Fine work!

Beautiful.

Wow, such beautiful intricate work!

Exceptional !

lovely

this is so lovely... bravo!

I only recently saw your comments on my recent comments here, and I thank you...they are wonderful to read, always, and they enrich the experience for me always, and open new doors. I really appreciate the time you put into them as well as the depth of feeling you give to them. It's a great form of communication about art...I can only do one comment today, but I'll be back for more in the near future. But your last 3 rose uploads---through the ballet slippers (this is the 22d of Aug)---have been wonderful, because you've carried, even further, your exploration of roses as integrated elements in the world, and---in the piece "universe within the rose" (it's close to that title)---roses as progenitors of the cosmos itself; or at least carriers of the cosmos...

In this one, I love how you turn a teapot into a furrowed, convolution-evolution-filled, living thing. It's swirled and stirred as if by some great hand from above, whose touch turns ceramic into liquid space; and when the hand was done, the pot became part pot and part roses. There appears to be a rose growing out of it (the right lower portion of the pot): It could be painted on, but it's too 3 dimensional to be painted on, I think: It seems to be emerging out of the pot instead, in a bas relief, as if, were we to stand there long enough, we'd see it become a full fledged 3 dimensional rose. In other words, we see roses emerging out of 2 dimensional painting into full, living 3 dimensional beings. It looks like you have one of those on the other side too; and, right beneath that rose, there's another rose flat on the table, as if it were ready to bloom out of the table as well. Mixing rose painting with real roses, and the steps in between...

And---returning to the rose on the bottom right portion of the teapot---the detail and hues on that rose are beautiful---which I say because it's positioned to be almost an 'incidental' flower, stuck on the bottom of the pot; yet it has real contour, presence and beauty. And I love its color, one of many hues you get which feel unique (not just the usual pinks or purples or blues, etc). And the cup has a rose on the bottom too---again, it seems to be part of the decoration of the cup, but then it's emerging 3-dimensionally in front of our eyes, and I love how you do that in this piece. Roses emerging out of the world of decoration and into actual rose-dom.

The real rose under the spout is exquisite too: It has real detail in its folds, and a gentle light. And the spout, btw, is painted with visceral strokes, and a lot of flesh-pink tones, and darker tones as well: a painterly view of the way light splashes across a spout. I love that kind of painting, and it's typical of any number of sections in your work.

Your background, as well, moves between 2 dimensional painting---in this case, wall painting---and 3 dimensional roses. The detail in these wall roses is exquisite. And, in the upper portions of the image---where the roses are more traditionally 2 dimensional, more traditionally 'wallpaper'---you've created the kind of design that emerged so heavily in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, where floral and other natural motifs were repeated like music across a flat space. (William Morris, the Art Nouveau artists, even Art Deco artists---far more geometric and modern---all of whom developed exquisite flat-surface decoration that elevated decoration to a peak.) Your 'wallpaper' is beautifully done, and evokes great floral wall art and even book art (ie, in the end pages, the pages inside book covers), and other styles as well.

Then, much of the tone of this image is pale delicate pink mixed with delicate pale greens, etc. And "pale," here, isn't about 'lacking' anything, but rather about delicacy and subtlety. Positive pale, not negative pale. Given your powerful way with deep and vibrant tones, you're equally adept at subtle and recessive ones. This image has lots of those. It's a challenge to make subtle tones jump, dance and shout, etc; but you do that many times in your art: Ie, for all the gentleness in the upper portion of your image, you got quite a bit of drama as well, showing that even subtler and less saturated tones can have great contrast and drama if the artist understands how to make it happen. Drama with a gentle touch. And of course we get to see flat, 2 dimensional rose design emerge into 3 dimensional real roses...

All that leads down, of course, to the pot and the cup, and the roses there---which are bold and visceral. So top delicacy is balanced by bottom boldness, and vice versa.

Tea and Roses is a fitting title, but it only hints at the transformation you give, here; and once again you've packed a whole universe into a single image. And, in harmony with your theme of roses and their surroundings melding, joining, communing, etc, the pot is positively taken over by the energies of roses; and the image, subsequently, is a symphony of roses, made of subtle-to-dramatic, with everything from sedate to bold and triumphal. And if one looks at this in a glance, they see a very sensual tapestry. It's awash in sensuality. Even the roses in the lower right side are sensual, however pale: The life-essence here doesn't wane anywhere in the piece. Quite rich, in fact it feels infinite in a quiet way, and yet quite gentle. Another masterful piece from you, Carol. I'll come back again (these comments take time, lol...and I don't always have the energy to do lots in a sitting), but I Iove this theme you're on right now, of roses communing with their surroundings: a dialogue, and a deep inner-mingling. Splendid series of works.

Mark, I know how much time and thought goes into your amazing and insightful comments, and I am so very thankful for each and every one. I just love the way you see, and I mean ‘really see’ my art. And yes, in my rose series I have been working to explore roses as an integral part of the world. I really do see a universe in them, as I do with so many flowers. And this inspires me to try to create that universe in different ways. In this work, I wanted the teapot to also be a rose, a big plump bud, brewing with beauty and delicious scented tea. And I went for a classical feel, as if enjoying a cup of tea in a bygone garden. I wanted the background to resemble antique wallpaper, and yet alive, with some of the roses seeming to bloom right out of the design. You saw all this, and more. Which, of course, makes my artist’s soul smile. You always get what I am going for, and then see far beyond what I have created. Amazing and always thrilling for me. I adore pastel colors as much as I love bright and bold. Color excites me. And the pastel shades just speak to me of tranquility and softness and gentle love. I like exploring all their subtle shades and painting with them just makes me feel peaceful and good. It is true that we breathe in color and it effects us internally, emotionally. When I create a painting like this, and share it with you and others, and read your response, it makes me feel as if we have sat together in this lovely garden of pastel roses and shared a sweet cup of tea and some very loving, inspiring conversation … that we have shared an experience that I cherish.

so elegant