Carol Lynne Iversen's Portfolio

My recent trip home gave me a chance to look back at some old paintings from a few years ago. At first I was a little disappointed: these are pretty good--have I not improved at all? But upon closer inspection I can see where my techniques have ameliorated and I could certainly do better versions of these paintings now. In fact, I have done better versions of the hot air balloons and butterflies, which I guess means my subject matter is cyclical. The following five paintings (below) were in my closet at my parents' house, and now they're here to show a more complete progression.

It's been far too long since I last posted new paintings, and unfortunately I only have one new painting (the airplane) to add now. This is because I traveled some for the holidays, started back to school (just one class for now though), and I'm trying to live up to my new year's resolutions (eat out much less often, cooking instead, and getting back into a regular workout routine). These things were all good, but they've cut into my painting time. It's mostly the traveling and school that are interfering: I forgot how stressful it is to be a college student!

I remember my senior year of college, I kept having the same dream where I had enrolled in a class I needed to graduate, then forgotten about it and never attended. It always meant not being able to graduate. I had a very similar dream last night where I thought I had forgotten to go to class on Monday. I don't really have a class on Mondays, but that fact didn't settle in until I woke up.

I must confess that another reason I haven't painted as much lately is that I haven't felt very inspired. Whenever my students don't know what to draw, I tell them to doodle until something comes to them. The idea is that once they put pen to paper, the creative juices will flow and they'll get some inspiration. So, I gave myself the same advice and I've started a set of Flamenco Dancer paintings. I'm actually rather pleased with how they are coming out, but I haven't pushed myself to finish them. Hopefully I will get my act together and finish them within the week.

The second use of my new ruling pen to apply mask.

I recently bought a ruling pen for applying mask in thin, delicate lines. The peacock was the first application. The effect reminds me of stained glass windows, except the lead seams are white.

"Those people look like ants!"
"Those are ants. We're only two feet off the ground."

caption courtesy of Allen.

I haven't posted pictures in a while because we were having issues with our printer/scanner. The good news is, I have kept up painting anyways. Here's all my work from November so far.