Happy New Year!

Awakening
8"x16" Original Oil on Board
Click for a Closer Look

Awakening 

Symbolizing a couple of things. 
First, the awakening of my muse after an
all to long creative slumber. 
Second, a new series of paintings as the
Mythical creature, The Phoenix emerged.

Which also symbolizes
awakening, rebirth, a new or fresh start. 

So as we enter 2014
I felt this painting was perfect to wish
you a Happy New Year with. 

Hoping the New Year Awakens something 
inside each of you.

Please visit my Website to view more paintings

Boltzmann's Eye

Boltzmann's Eye
8"x8" Original Oil Painting on 
Gallery Wrap Canvas
Click for a Closer Look

I've found that at times that just putting
out some of my favorite color of paints on my palette
and just randomly painting
is not only quite enjoyable but
also produces surprisingly results that I
personally really like.
This random painting was given the name
"Boltzmann's Eye"
loosely based on Boltzmann's Brain.
The definition of Boltzmann's brain is:
A Boltzmann brain is a hypothesized self-aware entity which arises due to random fluctuations out of a state of chaos. I can definitely identify with
random fluctuation and states of chaos. 
As always, thanks for letting me share my art with you.Cheers!

Midnight Sun

Midnight Sun
8"x16" original oil on archival panel
Click for a Closer Look

Some artist have one muse,
and some have more then one.
I happen to be lucky enough to
have at least 3 muses.
The one within me.
Muse number 2, aka my husband.
And, muse number 3, a good friend who I met 20
years ago while living in TX.
 A year ago when I started painting Rooster's, 
muse #3 put a little bug in my ear
about possibly of painting the
mythical bird, the Phoenix.
Apparently, these things take a while to
marinate with muse #1.
The marinating however, has definitely taken hold,
as there are many more of these to come.
This first one is for you Jason.
Thank you for your insightful input.
I appreciate your support and encouragement.

As always, thank you for letting me share my art with you. Cheers! 

30 Days of Painting

Collage of Sept 2013 Paintings
Click for a Closer Look at each one

As some of you know, 

there was a painting challenge out there

to paint 30 paintings in 30 days of Sept. 

Since the goal was to get you to paint on a daily basis,

due to my slow painting style, 

My goal was 30 days of painting instead. 

I will admit it here and now,

I painted 25 of the 30 days. 

For me, that is a pretty darn successful month.  

I did manage to complete 4 paintings in that time.

It was almost 5!

If I had painted those 5 missed days it would have been. 

For me, the best part about looking at this collage

is that all the paintings came out of 

intuitive painting.

Meaning when I started each one I really

had no clue what I was going to paint.

I just set out my favorite colors and started painting.

Which I consider a FABulous thing.

It means my creative mojo has returned. 

WoooHooo!

Please feel free to click on the picture for a closer

look at each painting.

Thanks for letting me share my art with you.

Cheers! 

dRAgon

dRAgon
8"x16" Original Oil on Archival Panel
Click Here for a Closer Look

When I sat in front of this blank canvas

 I honestly had no idea what I was going to paint,
except for two things. I knew I wanted an "eye" and 

these colors.
Which are completely out of my normal palatte,
but I LOVE these colors and have been

wanted to use them in a painting.

Once I got the Eye painted,
I just let my inner muse take over.
I didn't think,
I just doodled.
Not long into the painting
my second muse, aka my husband said to me,
that reminds me of RA.
My response was, what is RA?
I had no clue about this symbol 
but apparently muse #2 did.
I didn't look up the symbol till after I was 
finished painting.

I definitely see where he was coming from.
It also feels like a dragon o me.
Hence the name dRAgon.

I found the description of RA 
in wikipedia to be quite interesting.  

identified primarily with the midday sun. The meaning of the name is uncertain, but it is thought that if not a word for 'sun' it may be a variant of or linked to words meaning 'creative power' 

Those of you who know me and follow my art,

know that I have an innate connection with the sun

and that I feel it gives me creative power. 

So I see it as only natural that my muse 
would have me paint 
a symbol that has a connection to the sun.

Thanks for letting me share my art with you.

Cheers!

Vortex

Vortex
6"x6" Oil on Canvas
Click Here for a Larger View

Here's another of what I call one of

my little "Doodles"

Again I had absolutely no clue as to what

I was going to paint?

I set out some of my favorite colors

on the palatte, knew that I wanted an eye

and from there I just let my muse direct my

palatte knife to wherever she fancied for it to go.

Apparently she wanted to go in circles.

Maybe she's trying to tell me something???

As always, thanks for letting me share my art with you.

Cheers!

