Entering the Holiday Season

Take a New and Fresh look at Pine Cones

And Different Ways to Use Them

Sugar Pine Cone III

Giclee Print 16x12"  $150.

6 Note Cards $25.

Framed pine cone art brings a touch of the holidays into your home.

Mt. Hemlock Horizontal

Giclee Print 12x16" $150.

6 Note Cards $25.

A bundle of pine cone note cards, tied with a festive ribbon, makes an appreciated hostess gift, or a delightful holiday table decoration.

Two Jeffrey Cones

Giclee Print 12 x 16"  $150.

6 Note Cards $25.

Or place a note card on a small easel and add it to your holiday decorations.

Pine Cone II

6 Note Cards $25.

Mt. Hemlock Vertical

Giclee Print 16x12" $150.

6 Note Cards $25.

And remember to have cards on hand for invitations and thank you notes.

Pine Cone I

Giclee Print 12x16" $150

6 Note Cards $25

Carolina Cone

6 Note Cards $25.

You may also order mixed bundles of the pine cone note cards.

Click Here to contact me with questions, conversation or an order.

Orders are subject to sales tax and shipping charges.

I follow several other bogs.  One of them had a post the other day with photographs of interesting ways to use pine cones for the holidays.  I hope you will visit the blog and take a look at the photos as they are beautiful as well as inspirational.  Click  on this link to journey over to the site:  La Dolfina .

 I think you will like it.

Trust the Universe

We are Intuitive

To whatever degree you listen and follow your intuition, you become a creative channel for the higher power of the universe. ~ Shakti Gawain

Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Set your intention, and trust the universe to take care of the details. ~ Mike Fotheringham

Every moment of your life is infinitely creative and the Universe is endlessly bountiful. Just put forth a clear enough request and everything your heart desires must come to you. ~ Shakti GawainT


The four paintings shown here, Hearts Made of Stone, are available for purchase as a group at $675.  They are currently on display at Ryrie's Art and Home in Reno, NV.

http://www.ryriesartandhome.com/

Working with my Galleries

It Was A Great Day to Visit My Galleries

Pomegranate

7x5

Acrylic on Canvas Board

100.

And while you have seen these paintings previously, I just want you to know that all of them

A Pair

12x12

Acrylic on Stretched Canvas

250.

Are now being shown

Three Figs

7x5

Acrylic on Canvas Board

100.

At Village Interiors in Incline Village, NV.

775-831-8868

There are additional paintings to be seen there as well.

The Muse

Nature Is My Muse

If you know my work, you are aware that Nature is my muse. 

Looking West Across Lake Tahoe

Mother Nature

Pachamama

Anything and everything in our outdoor surroundings catches my attention.  

Rock Arch in Joshua Tree National Park


Big or small, powerful or fragile.  The overall picture and the smallest detail.

Lichen on Granite

What is a muse?

 A muse is someone or something that has such an influence on another that he, she, or it becomes the focus and inspiration for that person's creative work. In Greek Mythology they are the goddesses, spirits, or real persons who inspire the creation of literature and the arts. 

White Tank Granite in Joshua Tree National Park

Who is Mother Nature?  Mother Nature (sometimes known as Mother Earth) is a common personification of nature that focuses on the life-giving and nurturing features of nature by embodying it in the form of the mother. Images of women representing mother earth, and mother nature, are timeless. In prehistoric times, goddesses were worshipped for their association with fertility, fecundity and agricultural bounty. 

Harvest

A View From the Farm 

48" x 48"

Acrylic on Canvas with photograph

And who is Pachamama?

Pachamama is a goddess revered by the indigenous people of the Andes.  Pachamama is usually translated as "Mother Earth" but a more literal translation would be "Mother World".   

Barrels and Fenceposts

48" x 48"

Acrylic on Canvas

Every time I step outdoors, I see inspiration that influences my work.  

Take the time to look around you.  You might find you are inspired as well.

Clear, Clean Water

The Clarity of Tahoe

Caught Rock Diptych
122" x 48"
Acrylic on Canvas

If you have never been to or seen Lake Tahoe it would be difficult to imagine the spectacular clarity of the water.  It is so clean you can see to a depth of 70 ft.  And this is the time of the year the lake is at highest clarity,  so imagine how fabulous it is to take my rowing shell out to glide over the mirror smooth, glass like surface, looking down through the transparent blues to the granite boulders below.

This is part of what inspires me to paint Lake Tahoe.

The blues range in color from turquoise to deep cobalt. And while the sky's reflection contributes a bit to the blue appearance, these vivid blues arise from the depths.  The color of Tahoe's water has been studied and the findings are that pure water has a natural light blue color that becomes a deeper blue to the observer as the thickness of the water sample increases.  The blue color is caused by the weak absorption in the red part of the light spectrum visible to the human eye.  The lake water appears blue in color as other colors in the light spectrum are absorbed and blue light is scattered back.  It is an artist's delight.

And so here it is.  Caught Rock Diptych.  Inspired by the magnificent clear, clean water of Lake Tahoe.  It is made up of two canvases, each 60" x 48", and hung with about 2" between the two canvases.  It is  powerful and commanding in size and composition.

Click Here to contact me with any questions regarding this painting.

Alla Prima Paintings

Painting Produce Again

I needed a break from the diptych, and I happened to see plump figs at a Farmers' Market which I could not resist, for painting and for eating.

Three Figs
8"x6"
Acrylic on Canvas Board

Then I was driving past trees loaded with juicy looking, flame red pomegranates.  And a friend was talking about the pomegranate jelly she was making.....

Pomegranate

8" x 6"

Acrylic on Canvas Board

So I was drawn into the studio to create a couple small alla prima paintings.  These are paintings that are done all at once.  Alla prima is a style of painting. It comes from Italian, literally meaning 'at once'.  It is a painting that would be started and finished in one painting session, however the term is also more loosely applied to any painting done in a direct, expressive style, with minimal preparation.

The two paintings pictured here were created alla prima...all at once, in one session, start to finish.  This was a great diversion from the demands of the large canvases of the diptych, but it was just that, a diversion.  Now it is back to the life size boulders.

Diptych

It is Almost Complete

Overall this painting is approximately 10' x 4'.  That is a large  work.  And because of the size there are a few extra challenges, such as the photography of the entire piece,  working the two canvases independently, and then needing to put them together for further work.   My studio does not have a wall that accommodates this height, so I will take it to another area and hang it so I can continue with the detail work.  This means a bit of ladder time, another challenge.  And draping the floor to catch paint drips since this new area is not in my studio space which is prepared for drips, drops, and messes.  Challenges aside, it is rewarding and a great deal of fun to create a large work.

Thanks to all who looked and shopped during my Autumn Celebration.  Your purchases are shipping, so be on the lookout for their arrival.