Carolyn Counnas
               
Carolyn found her artistic inspiration from trekking around the world. Having lived in India, Africa, Japan and Europe, various ethnic influences are evident in her early work, which captures the feeling, energy and emotion of a place rather than a particular subject.

Now that she has settled in Thousand Oaks, California with its Mediterranean climate, she finds enormous inspiration from the natural surroundings. Here the seasonal changes are more subtle than in her native Maryland, but the varied and vivid color palette works its magic

At this stage of her career, color is the primary spark, more so than form or subject matter. You might say that subject matter is an excuse to use color.

Carolyn's current oil paintings feature lots of warm reds. Using a method called color orchestration, she combines many variations of a single color to create rich, luminous effects. Grasses -- their form and ever changing essence -- are also reflected in her current work. When Carolyn is not painting she is driving race cars.
 

©Carolyn Counnas - 10/5/10 Demo Artist