30 Days of Painting Continues

Mandela
6"x6" Oil on Canvas
Click for a Closer Look

For those of you following my
30 days of painting in September may be wondering
how I am doing or where I've been.
To start with, I have been almost just about
been painting daily.
But, shhhhh.....don't tell that I might have missed
one or two days.
However, just because you haven't seen a
posting lately only means my camera
and I have been having a hard time capturing
acceptable photos.

This little piece came about because I felt like
painting a little sunflower and lots of tendrils.
As I painted a Mandela also appeared.
I must say, I do enjoy painting sunflowers.
Always so bright, sunny and cheery.
Enjoy!

30 days of painting, here we go again.

30 paintings in 30 days you say?  

Yes, I am kind of sort of doing another 30 paintings in 30 days.  Or more like I am committing to painting every day for the next 30 days.  

First off, I paint way to slow to do a painting a day. 

Second, I am not really in the mood to do 30 little paintings.  I've been waiting to go bigger and I think my mojo has finally caught up with this desire. 

Third, the point of painting 30 paintings in 30 days is to get you painting every day.  So that is what I'll be doing.  This should in turn mean you'll be receiving an email a bit more frequently this month with some new painting insights.  I will say, if all continues to go well, the painting I am working on right now will be a good one.  

We shall see? :-)

In the meantime. please enjoy one of my most 

favorite paintings. 

Cheers!

The Space Between
16"s16" Original Oil on Gallery Wrap Canvas
Click for a Closer Look

Getting my Mojo back.....slowly

Undertow

Undertow
6"x6" Original Oil on Archival Panel
Click for a Closer Look

Some of you may have noticed that it's been
a while since my last post.
Apparently, summer in Vegas sucks the creative
mojo life right out of me!
One day a few weeks back, I was
talking with my teacher, mentor and
a very dear and wise friend.
In her no nonsense words, she said:
"Karen, I don't care if the only thing that
you can paint is fucking circles,
just get to your painting
table and PAINT!"
So I did what I was told to do (for once)
I put out my favorite colors on my palette.
I started with a beloved swirl.
Stopped thinking and just let myself play with color.
It took me 3 days to paint what you see here.
I am a very slow painter. :-)
But I am happy with the results.

Since that kick in the butt 3 weeks ago
(thank you Jeanne),
I have painted at least a little bit,
almost daily.
This is a very good thing!
As always, thanks for letting me share
my art with you and spending a few moments of your time with me.

It's 5 O'Clock

5 O'Clock
6"x6" Oil on Archival Board
Click for a Larger View or to Purchase

Have been in a bit of a creative slump
for the last month, but another
cocktail glass did call out to me. 
Unlike "Brad's Martini" where I was trying to
figure out the clear glass, clear liquid thing.  5 O'Clock
was definitely a lot more fun to paint.
However, like "Brad's Martini"
I want to reach out and take a sip 
whenever I look at them. 

As always, thanks for letting me share my art with you.
Cheers!

Brad's Martini

Brad's Martini
6"x6" Original Oil on Archival Board
Click for a Closer Look or to Purchase
 
Those of you who have been following me
know that I've been focusing this year on learning to render glass in oil paint.
And for the ones counting this would be lucky #13.

My husband Brad and I enjoy cocktail hour frequently
and he loves martini's with olives
well shaken with one or two ice cubes.
I will say, I make one mean martini.
One evening while I was making his drink I decided to
take some photos at differing angles and light
and have been wanting to paint this glass for a while.
However, it's a tricky one as the glass is clear
as well as the liquid in it.
I finally decided to throw caution and
the little voice in my head to the wind and go for it.
I think I must have succeeded as every time I look
at the painting
I want to reach out and take a drink.
Cheers!

As always, thanks for spending a few moments with me and if
you are new to my blog be sure to go to the right side
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Jelaine's Cup, well sort of.........

Glass Study #12, Jelaine's Cup
6"x6" Oil on Archival Board
Click for a Closer View or Purchase Info

One of my FAVorite contemporary realism artist is
Jelaine Faunce.
I've been following her work for a couple of years
and absolutely LOVE her paintings of glass.
I had the opportunity to meet Jelaine last summer, while
talking with her, I asked if she would do a
tutorial on how she paints her glass paintings.
After a LOT of patience she finally did one.
As you can probably guess, Jelaine's technique and mine are
at 2 ends of the spectrum.
She paints with ultra fine brushes and I paint
with a palette knife.
At first I tried my hardest to use a paint brush, but
to keep my sanity after 2 days I
turned to my beloved palette knife to finish the tutorial.
Definitely not the ultra smooth realism
that Jelaine gets but for the first try not to bad.

