Recent Lady Slipper Paintings

Pink Lady Slippers (Cypripedium acaule) are one of my favorite native Appalachian flowers.  I found this group of 4 growing at my grandparents’ house, in the few feet of space between a oak tree and the lake.  These 4 paintings are very small (3″), but it was nice to be able to concentrate of 1 group of plants from several angles over a few days instead of a few weeks.  Still have to decide if I’m going to scale them up.

 

 

 

 

 

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Red Maple Wordless Wednesday

 

 

 

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Wordless Wednesday: Hands-on Science

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I went to the woods….

I thought the sparrow’s note from heaven,
Singing at dawn on the alder bough;
I brought him home, in his nest, at even;
He sings the song, but it cheers not now,
For I did not bring home the river and sky;–
He sang to my ear, — they sang to my eye.
The delicate shells lay on the shore;
The bubbles of the latest wave
Fresh pearls to their enamel gave,
And the bellowing of the savage sea
Greeted their safe escape to me.
I wiped away the weeds and foam,
I fetched my sea-born treasures home;
But the poor, unsightly, noisome things
Had left their beauty on the shore
With the sun and the sand and the wild uproar.

Emerson

From “Each and All”

As you can see in the photo above of my drawing table, I (and all the kids I walk in the woods with) collect things to study and draw later.  Yes, it gives me more time, access to field guides, etc, but the spark of amazement seems to die a slow death the longer I am away from the woods.  I have to be in their environment, with them.  Three more weeks until I can get back to my woods.  Then trilliums, orchids, hepatica and bloodroot will all be up.  I will go to the woods, so that I may live.

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Art is not…

A painting to match your couch. (But commentary on sofa-sized paintings might be art.)

Gallery of Sofa-Sized Art

In an English Garden, Gallery of Sofa-Sized Art, Mike Licht

 

Something to cover that hideous fireplace.

ugly fireplace red stones exercise equipment Phoenix Arizona home house real estate photo

Something to make you look smart and refined.

Georgia O'Keefe

 

Just a pretty picture.

Thomas KinkadeOk, so it’s not even a pretty picture (above).  But parodies of Kincaid (below), well, that’s another story.  (Click on the photo below for lots of other great parodies.)

 

Just a weird picture.

Swamp Thing

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Art is…


Art is about seeing lines, colors, shapes and forms, light and shadow that others don’t notice or aren’t able to distinguish.

Art is about seeing connections and patterns, irony and subtext in our interactions and environment.

Art is about helping others see differently,more clearly and more deeply by highlighting, exaggerating, isolating what we see.

Art is about communicating our ideas, hopes and fears with others.

Art is part of the larger conversation about what we want our (personal and communal) worlds to be.

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Valentine’s Day Cards

It isn’t too late to order handmade Valentine’s Day cards from my ArtFire shop.

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