Did you know that Carol Thompson's oil paintings of the ocean are classic traditional realism and luminism?
She begins by using filbert bristle brushes loaded with a grey mixture of oil paint on a linen canvas.
Depending on the composition she has chosen, the shape of the canvas varies from square, to long and narrow. From her notes and sketches, or more often from her memory, she creates a general composition that includes the dramatic elements of an active sea, as observed from the shore. Her primary subject is the Pacific Northwest coast of Washington and Oregon, since this is where she lives, and is most familiar with the many moods of the weather there. Sometimes the Florida, California, or Hawaiian coastline will appear in a painting.
She then articulates the colors of the sea as she sees it. The morning sunlight is clear and the sea is soft green. The foam is nearly pure white. Any shadows are long and deep purpley blue. The morning clouds are a billowy creamy white. Afternoon light is stark and the sea is affected by shadows of rising and rolling waves that cast dark shadows on the suface of the swells. On overcast or stormy days, the colors are subdued and very often monotone. The translucency (if any) is dull green at best. The beauty of those moments is in the details. The foam patterns sculpt the shape of the breakers while bands of rolling clouds give definition to the sky.
Her most frequent composition is a "Z" shape. This leads the eye in at one corner of the painting, carries it across the canvas and out at the opposite corner. However, there is always so much going on within the corners that the viewer wants to go back in and look again, and again. A "C" composition is another choice for Carol. This often incorporates a headland or monolith at one edge of the scene. The ocean waves are directed toward this land or object. This is an opportunity to create huge, dramatic splashes that become the focus of the painting. Here, then, she paints forceful water that cascades down the face of the rocks ending in turbulent froth that rolls across the scene.
Carol is quite skilled at painting the illusion of distance. Standing before one of her paintings of a diminishing shoreline of rugged cliffs, you can "feel" the air refreshing your skin; "hear" the roar of the surf; and "taste" the unique salt that permeates the scene as far as the eye can see.
She is truly a master at capturing all that is the Pacific Northwest.
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