Jelaine's Website
Glass Demo Tutorial

Visit My Website

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Emerging ~ Original Oil by Karen Balon

Emerging
8"x16" Original Oil on Archival board
$200
Click for a Closer View

After doing "traditional" type paintings in February
I felt the strong desire and need to get back to my Roots.
The longing to paint something from my own
creative visions.
I've been playing with this piece in my sketchbook
and it kept calling to me,
Paint me, Paint me.
So I did.
I originally thought of it to be not only a sensual piece
but also a very feminine piece.
Then after it was painted I realized there was a
definite combination of Both
male and female qualities in this painting.
However, for me, there is definitely
a female emerging.
I also see myself playing with the theme more
in the future and seeing
where it takes me.

Thanks for letting me share my art with you.
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February's Original Oil Paintings with Palette Knife

GameFace 8"x16" Oil on Archival Board
Sherman Zwicker 12"x12" Oil on Archival Board
Rule the Roost 12"x12" Oil on Archival Board
Click for a Closer Look

Here are February's Paintings.
Just about one a week.
Yes, I know there are 4 weeks in February
but I had a good friend from out of town
visiting the last week of
the month so didn't get a painting done last week.
Scroll down the page for a more in depth look at each
painting individually. 

Website (feel free to visit)
Facebook (come say hello "Like" my page while your there)
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Email. Enter you email in the box to your right.)

Rule the Roost

Rule the Roost
12"x12" Original Oil on Archival Board
Click for a Closer Look

A friend of mine who use to raise chickens said this guy 
would win top prize at the fair.  

Decided after painting the very traditional
 Sherman Zwicker boat
that I needed to paint something loose, fun and fast. 
There are a lot of new Rooster colors in this one for me
but I loved using the blues.  
Not sure when the next Rooster will be painted,
but a fair warning,
I found a great book of chickens in the
bargain isle at Barnes and Noble last week.  
I would venture to guess that I'll be painting more roosters
in the near future.

Thanks for reading and spending a few minutes with 
me and my art. 
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Sherman Zwicker ~ Original Oil Painting

 Ghost from the Past

The Sherman Zwicker
Original Oil Painting on Archival Board
12"x12"
For a Closer Look, Click Here

From out of the Fog

As it the two boats pass

In Boothbay Harbor.  My reference photo

The Sherman Zwicker became a fascination for me the day she
appeared out of the fog quite close to the Balmy Days.
We were on the Balmy Days on our way to
Monhegan Island off the coast of Maine.
It was June of 2009 and I was heading to the
island for a week
 of rest, meditation and getting away from
the "normal" world.
As you can see, it was a gray foggy day,
kind of like pea soup.
When all of the sudden there was this
Ghost from the Past Schooner by the side of our boat.
It was quite an eerie feeling but
fun and exciting at the same time.
Somehow I managed to get 2 pictures of her before she passed.

After my fabulous week on Monhegan,
thankfully the weather improved and no I was not a painter at the time;
I was heading back to Boothbay harbor and as we got
 into the harbor all of the sudden there was
the Sherman Zwicker.
So I got my camera out and took a couple of pictures of her.
I have always longed to paint this painting.
but as most of you know, I am not usually
a traditional painter and I
did not have success painting boats when I took a
workshop this past September.
However, the Sherman Zwicker kept calling to me
and I just had to paint her.
For my first "real" boat I am pretty pleased with her.

What do you think?

By the way, the Sherman Zwicker was built in 1942,
she is considered a tall ship and is the last of her kind.

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I enjoyed sharing my Sherman Zwicker story and spending a few moments with you.

Glass Study #8 ~ Aqua

Study #8, 9, 10 & 11......

Glass Study #8 ~ Aqua
8"x16" Original Oil on Archival Board
Click for a Larger View

As some of you know, I've been painting a few glass studies.
HOWEVER,
This particular one gave me a wee bit of
Frustration!
Technically it IS glass study #8 but it took me 4
attempts to complete.
Hence the 9, 10 & 11

I literally wiped the paint off of this panel 3 different times.
Honestly, I gave serious consideration to chucking the
canvas in the trash.
Sometimes you just come across what feels like a "Cursed" canvas.
I was beginning to think this was one of them?
But I decided that there was no way I was going to let this
glass jar/vase beat me on the canvas!
So determination took over and I gave it one last go.
I am glad I did, as I am pleased with the outcome.

What do you think?
I love comments and followers so don't be shy.
Thanks for spending a few moments of your time with me.

