Carole Pivarnik was looking for a way to “put miles” on her brushes and painting knives, and then she realized the opportunity was right in front of her.
“Having noticed the sun shining through this golden-leaved hickory for several mornings, it was high my list of things to paint around here,” she says. “I love our property and feel very grateful to live where I do, so you could say that any which way I swivel my head when I walk out the door, there is likely to be a view capable of stopping me in my tracks — maybe because it is beautiful, dramatic, or because I have an emotional attachment to it for one reason or another. There is always something worth translating into paint.”
This is the view from her driveway, if that wasn’t evident from the parked Jeep in the background. Pivarnik says she chose the extreme vertical format for the canvas in part because she likes working in “unexpected” formats, but also because the subject matter suggested it. “The extreme vertical format appeals to me because it seems to impart energy and upward motion, particularly for tall, thin things — like these trees in my front yard,” she says.
