Artist's Statement: In last week's post I described my experience drawing in charcoal and explained how currently I use charcoal almost exclusively to do "studies" in preparation for a painting in oil. As an example, I posted the charcoal study I did for "Fearsome and Fearless." Circumstances forced me to do the study in just two hours. I worked intensely, even furiously to depict the emotions I was imagining while dealing with the emotions of losing my terrific model. In c

Artist's Statement: This painting combines objects that originated 1500 miles apart. The two lions come from Thailand, a gift from my daughter. The globes come from China, a gift from a very kind law student in Beijing who showed me around her campus while my husband presented a paper. The lions, which are made of stone, have the center location, while the globes have the brighter colors. Lions sometimes inhabit the darkness. Oil on Canvas 16 x 16 in I think you travel to sea

Artist's Statement: This painting depicts the large, ornate antechamber of a house of worship, and, like the painting posted last week, is set in Turkey. Globes of light, manifold in an ascending spiral, draw the eye upward, along with one's thoughts and perhaps also the spirit.​ Oil on Canvas 38.5 x 28 in Travel does what good novelists also do to the life of everyday, placing it like a picture in a frame or a gem in its setting, so that the intrinsic qualities are made mor

Artist's Statement: This series of paintings of the odd, the curious, and the strange, shows items I came across in two curiosity shops in an historic district in Tampa, Florida. A hat with a matching feather atop a hat stand which also displays an intricate necklace and an elaborate mask. The hat and its plume resonate in color with the adjacent velvet bow. In contrast with earlier postings, in this painting the stand performs its usual, mere supporting function. It is the e

Artist's Statement: This series of paintings of the odd, the curious, and the strange, shows items I came across in two curiosity shops in an historic district in Tampa, Florida. An enchanting image –– a beautiful doll: captivating eyes, a long and graceful neck, an elegant hat as an accessory. What is odd or curious here? The doll is not a doll; it is a hat stand. In the real world, the hat would be the centerpiece. Oil on Canvas 10 x 10 in I like you; your eyes are full

Artist's Statement: This series of paintings of the odd, the curious, and the strange, shows items I came across in two curiosity shops in a historic district in Tampa, Florida. At first glance, the main elements in this painting seem beautiful but otherwise ordinary –– a hat, a box, and a stand to display the hat. But the stand comprises and elegant face and graceful neck, the box is curved and beaded, and the hat presents vivid and rich colors in a fanciful shape. Oil on Pa

Artist's Statement: To think of the story of Moses as focused solely on men (e.g. Moses, his brother Aaron) is to miss the remarkable roles played by women and even girls. This painting focuses on Miriam, sister to Moses. After Pharaoh’s decree for the killing of all Jewish boy babies, Miriam’s father (the leader of the Jews) and his wife divorced and opted for sexual abstinence to avoid the horror. Miriam – six years old – admonished her parents, “Your decree is worse than

Artist's Statement: This painting is a portrait of Esther, my daughter’s first and best friend from a tumultuous year at the Smithsonian Institute in Panama. Esther and Rachael remain close, despite the great distance and various vicissitudes of life. As a friend, Esther, holds your hand, makes you laugh, and has your back. Oil on Panel 16 x 20 in My soul is a hidden orchestra; I know not what instruments, what fiddle strings and harps, drums and tamboura I sound and clash

Artist's Statement: The subject of this portrait is a good friend, in whom strength and calm inhabit beauty. Oil on Panel 19 x 23.5 in I will be calm. I will be mistress of myself. Jane Austen Sense and Sensibility She walks in beauty, like the night Of cloudless climes and starry skies; And all that’s best of dark and bright Meet in her aspect and her eyes; George Gordon, Lord Byron She Walks in Beauty Art as an Oasis™ Art as an Oasis is a series of occasional postings from

Artist's Statement: The model for this painting is now a fashion model in Chicago. While still in the Twin Cities, she posed for me for numerous paintings. One day, she arrived at my studio just after posing for a fashion shoot, still wearing beautiful flowers in her hair and an exotic scarf. I instantly took down the canvas I had been working on and set out to create an entirely different vision, which became this painting. Oil on Panel 18 x 22 in I know your soul. Everythi

Artist's Statement: Liza is the daughter of close friends of mine. My husband and I have watched her grow up into an extremely intelligent, strong, determined yet fun-loving young woman. She travels, spends time with family and friends and loves life. She is a great model. I always get a unique, exciting and interesting take on life from her poses. She is a person who looks you in the eye and does not back down, but will end with laughing wholeheartedly and giving you a wink.

Oil on Canvas 50 x 38 in The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in its depths it has its pearls too Vincent van Gogh The Letters of Vincent van Gogh You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore. William Faulkner Art as an Oasis™ Art as an Oasis is a series of occasional postings from the art of Carrie Kleinberger providing a temporary respite from both mundane and monumental cares complimented

New Release! As an interlude, below is one of my most recent works, finished just last week – a pelican I saw on a pre-Covid visit to Tampa, Florida Aquarium. As I was staring at the pelican, behind glass, thinking of its beauty and captivity, I found the pelican staring back at me. Oil on Belgian Linen 30 x 24 in What, wouldst thou have me turn pelican, and feed thee out of my own vitals? William Congreve Love for Love, Act II, Scene 1 He wondered why the pelican was the sym

Artist's Statement: For the most part, my paintings seek to identify and accentuate the beauty in ordinary subjects. In this way, I hope to provide a temporary oasis from both mundane and monumental cares. Even in the best of times “the world is too much with us, late and soon; we lay waste our powers and for everything are out of tune.” Quote adapted from The World Is Too Much With Us (Wordsworth) Oil on Belgian Linen 24 x 30 in The sigh of all the seas breaking in measure

Artist's Statement: Oil on Belgian Linen 24 x 30 in Time is more complex near the sea than in any other place, for in addition to the circling of the sun and the turning of the seasons, the waves beat out the passage of time on the rocks and the tides rise and fall as a great clepsydra [water clock]. John Steinbeck Tortilla Flat A fragrant breeze wandered up from the quiet sea, trailed along the beach, and drifted back to the sea again, wondering where to go next. On a mad im

Oil on Canvas 24 x 36 in A kind heart is a fountain of gladness, making everything in its vicinity freshen into smiles. Washington Irving prolific author of books, essays, stories (including Rip Van Winkle and The Legend of Sleepy Hollow); perhaps the first true American writer There is a Fountain of Youth: It is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of the people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defe

Oil on Canvas 38 x 19.5 in Soul mates. They really call themselves that, which makes sense, because I guess they are . . . They have no harsh edges with each other, no spiny conflicts, they ride through life like conjoined jellyfish - expanding and contracting instinctively, filling each other's spaces liquidly. Making it look easy. Gillian Flynn contemporary author Gone Girl I'd like to be a jellyfish, 'cause jellyfish don't pay rent. Jimmy Buffett contemporary musician,

Oil on Panel 26 x 20 in And ne'er did Grecian chisel trace A nymph, a Naiad, or a Grace Of finer form or lovelier face. Walter Scott Canto I, stanza 18 Have you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time? That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere and that the present only exists for it, not the shadow of the past