Collage from 30 Days of Painting

Original Oils Paintings from 30 days of painting
Click for a Closer Look

The paintings that were created during the January
challenge of 30 Days of Painting.  
Not only do I LOVE painting daily, which is something I already knew but,
it is also essential to my mental health 
and emotional well being.  
Over time I began to become aware that with each passing day that I don't paint my grumpy and moodiness increase.
When I find myself in a testy mood or feeling antsy and restless
I know it's time to get my butt into the studio and paint!  
So the smart thing for me to do IS paint daily.  
My husband appreciates it when I paint daily as well. LOL

Someone asked me the other day if all my paintings are successful?
The answer to that is absolutely NOT.  
I actually worked on 3 other paintings in January that are not pictured.
One is "finished" but I am not happy with it so will be delegated to the
"well that didn't work pile."
One is in the unfinished object pile and may or may not get worked on again. 
And the third one I just finished a few days ago, so I
consider it to be a February painting. 
The point being is that not every painting has to be a perfect one.  
Just being in the studio painting and doing what one
Loves to do is all that matters.  

Let me know what you think?
Thanks for spending a few moments of your time with me and as
always I Love having my Art Shared with other. 

30 Days of Painting ~ Blaze of Glory

Blaze of Glory
10"x10" Oil on Museum Board
Click for a Closer View

Well, I had good intentions of 30 days of painting, but......
Despite all of my best efforts
I managed to catch my husband's head cold
that had me down for the count last week.
On top of that, I've had, as we say in the world of painting,
3 wipers in a row.
Meaning 3 of my last 4 paintings have been not what
I was hoping for and either have been wiped clean
or now sit in the unfinished pile.
With all of that I decided to go back to an old faithful subject,
The Rooster!
Meet "Blaze of Glory"
Quite the regal Fella of Fire!

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30 Days of Painting ~ Glass Study #6 Blue & Green Glass

Glass Study #6 ~ Blue & Green Glass
8"x8" Oil on Archival Board
Click for a Larger View

Making just a little more progress rendering glass 
in oil paints!
Glass Study #6 I believe is my best one so far.  
Though I have started study #7 so stay tuned.
Some of my astute artist friends, if you look closely 
or go to the larger view 
you may notice a few brush strokes (shhh, don't tell)
I know, another traditional painting AND brush strokes!
Can you believe it???

Sadly, I have fallen off the wagon of 30 days of painting.
However, the reason for this was because I was
in Scottsdale AZ 
going from gallery to gallery viewing LOTS of art.  
So in a way I was painting with my eyes and memories, 
does that count?  I am going for it.  :-)

I am back home now and back to the paints with lots of
inspiration and ideas! 
We shall see what these ideas turn into?

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30 Days of Painting. Glass Study #5 ~ Green Glass with Pink Flowers

Glass Study #5
Green Glass with Pink Flowers
6"x6" Oil on Archival Board
Click Here for a Larger View

If you get my newsletter you know that I have been
Longing to paint glass.
With a LOT of patience and a LOT practice
I am slowly making progress.
Also, this is as about as Traditional as I get.
I think this is only my 2nd traditional painting in over 3 years!
I am actually pretty pleased with it and have
definitely made progress
painting of glass.

Any thoughts?
leave a comment below or email me.

As always, feel free to forward and share with other art lovers. 

30 Days of Painting ~ Painting #2

Sun #2 ~ Untitled
10"x10" Oil on Archival Board
 Click to Go to the Heart of My Art

Painting #2 from 30 days of painting.
Still in the need of the
Sun's Energy
so I did what I do best, paint the sun.
This one took on a completely Different Twist
from the previous sun's but I REALLY like it.
What do you think?
Leave a comment below
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30 days of Painting ~ Day 1

"Untitled"
8"x8" Original Oil painting
To View the Heart of My Art
Click Here 

A fellow artist has put out a challenge to do 

30 paintings in 30 days 

to start off the New Year. 

Originally I was not going to do this challenge as I am 

NOT a paint a painting in a day person.  

However, the point of the challenge is more to get yourself back into the studio

and paint daily.  So I am challenging myself to paint

daily for the next 30 days.  

To get things started off I turned to my friend and favorite subject to paint

The Sun

No matter what mood I am in, or how non-creative I am feeling

I can Always manage to paint the Sun. 

So for Day One, I did manage to do a painting in a day.

Since I wasn't planning on doing the challenge I hadn't 

prepped my website for links and such. 

Please bear with me while I put on the computer geek hat and provide 

you with better links to view these challenge paintings

in larger versions. 

Also,

since I have no title for this painting, if something comes to mind please

either post a comment on Facebook or leave your suggestion in the

Comment Box below.