you who know of my fascination with the artist Raphealle Peale may see some influences here. I like the way he sometimes uses vines as a device to impart a sense of movement to his composition.

August Bouquet

12 x 14

oil on linen panel

SOLD

For more information, contact me at info@carollambertarts.com

Noodling around in the summertime

2013-09-11T16:14:00.000-07:00

This summer I finally went full time with the artwork, but, inevitably, other activities worked their way into my schedule: time at a remote cabin, and a trip to the Kenai river, getting in a winter supply of salmon. And we got a dog, so I became a dog trainer. Life, in other words, intervened. Nevertheless, I noodled around with my sketchbook. Here are some results.

A graphite study of the birch just outside the cabin bedroom:

A quick watercolor of Mt. St. Elias, one of our prettier volcanos. That's the Kenai river in the foreground, where my friends were fishing for salmon while I kept the dog company!

I spent some time in the studio as well. Thinking about a still life I want to tackle, I made this preliminary sketch in charcoal. The second photo gives you an idea of how things are set up in the studio. Such a small space, but all mine.

There are no finished oil paintings in this post because I worked on painting florals for the rest of the summer. Florals are a challenge! Of three paintings started, I am satisfied with only one. It is drying and waiting for varnish and its "official" photograph, coming in a week or so.

Our summer is ending, and I am headed east for a month of classes. I'm excited to see what will come of an intensive period of painting and drawing. More on all that later. I hope you had an enjoyable summer!