Silent Sentinel

"Silent Sentinel" 10x8" oil on gessobord

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"You study, you learn, but you guard the original naivete. It has to be within you, as desire for drink is within the drunkard or love is within the lover."  — Henri Matisse

What more can I say about the beauty of a cat, sitting idle, alongside an empty chair. The cat longing and waiting for just the right moment to jump into the empty lap. The chair sits longing for the cat to nestle in for a morning nap and the inevitable sharpening of claws sure to fray and tear. Two strangers yearning, yet afraid to leap, like two sentinels waiting for the dawn, or a nudge to awaken from the trance. 

To quote from a passage of The Goldfinch by Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, Donna Tartt, "And just as music is the space between notes, just as the stars are beautiful because of the space between them, just as the sun strikes raindrops at a certain angle and throws a prism of color across the sky--so the space where I exist, and want to keep existing, and to be quite frank I hope I die in, is exactly this middle distance: where despair struck pure otherness and created something sublime."
 

Thanks for watching.

nancy

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To see more of my art or to contact me: Online Gallery  • E-mail  •  Website  •  Graphic Design Studio •  Saatchi Gallery •  Fine Art America

Morning Salutations

"Morning Salutations", 10x8", oil on gessobord

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"When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself." — Tecumseh

The birds certainly get it. These tiniest herald's of first light, erupt in wild abandonment to salute the dawn with their joyous gift of song. From slender perches, high among dark branches, they cry out into the quiet stillness of waning night in an all-knowing awareness that light is somehow already present.  

J.R.R. Tolkien said, "You can only come to the morning through the shadows." Today's stoic chair stands guard facing the dawn like a wooden sentinel over a shadowy grave, and cries out in praise for the beginning of a new day!

Happy Wednesday. 
nancy
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To see more of my art or to contact me: Online Gallery  • E-mail  •  Website  •  Graphic Design Studio •  Saatchi Gallery •  Fine Art America

 

Knowledge is recognition of something absent; it is a salutation, not an embrace.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/salutation.html#vLk7xYPzXTtyTQPm.99

The Rocker

"The Rocker" 10x8", oil on gessobord

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"A house that does not have one warm, comfy chair in it is soulless."  — May Sarton

A silhouette of solitude sits in soft sultry light, inviting the viewer to enter into this room and take a seat by the french doors overlooking the pool; perhaps to rest awhile, read a book, or simply sit amid elongated ghostly shadows and rock in early morning's light.

This rocking chair has been in our family for as long as I can remember and beyond. I know all eight of my siblings and I were all rocked and comforted to sleep in it, just as I soothed my own children, and then one-by-one each grandbaby. 

The time-weathered cherry with its now tattered cane seat, groans with each rhythmic motion, lulling little eyes to sleep like some entrancing mantra. Accompanying lullabies were gently sung from the armless frame, such as Rock-a-bye baby, You are my sunshine, even an original Go to sleep my little baby—composed by my grandfather—and passed down from one tender lap to the next from its seat.

  

To me this chair is a priceless heirloom, one that continues to uplift this now grown child in a treasury of memories and tradition. 

I don't think I have ever said this before about one of my paintings, but I really LOVE the way this painting turned out...and the emotion it invokes. There is such a feeling of satisfaction when a painting comes together and I can step back and say YES that's it!

Thanks for letting me introduce our family's rocker.

nancy

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To see more of my art or to contact me: Daily Paintworks Gallery  • E-mail  •  Website  •  Graphic Design Studio •  Saatchi Gallery 

My Side

"My Side" 10x8" Oil on gessobord

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"Every closed eye is not sleeping, and every open eye is not seeing." — Bill Cosby

I just got back from my first trip to Orlando and Disney World with my high school girlfriend. We spent one entire day running all over Epcot, Magic Kingdom and MGM parks. We must have walked 15 miles. So here's my side of the story, there I was having this wonderful relaxing vacation only to be totally traumatized. First I was baited with this euphoric and exhilarating ride called "Soarin", however that was just a setup. Then my (so-called) friend dragged me kicking and screaming onto several terrifying rides, like something called "Tower of Terror" where you are taken up 13 floors on a creepy old elevator to the top of this haunted hotel to then—suddenly and without warning—drop 13 floors over and over again. I kept my eyes closed and somehow survived the experience, but came home from this 3-day trip needing lots of nerve calming rest, thus the subject of today's painting. ; )

I had taken the photo for this painting of my bedside a while ago; the path of light really caught my attention. I wanted to continue working in Colley Whisson fashion, using the new techniques and materials from my recent Austin workshop. I am really happy with this new painting which just seems to me to have more of an emotional impact...just downright poetic...don't you think?

Okay, with the exception of that one ride, I really did have a wonderful time at Disney and was totally pampered staying in such a beautiful resort.

Thanks for stopping in today unannounced. If I'd have know you were coming I might have even made my bed.

nancy
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To see more of my art or to contact me: 
Online Gallery  • E-mail  • Graphic Design Studio