Down the Hillside Course

8x10 mixed media on paper. Today is the opening day of the Oak Tree Meeting at Santa Anita. It's one of America's most beautiful racetracks. The hillside turf course is just that - a course that starts on a hill and then crosses the main track and on to the main turf course. Today was a GREAT day for the president of our California Thoroughbred Farm Managers Association. His grey gelding, California Flag, won the featured race, The Morvich Handicap Stakes, on the hillside turf course for the SECOND year in a row! YEAH!!

Aqua in the City Two

10x14 watercolor with pastel. This is a companion to a piece that I posted recently. I like the aqua with the brown. I plan to do more of these. The colors are really bright and cheery. I think these would look good in a kitchen or nook.

Yellow Green Bluff

5x7 watercolor with pastel and charcoal on paper. I love the chartreuse in this piece. I have always like chartreuse. It catches you eye I think. I personally like to find colors beyond the primaries - it makes things more interesting.

City Wires Four

10x14 mixed media on paper. Lots of line and color in this piece. I did this in a sketchy style. I try to do these really quickly, so I don't over do them and they keep their looseness and sense of spontaneity.

Aqua in the City One

10x14 mixed media on paper. I had fun doing this piece. It became a puzzle with the lines and squares. I try very hard to make these paintings lively as well as balanced. Abstracts, in my opinion, need to retain the same principles as other art which includes good composition, unity, balance and contrast. I also try to put a center of interest in all my work. This is easy to find in this one. Where do you think it is?

Vegas Vista Two

5x7 mixed media on paper. I call these "scribbly landscapes" Hope you like them. They have lots of layers of color and lines, so they're a little more complicated than they look. I can't overdo them though, or they loose their spontaneity.

Gold Futura One

10x14 watercolor with charcoal and water soluble crayon. There is no pastel in this piece. I am trying to use different media and see what happens. I am really having fun with charcoal. I always enjoy using lots of line, so it's perfect for that. Tell me what you think.

Purple BLocks Three

This is an 8x10 watercolor with pastel on paper. It is now at the Aaron Gallery in Washington D.C. Contact Annette at (202)234-3311 if you're interested.

Blue Blocks Two

8x11 watercolor with pastel. I did this is in a smudgy style without the stronger line that I have been doing lately. Pastels allow both techniques. Sometimes I lay the pastel on top of the paper and other times I rub it in and blend it into the watercolor. I also wet the pastel and that gives it almost a paint like quality.

Summer Grasses Four

17x23 mixed media on paper. I love doing these "grass" paintings. They are very relaxing. I hope they are also relaxing to view. Hope you like it!

Olive Greenscape Three by Carol Engles

This is 5x7 watercolor with pastel on paper. I think of this as a abstract suburban landscape! A hint of home, lawn and landscape. There are currently two others in this series. They would look good together I think. They really are bright and carefree in style! Hope you like them!

Oregon State Fair

10x14 mixed media on paper. This piece was done to honor the Oregon State Fair. It was done in a childlike or primitive style. I lived in Oregon most of my life and I loved going to this fair! This fair is 150 years old I believe. It still has an old fashioned feel. Beautiful graceful trees, classic wooden exhibit halls, lots of food, animals and crafts. It is going on now through Labor Day in Salem!