In the Shade of Nye

"In the Shade of Nye"6x6" oil on Gessobord
NOT AVAILABLE FOR SALE

"To sit in the shade on a fine day and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment."   —Jane Austen

I was enthralled by the fresh, lush green vegetation hugging tightly to this tiny abandoned log cabin on my sister's property in Montana. The sun, that morning, still low in the east, was painting luminous shadows on the blanket of still-wet grass, dappled in a myriad of sparkling light. The structure sits along the edge of a large park-like cluster of trees running along the banks of the Stillwater River. 

I painted this mostly en plein air one morning, and then finished up in my studio once I returned home. Oh course this was gifted to my sister, so not for sale, but just wanted to share another memorable moment of my vacation. 

Gosh, I'd love to live in this little-one-room castle surrounded by mountains and pastures. I can't think of anything grander...especially if they install a toilet!

Thank you for stopping by today.
nancy 

To see more of my art click Online Gallery • Email  • Website  •  Graphic Design Studio • Fine Art America

A Portrait of La La's Garden

"A Portrait of La La's Garden"
16x12"
oil on 1.5" gallery wrap canvas

"Beauty surrounds us, but usually we need to be walking in a garden to know it. —Rumi

This latest painting is of a very special garden where I visited last summer. I was commissioned by my friend, Angela, to paint a spot in her mother, La La's, garden hugged in on all sides by adobe walls nestled into high desert hills overlooking the city of Santa Fe, New Mexico. It's here where homes magically and seamlessly blend into the rough dry, rocky backdrop like chameleons. 

Finding a scene to paint inside this hidden garden was hardly a problem as I meandering through lush gardens filled ever so delicately with a vast assortment of tall slender grasses, plants, and flowers, tucked in among shimmering aspens, pools and fountains of trickling water and rocks. Every element of the design was woven together into a patchwork of hue and texture that sparkled with light playing into shadow. 

I spent a good deal of time taking photos at different locations and times of day for reference, but finally narrowed my selection to this enchanted, mid-morning scene. The air was dry and cool with the promise of a bright sunny day as billowy white clouds churned up on the horizon. What finally won me over to this image was the beautiful path covered in soft dappled light that lured my eye through cool deep viridian shadows and then splashed onto the brilliant lime green walkway leading to the birdbath perched in full light of day. 

It was obvious La La's garden had been nurtured and developed over many years of hard work and tender loving care. I understood immediately why Angela loved this meticulously manicured paradise. This, the garden she photographed so frequently, had now become her garden. As Alice Walker said so perfectly, "In search of my mother's garden, I found my own."

Happy Mother's Day!

—nancy 

To see more of my art click here, or one one of these additional links: Online Gallery • Email  • Website  •  Graphic Design Studio • Saatchi Gallery • Fine Art America

To Sit and Stare

"To Sit and Stare", 24x18" oil on gallery wrap canvas, framed

      What is life if, full of care 

      We have no time to stand and stare? 

No time to stand beneath the boughs 
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

       — W. H Davies, Welsh poet and writer from his poem,"Leisure"

I love these lines. No matter if you stand and stare, or sit in a chair and stare, whatever your method, just take time to stare. After all, what is life if we miss the magic? 

I love to stare from my favorite blue chair in spring under pin oaks and crape myrtles on dappled carpet of cool Pthalo and slashes of brightest warm lime. Overhead in a gap of perched sky, edges tatted by lace of leaves, hangs a lingering ghost of moon waiting to be pealed away like a transparent sticker. 

Wren fledglings dart back an forth from low lying branches of budding gardenias, diving again and again, dipping fluttering wings into the shallow water bowl in utter delight. 

Bees sucking nectar, appear mystically suspended midair, as they joust from tips of spindly arms supporting the pink stars of delicate Guara, also known as Whirling Butterfly. 

And there's my dog, laying flat bellied on the warm cement in the largest mat of sunlight he can find. His paws outstretched like a yogi master, deep in meditation with eyes transfixed and half closed to reveal brilliant sparkles of purest glowing white. He knows how to stare. 

  

Today's painting is a larger piece 24x18" and is framed. It will be on exhibit and for sale in the CAL Gallery in Conroe, TX throughout June and July.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit today.

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

 

SOLD -Lady in Waiting

"Lady in Waiting" 8x10" oil on gessobord

"Love is always bestowed as a gift - freely, willingly, and without expectation. We don't love to be loved; we love to love."—Leo Buscaglia

I wanted to share a recent painting of my youngest daughter, Allie. She's all grown up now, married, and so excited to be expecting their first baby in August. 

For this painting, I worked from photos I took of her sitting in the dappled light filtering through the trees beside my garden. I intentionally wanted the design to echo the gentle nurturing curve of her protruding belly throughout the painting. Curves can be found in the lines of the deck edge, in her hat, chair, bushes, in the bend of her knee, wrist, neckline of her dress, lips, folds of the shawl, and shoulders. 

As you probably guessed, this painting is not for sale; I gave it to her at the baby shower today. 

Thanks for coming by, I should have offered you a glass of lemonade. 

 

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