They look so cute & warm sat in that beautiful tree. xx

Seemed like a perfect spot for those two little turtle doves. Thanks for your comment, jendallas.

lovely

Thanks so much, Dennis.

really magical how your colors and blends create a sense of harmony

Thanks for your lovely comment, calico_jester. I am intrigued with color and texture, so this new medium is very fun.

Fantastically well done !

whoosh, Carol, this is magical! I'll tell you something. This isn't an exact comparison, but the gist applies, ok? Beethoven wrote a gi-normous sonata called "The Hammerklavier". It was one of his last, and he was stone deaf when he wrote it. So---like all the music from those last years (when he was deaf)---it had an inward quality that takes time to penetrate, because it's so deep. But with the Hammerklavier (meaning "hammer keyboard," a common name for the piano of his day), he decided to let it all fly to the wind, and he made this wild, untamed, half-crazed mountain of a work, with a slow movement that is as profound as any ever written, and a final fugue that's---well, a gigantic brilliant maddening capricious tectonic and galvanically shifting masterpiece that we assume made him laugh and scream at the same time. And even fine musicians have to live with it for a while before its riches rush over them and make them fall in love with it.

Now: Your work is not maddening, nor does it have the 'rudeness' that Beethoven liked to dwell in (he had a sinister side). And it doesn't have 'subjects' like that fugue---whose main subject is this chit-chatty meandering snaky thing that totally belies the enormousl ways he takes it apart later on...But the point of my story is wildness. Why does it work in late Beethoven? Because he'd spent a lifetime composing immensely powerful music; so when he went wild in his late works, it had the cosmos to back it up. I know you've said you've had a wild experience with these inks, and haven't been all too sure where they were "taking" you. Your previous works gush with deep energies and surges, and now you have to submit those surges to this new almost teen-like dance troupe. And I think I know how you feel as the troupe takes you all over the dance floor, with you flipping and flopping to catch up, and maybe wondering why, with all your experience and depth, you're slipping and sliding on the floor with a bunch of loud teenagers. But what that troupe will never understand is that they don't know who they're dealing with; and they're not in charge, you are. They're dealing with a formidable, deep, deeply disciplined and deeply passionate painter; and it's not they who are winning the day, it's you. All the inks' energies are channeled into your inimitable artistic ways. The inks have added their own steps to it---ie, the washes, the spread-out bubbles, the pods and gurgling forms, etc---but it's Carol who's choreographed the thing and turned it all into a magical and passionate Carol vision. It's folklore, myth, it has the feel of wonderful children's illustration, it's a "Tree of Life," it undulates out of earth and even has veins of earth in it (marble, stone, etc), and it opens into a big gurgling tree top that's almost stained glass in its luminosity. And the birds are nestled right into the midst of it all, peaceful as ever. That says there's peace in the midst of this huge activity. And the background is like dripped ceramic glazes, melted and luminous and sensual. And the piece is a beautiful folktale vision, and I love it! This is why trees are mythic---you captured the reason right here. This is like a pile of great jewels that sprouted and gave birth. I love it. And you're just starting in this medium...Terrific! One of the most magical paintings of a tree I've ever seen.

Wow, Mark. Your comment blew me away. Thanks so much. I think I'm going to print it out and frame it, and hang it in my studio, to remind me that I am not totally insane for taking on this new medium. You do give me hope and inspiration.The Beethoven reference was interesting. At times, during the process, I feel as if I am conducting this mad symphony of colors and textures. This whole ink thing has been a kind of re-birthing for me, as if learning to paint all over again. And yet all the learned ways of doing things, including digital painting, are guiding me in this new medium. The ink is indeed a wild child, doing its own thing,but I am learning to let it have its way, along with my way. A surrendering on my part, which feels strange and also good. The ink is making me think about art in new ways, forcing the creative path to veer off in different directions, so this is a bit scary but exciting, too. With most images that I create there comes a point when I am working blind and must find my way through it, until I end up with something that works. With alcohol inks that experience is massively intensified. But I feel if I keep at it, that ink will seep into my subconscious, and ooze this way and that, and new ideas and concepts will emerge. Who knows, there might even be a gusher at some point. Painting the doves inside that tree just kind of happened, because the area behind them formed a kind of gnarled heart, and I needed to fill it with something loving and peaceful. I've always been a concept artist, searching for a meaning, trying to say something, and now I seem to have this wild child inside my head just oozing to get free. All I know is the medium is calling to me in strange ways, and the momentum and enthusiasm is building, ideas are starting to flow, and I am free-falling and loving the creative crazy ride. This really is the fun part about being an artist, and I'm so glad to be sharing this with you and other artists who understand the joy and thrill of creating.

Delightful energy to this..

Thanks so much, dragonmuse.

Absolutely gorgeous! Truly outstanding, beautiful work!

Appreciate your lovely comment, kftate.

Outstanding Carol!!

Thanks so much, Shroom.

Amazing art work. God bless.

Thank you, kgb224

I love your very beautiful turtle dove tree that you have created and what a great ink you have used it makes a wonderful effect. Superb work and a delight to open.

So glad you enjoyed this in painting, Nancy, and thanks so much for your lovely comment.

This is simply wonderful!

Thanks so much, Both.

Wonderful !!!!!!