City Night Rain by Karen Tarlton

Night Love

11x14

Oil
sold

City Rainy Romance

16x20

Oil
sold

Brilliant color and texture in these two similar romance night scenes. Contemporary and modern with expressive palette knife work!  Lots of fun!

“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.”
-Thomas Merton

Lake Como Italy Twilight Original oil painting by Karen Tarlton

 Lake Como Italy Twilight

24x36

Oil
SOLD

close up to view texture and detail!

I get a real kick out of painting places that I've traveled to and would love to go back to again! This painting is from a trip to Italy and I loved this little spot on Lake Como, serene, and beautiful!

I just recently discovered Pinterest! If you haven't checked it out yet, I do recommend it. For me it's a great way to organize my thoughts visually and connect with other artists and art lovers!

Original oil painting Magic of Venice Italy Cityscape palette knife fine art by Karen Tarlton

Magic of Venice

18x24

Oil
SOLD

Venice is an artist's dream place! When I visited there I stayed a week, and really wasn't ready to leave when it was time to go. I did take over 300 photos and painted some watercolor sketches for later works but I would love to go back. No time for travel right now, so I dream about it and paint it!

The magic of the light on the canals in the early morning and near twilight hours is enchanting. The architecture amazing. Quite and perfect when you find the right spot.

Hope you enjoy!

Lovely Cow and Rooster Dance original oil paintings by Karen Tarlton

 9x12

Lovely Cow

Oil
SOLD

12x12

Rooster Dance

Oil

SOLD

"Perhaps all artists were, in a sense, housewives: tenders of the earth household."

~Erica Jong

These animal paintings are so much fun.....I hope they bring a smile! I love to paint them in a patchwork sort of avant-garde style of impressionism, pushing my cows to the point of abstract impressionism I suppose. I have a passion for color and texture and if you look around you, you will see beautiful color everywhere and it must be painted!

Karen Tarlton Original oil painting Birch Tree Autumn

24x36

Oil

Autumn Splendor Birch Trees

I love the texture and sculptural quality of these trees and think they make great subjects for my style. My favorite golden yellows were all used in this large painting and as I let it dry imbetween coats of paint, it is extremely thick and has lots of beautiful broken color and texture. A favorite for sure!

Three on the Nest Original oil painting by Karen Tarlton

12x12

Oil

Three on the Nest

Love nature's symbolism and textures. This painting makes a lovely gift for any mother, grandmother or mother to be.  Great textures carved out with my knife and delicate painterly touches here and there!

Paris Romance original oil painting by Karen Tarlton

14x18 

Paris Romance

Oil

This is a favorite Valentine's Day painting of mine!  If I had a choice, I would be in Paris, in the rain, with my husband, sipping a fabulous red wine and watching the world go by.  The city is fabulous but you have to sit back and relax and just soak it in! It's all about romance!

Happy Valentine's Day. Even if you can't be with the one you love on this day...... it's the mindset that counts!  

Here's a great Etsy treasury to get you in the mood:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NzE3NzY3MnwyMTYxODc3MjM3/lovelove-me-do

Paris Flowers in the Rain Original oil painting by Karen Tarlton

Paris Flowers in the Rain

20x24

Oil

SOLD

Lots of different colors and layers of paint are in this lovely cityscape! When we visited Paris a few years ago, I took many photos and made numerous sketches and little pochades. I've painted this city dozens of times because of it's beauty, history and amazing ambiance!

Sailing Through the Pines - Original oil painting by Karen

SOLD

20x24

Sailing Through the Pines

Oil

Painted from my memory and my imagination with lots of texture and layers of rich color! Love this place where I grew up so every once in awhile I love painting it in beautiful colors. Maybe my childhood memories are more vivid than life but I see it always in jewel tones of sunset, emerald green and sapphire blue!

Autumn Landscape painting by Karen Tarlton - Original modern impressionism fine art in oil

Autumn Reverence

18x24

Oil

I am not one to settle on one particular theme or even style as you know.  I love landscapes from my plein air painting days.  Mostly palette knife but a bit of brush work here and there on this one and it has quite a plein air feel. Many layers of color and quite a stunner I think.

I believe an artist should learn many styles and tools of painting. Some feel they should limit themselves to just brushes or the knife in order to maintain a consistency of style. Many of the great masters of past and present disagree, and so do I. I do think it's a good idea for a beginning artist to paint exclusively with a brush for a time (a period of years perhaps) and then exclusively with a knife for a time. In my case, that period of time painting with a knife has turned into aboout 15 years now. Every now and then I'll use both, but I am in love with this versatile instrument....the palette knife!

I enjoy how the knife completes a painting!  Hope you enjoy!

New Abstract Angel and Modern Cow painting by Karen Tarlton

Windswept Angel

11x14

Oil

9x12

Holy Cow

Oil

The cow is now sold!

These are two brand new palette knife paintings that I'm fond of.  Cows and Angels!  She is sort of an angelic cow so I think they go nicely together.  I look to nature always for inspiration but find music and imagination are the key.  

Painting often takes me on a thoughtful journey.  All of life's realities are related.   Real beauty lies in all of life's "happy accidents" and little imperfections. I hope you find my work inspirational and in it find a little joy!

"The big secret in life is that there is no big secret. Whatever your goal, you can get there if you're willing to work." Oprah Winfrey

Original oil painting LONDON RAIN cityscape palette knife fine art by Karen

20x24

London Rain

Oil
SOLD

This original oil painting depicts my favorite memory of London: the dramatic presence of the Parliament building glowing in the evening rain, in my modern impressionistic palette knife style.

Using wonderful mixtures of greys helps generate quite a glow from the deep golden lights. I love the contrast of warm and cool colors!  Winter is here!

Sunflowers Original oil palette knife painting by Karen

12x24

Sunflowers

Oil

I don't know why it's been so long since I've painted these. I tend to paint flowers that are in season and since it's the middle of winter, you can't locally get any right now. Today it was 70 degrees here and I had a beautiful day in Vegas.  Wierd January or should I say Junuary weather, so I painted some summer Sunflowers!  Global warming?????

City Rain palette knife painting original oil abstract by Karen Tarlton

16x20

City Rain

Oil

I believe all small problems can be solved by more paint or painting more.  As long as I have lots of paint, all is well in my world. 

It's definitely a beautiful day here in Vegas so this one is bright and bold!

Color, and more color in this painting! Just one more from my Vegas inspired night rain series.

This ought to be dry in a day or two.