Posts Tagged ‘horizons’
Fire Season
Wednesday, November 6th, 2019
It’s fire season here in California, and it’s been a month for ruins all around.
The beautiful golden-peach glow of the smoldering sky is hard to capture on a monitor, but the inks give a magnificently clear color in person. The charcoal grey of ink wash swoops in fluid lines to suggest some kind of burnt-out ruins, close or distant, large or small.
Birds circle above and around, giving them a sense of scale — unless it’s the birds themselves that are distant.

Fire Season, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the shadow of a bird, the soft texture of paper and glow of the sky, and the stark jut of burnt ruins wreathed in their own smoky residue. Below, this dramatic scene is contained safely in a frame, just waiting to grace your wall.

Fire Season, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: brush and ink, for sale, horizons, ink wash, ruins
Halloween Trees 3
Wednesday, September 4th, 2019
Halloween is starting to be everywhere, and I added some clinging leaves to this month’s ode to autumn. A soft wash of gold and orange gives a rich background to the skeletal trees and swooping flock of birds.
This warm palette brings to mind pumpkin spice and apple cider, crisp leaves and cawing crows, whispered winds and cheap candy, at least for me. Not to mention all the amazing goth housewares that I can find in stores this time of year and use year round!
What’s your favorite part of Halloween season?

Halloween Trees 3, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the twisty branches bleeding into the fiery sky, a few leaves just hanging on and a single crow flying in the background. Below, the painting is resting in a small frame, waiting for its time.

Halloween Trees 3, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: crow, for sale, halloween trees, horizons, sunset, tree, watercolor
Overcast
Tuesday, September 3rd, 2019
A soft, subtle glow of sunshine just along the horizon warms up the gloom of this overcast sky. The city below seems almost familiar until you look closer and see buildings that no human architect has yet designed. Also, there’s a cat.
A random photo on Warren Ellis’ blog sent me down this visual rabbit hole. The idea of the last vestiges of light glowing up through the oncoming storm was a compelling one that seemed to work better for me as a cityscape than in nature.
Where do you need a little glimpse of impending, refreshing rain?

Overcast, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see a small section of the buildings up close and in detail, including a sneaky bird hanging out in the updrafts. Below, the piece is framed and ready to add some moody urbanity to your space.

Overcast, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Angels, Cthulhu, and Other Myths, Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: city, horizons, nfs, primatek, sold, watercolor
Sunset Haze
Monday, July 8th, 2019
It wouldn’t be me if there wasn’t some kind of horizons painting with a fading sunset, flying birds, and silhouetted trees.
I went for a different sort of tree this time, though I couldn’t tell you what kind, and some sea birds for variety as well. The sun is a red haze just vanishing below the horizon, ruddy against the warm buff color of the paper itself.
A tiny bit of exotic warmth for those days the AC is turned to 11 and one is missing the summers of old.

Sunset Haze, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see some smudgy foliage and tiny birds against the buff-orange sunset sky. Below, the painting is in a frame, like a window into some other, more tropical reality.

Sunset Haze, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: horizons, nfs, orange, red, sold, sunset, tree, watercolor
Murder at Sunset 2
Wednesday, May 8th, 2019
It’s only a little murder — five crows swoop in almost like snapshots of a single bird, arcing down to make their home in the biggest of this grove of trees. The rich orange sunset behind them glows through a stack of fluffy clouds, lighting everything up in rich autumn colors.
Where would you nestle this tiny painting, to bring a bit of brightness into your daily life? It’s about the size of a postcard, perfect to tuck into a bookshelf, sit on busy desk, or decorate a stray bit of wall.

Murder at Sunset 2, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see three of the tiny crows making their way across the bright sky. Below, this tiny frame is holding a lot of detail for such a small artwork.

Murder at Sunset 2, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books
Tags: crow, horizons, murder of crows, nfs, orange, sold, sunset, watercolor
Morning After
Monday, May 6th, 2019
The sky holds the softness of spring, the delicacy of an Easter egg, the gentlest of sunrises. In front of these lovely colors, there are smoking ruins, the aftermath of some mystery calamity. Carrion birds wheel and turn on the thermals, looking for a choice meal among the destruction. The pall of smoke hanging over the burnt-out husks is no deterrent to the scavengers.
There’s a curious juxtaposition with the grey-green ruins backed by the seashell pink, baby-chick yellow, and robin’s egg blue of the sky.

Morning After, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the delicate, tiny brushstrokes that make up each hollow, destroyed building. Below, the carrion birds circle and swoop inside their temporary frame.

Morning After, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Sea Creatures and Other Animals, Series and Books, Zombies, Skulls, and Other Morbid Things
Tags: for sale, horizons, ruins, watercolor
Life Is Not the Same
Tuesday, March 5th, 2019
This painting started with such bright skies, it’s not really a surprise that it took such a surrealist bent all the way to the finish line. The trees in the foreground seem almost hyperreal against the softness of the clouds, with a red hawk gliding between the two states.
Perhaps it’s hunting reality.
The title is from the Spiderverse soundtrack, the line, “Life is not the same with your picture in my frame,” that somehow spoke to the sense that each component of this painting lives in a slightly different universe from the others.

Life Is Not the Same, detail, by Amy Crook
Above, you can see the red hawk, circling among the fuzzy clouds, above the brushstroke trees. Below, the painting is waiting in a temporary frame to fly to its new destination.

Life Is Not the Same, framed art by Amy Crook
Categories: Floating Gallery, Flowers, Trees and Landscapes, Series and Books
Tags: horizons, nfs, sold, tree, watercolor
