"COLORADO GOLD" golden aspens mountains © Carol Nelson Fine Art

A beautiful stand of aspens in the Colorado high country.  Did you know that when you see a group of aspens, it's really all one plant?
They send up new shoots from the underground root system.

This 6x6 original oil on panel will be available tomorrow at auction on Daily Paintworks.  Click here to see the auction.

Click here to buy it now for $100 on my website.

"FALL IN COLORADO II & III" daily painter original landscape © Carol Nelson Fine Art

FALL IN COLORADO II, 10143

FALL IN COLORADO III, 10144

Here's two more versions of the photos I took while we were up in Breckenridge, CO.  These are painted in oil on paper using a brush and a palette knife.  The knife is really great for adding texture and simulating leaves.
For purchase information, please see my website.

"GOLDEN DAYS," 10127, daily painter original landscape © Carol Nelson Fine Art

We are creeping up on my favorite time of year. Who doesn't love autumn with the warm sunshine, crisp air, and the glorious colors?

This painting is from a photo I took on a misty, cloudy day. It almost seems like the yellow aspen foliage is even brighter on cloudy days - maybe it's because there is more contrast with the darker trees.

Once again I started with a red oxide toned panel. I like letting that show here and there.

For purchase information of this 6x6 original oil painting for $100, please click here to go to my website.

"FIRST SNOW" - 10110, daily painter original landscape © Carol Nelson Fine Art

This is always a spectacular sight in the mountains when the autumn colors are still on the aspen trees and the first dusting of snow is on the ground. It means Old Man Winter is fast approaching.

This 12x6 inch original oil is painted on a cradled panel. For purchase information, please click here for my website.

If you're up in Summit County in Colorado this weekend, be sure to visit the 27th annual July Art Festival in Breckenridge, July 2-4. I will have my booth set up with this painting and many others.

"HIGH COUNTRY," 10108, daily painter original © Carol Nelson Fine Art

This lovely scene is typical of what you will find in the Colorado "high country." The aspens turning gold in September are spectacular against the dark green spruce trees.

This painting is approximately 12 x 6 inches. Painted in oil on a cradled wood panel. Framing not necessary. For purchase information, please click here to go to my website.

Special Morning, 9068, Colorado landscape original oil painting

This painting was commissioned as a most unique wedding present for a couple who became engaged on an early morning hot air balloon ride in Colorado. This painting shows their balloon floating over a vast panorama of foothills and distant mountains.
I am showing the progress of the painting almost from the beginning. The canvas was primed with Terra Rosa, which imparts a warm under tone. The mountains get lighter and less detailed as they recede in the distance.
The balloon was the interesting part, because the reference photo I was working from was a panorama shot taken FROM their balloon. I also had a photo of their balloon on the ground so I knew what the colors were. The trick was to superimpose their balloon on the aerial scene and make it look like it was floating over the terrain. Also I had to make the balloon large enough to be recognizable, yet keep it in scale with the magnitude of the view.
I'm very happy with how it turned out, and I hope the bride and groom will treasure this painting of their special morning.
SOLD

Hiking in the Mountains

I am back from our stay in the mountains ( in Colorado). I just have to post this one photo taken on our hike up from Hoosier Pass. See that tiny jeep road in the lower center? We walked on that road - and you can see the view that we thought was so stunning.

Vacation

I'm in Breckenridge, CO, at our condo at 11,000 feet. You flatlanders would be a little short of breath up here. I won't be posting any paintings until next weekend, but that does not mean I'm not painting! I just can't upload from my camera to my husband's laptop - have to wait 'til I get home.
Yesterday it rained all day long so I got THREE small paintings done. They were specifically created for my show up here in Breck over the fourth of July. They have an aspen leaf theme. The aspens, by the way, are so beautiful right now. Their leaves are new and bright green. They flutter and tremble on the slightest breeze.

Well, gotta go take my coffee out on the deck, and drink in the incredible view.

Golden Moment, fall landscape

What an age we live in! The internet and email puts me in contact with people all over the globe looking at my work. Their encouraging comments mean so much to me. I feel so gratified and thankful when they plunk down their hard-earned money to own one of my paintings.

Today I met a collector (Kay from California) in person. Some people you just click with right away. Kay is warm, vivacious and with a great sense of humor. Our lives paralleled each other in so many ways. It's funny when you feel you already know someone you just met.

Kay was here in Colorado visiting her parents. She spent many years living in CO and now misses it so much. Golden Moment is a fall scene of aspens on the road to Cottonwood Pass west of Buena Vista, CO, - a little bit of Colorado for Kay to take home.
SOLD

Blue and Gold, 08308, fall foliage in Colorado

Another fall landscape you say? Yes, I can't get enough of a good thing. Is is any wonder I go through cadmium yellow paint faster than any other color? I use a lot of the complement, dioxazine purple, too.
For purchase information, please see my website:

http://data.fineartstudioonline.com/dataviewer.asp?keyvalue=3851&subkeyvalue=245122&page=WorksDetail

Cold and Crisp, 07808, winter mountain snow scene

I like the limited palette and the linear elements of this painting. I was striving for a "painterly effect" with fluid loose brush strokes, but I may tidy it up a bit after it drys a couple days. OK, I DID tidy it up a bit, also put on a very dilute golden glaze (Liquin and raw sienna) on the white areas because the longer shadows indicated it was later in the afternoon.

