Raven Dreams of a Brighter Tomorrow

 

I know that I improvise using this bird on a rail a lot. I relate to this bird looking out into the horizon. I want to know what he or she thinks about or dreams of flying off to do. This is multi-layer digital collage combining several images in unusual ways.

Prints and prints on various surfaces are available on FineArt America.

Blue and Orange Flower Abstraction

 

I probably did 20 versions of this idea tonight, some so surreal you wouldn't recognize them as starting with the same floral subject matter. I might work up a few of those as final pieces as well. It's multiple layer photography with multiple images and patterns combined, some images used multiple times with different layer effects in Photoshop. It got crazy in my laptop art studio tonight!

Prints and prints on a variety of surfaces are available on Fine Art America.

Orchid Dreams

 

I wanted something bright and cheerful tonight, a little tropical in feeling. This is a digital art piece composed with multiple photographs I took of an orchid plant from different angles. Prints, framed prints, and prints on canvas, metal, acrylic, etc. are available.

Iris on the Trail, Oil Pastel Painting

Iris on the Trail, © 2021 by Sheryl Karas

I have thought this many times before but I suspect this might be the last in my oil pastel plant-life series. Or at least for awhile. This piece has multiple levels of meaning. On the most mundane level it depicts an experience I had walking through a dark wooded trail after a rain. I was aware of tiny flowers and small leaves that had opened up because of the rain. And then I turned a corner and in a shaft of light was the most amazing and large wild Iris I had ever seen, growing right on the very edge of the trail. But I'm also a flower essence practitioner and I know that the Iris is used by people, especially artists, who want to inspire their creativity and artistic expression. Ever since I did this piece I've been feeling pulled to do something else next, perhaps a brand new series in a different medium. (I actually got started on that this week—I'll post those next.)

The original of this piece is 12" x 12" on cradled panel with sides painted black. I don't plan to mount this one right now. I think it might look best with a lighter treatment. Contact me if you're interested. Prints and prints on canvas, metal, acrylic or wood are available on Fine Art America.

Spring Meadow on the Trail

 

I draw and paint this same spot on a trail I walk down near my house in every season. It's so full of life and abundance in just a tiny space. Good reminder of life's ability to regenerate itself over and over again. Biodiversity to the max!

Contact me about the original (currently unframed, oil pastel and acrylic on cradled panel). Prints, print on canvas, etc. are available on Fine Art America.

Chamomile On The Path, New Oil Pastel Painting

"Chamomile on the Path", © 2018 Sheryl Karas

Funny how things go. I did this painting months ago but set it aside because I wasn't comfortable with the surreal way it turned out. I won't say that was entirely unintentional—I was playing around with combining multiple images and angles of the same piece of landscape. But I was focussed on the tiny wild Chamomile flowers on the path across from my apartment and Chamomile is for relaxing, relieving tension and sleep. This looked way too intensely colored for a feeling like that. But my partner Paul felt differently! He said that a good night's sleep would send him off to dreamland and that's what this piece symbolized to him. Well, sure, why not? So it's back in my "good graces" now and available. The original piece is 12" x 12" oil pastel and acrylic gel medium on cradled panel mounted to 16" x 16" on another cradled panel painted black. Contact me for more information. Prints and other printed items made from this piece are available in on Fine Art America.

Cymbidium Carnival

Cymbidium Carnival © 2017 Sheryl Karas

My latest. I started a much more mundane painting of Cymbidium Orchids but found myself frustrated and bored. So I took myself back to the computer to try my hand at composing another piece and one thing led to another. This was made by combining multiple photographs and digital painting techniques to evoke the movement of tropical breezes through the flowers and foliage. Framed and unframed prints and prints on canvas, etc. are available on Fine Art America.

When a Vase of Flowers is a Willful Act of Resistance

"A Willful Act of Resistance", © 2017 Sheryl Karas

SOLD !! When times are hard or scary, painting a vase of flowers is "A Willful Act of Resistance." So that's what this is called. Acrylic on stretched canvas, 24" x 36" with 2" painted edges. Prints and prints on canvas are available on Fine Art America.