SOLD

Autumn Splendor, 07708, fall foliage in mountains

I never tire of painting the Colorado mountains, especially when they are decked out in their fall colors. This scene is southwest of Denver, near Kenosha Pass.

This painting is on a 12x12 gallery wrap canvas. Instead of just painting the sides black, I decided to include samples of the color palette I used in the painting. They're on right and left sides of the painting. I think it's an interesting side note to the painting.

For purchase information, please see my website at:

http://data.fineartstudioonline.com/dataviewer.asp?keyvalue=3851&subkeyvalue=239845&page=WorksDetail

View From Boreas Pass, 06108

This painting shows just a portion of the glorious view from a trail on Boreas Pass, just southeast of Breckenridge, CO. Several trails start at the top of the pass near timberline and go UP. It was like the scene from The Sound of Music.

For purchase information, please see my website:

http://data.fineartstudioonline.com/dataviewer.asp?keyvalue=3851&subkeyvalue=222464&page=WorksDetail

Thank You!

Thanks for all your votes. My painting lead the way by a very comfortable margin until just before the end of the contest. Then two other paintings zoomed into the lead with the exact same total number of votes. Even if I didn't win, it was still good exposure.

We are back from our vacation in the mountains of Colorado. We hiked around Hoosier Pass and Boreas Pass, both at the 11,000 foot level. I took some great photos and, hopefully, they will be the basis of future landscapes.

MOUNT PRINCETON, 02408, 6x6 oil painting of Colorado mountains

I spent the weekend tending my booth at an indoor art show. Sales and traffic were very slow, but all was not lost! I brought my oils and had a wonderful time completing four 6x6 paintings. I think people like to see artists working, and I enjoy talking to them about the painting process.

I've painted this view of Mt. Princeton, near Buena Vista, CO, before. I never tire of Princeton's beauty and grandeur.

SOLD

Aspen View, 24x48 oil painting of Colorado high country

Here are several close up views of this large landscape. The lower picture is the entire 24x48 oil painting.

These aspens are on the road to Cottonwood Pass, west of Buena Vista, CO. In the spring and early summer, the leaves are a vibrant yellow-green. The contrast against the dark conifers is beautiful. Aspen trunks have chlorophyll in them, giving them a greenish hue. In the fall, as the trees prepare for winter, the trunks are more golden.

For purchase information, please see my website http://carolnelsonfineart.com/works/177579

Beaver Business, original oil painting of stream near Breckenridge, CO

This is a scene we came across on the hike to Mohawk Lake, near Breckenridge, CO. The beavers had been busy building a dam. I liked this scene because we were in deeply shaded forest and could see through the trees a sunlit meadow with blue sky reflecting in the stream. For purchase information, please see www.carolnelsonfineart.com.

Long's Peak at Dawn, 15x30 acrylic

Long's Peak is a landmark northwest of Denver in Rocky Mountain National Park. Long's Peak is one of the three big 14ers (14,000 feet elevation) visible from the Denver area, the other two being Mount Evans, and, farther south, Pike's Peak. Every year people with inadequate preparation and experience try to climb this peak, get in trouble (or worse), and have to be rescued by the park service.

This painting features heavy impasto painting on the mountain making it appear to leap off the canvas. It dramatically shows the first rays of sun hitting the peak while the lower areas are in complete shadow.

For purchase information, please see http://www.carolnelsonfineart.com/, click on works, then landscapes.

Back From the Brink - My Brush With Disaster

I visited my friend, and fellow artist, Joannette Sieve, in Buena Vista, Colorado, over the weekend. We drove all over the mountains in search of great photos for future paintings. Joannette had to deliver some paintings to an art show in Aspen on Sunday.
Buena Vista is only 44 miles from Aspen if you go over Independance Pass, but a four hour drive if you go the "safe" way. The pass is usually closed over the winter, but was still open on Sunday. We left in the morning and had no trouble reaching the summit in about an hour. Beautiful sunny day. The other side of the pass, however, was still in shade and there had been about an inch of snow overnight, so it was snowpacked and slippery. Near the top was a traffic light (yes!). They had been working on the road for erosion control and it was only 1 lane wide. There was a tiny guard rail, then about 1000 feet straight down. When we got to the light, it was red, and I felt my antilock brakes shuddering. After some cars came up, the light turned green and it was our turn to go down. I just about pooped in my pants.
It really wasn't very far to go with the one lane, but sure was scarry. It's amazing how everyone drives so carefully when death is only a few feet from the edge. Dropping down into Aspen, we delivered the paintings and had lunch. I hoped that the sun would be shining on the west side of the pass and the snow would be gone by the time we went back. I was very apprehensive about going back that way, but we did, and sure enough, the snow was gone, road dry. WHEW!

Mount Princeton, 12x16 oil, Colorado Mountains

Mount Princeton is in the collegiate range in central Colorado near Buena Vista. Surrounded by 14,000 foot peaks, Buena Vista is very appropriately named. This view of Mt. Princeton is one of my favorites. For purchase information, please see http://www.carolnelsonfineart.com/, click on "works", then "landscapes"