Autumn's Silent Stillness

 

"Autumn Silent Stillness"
24x18"
Oil on gallery-wrapped canvas

I wanted to share my latest oil painting, “Autumn Silent Stillness", 24x18, which sold for $3,500 in a Live Auction benefiting Sacred Heart Catholic Church & School, Conroe, TX, at their Annual Gala last Saturday night. 

I was deeply moved by the solitude, silence, and peace in the photo reference, along with the beautiful light, fall colors, and reflections in the water. 

I spent the first 19 years of my life growing up in St. Louis and loved the change of seasons before moving to East Texas, home of evergreen loblolly pines with sharp brown stabbing needles that fall like daggers. 

Words cannot begin to express how much I have missed witnessing the dramatic change of leaves for the past 59 years. A fall never passes without intense, nostalgic pain to see autumn leaves dance to the ground in their fiery array on a chilly, bright, sunny afternoon under a blue sky. We truly don't appreciate what we have until it's gone. 

It was an honor to bring this richly colored scene to life on my canvas! Memories of all the gorgeous leaves from my past welled up into falling tears of joy and gratitude to have at least witnessed firsthand what falls should actually look like! Nothing would make me happier than to rest alongside that little boat, simply beholding in silent ecstasy.

This painting was adapted from a photograph, courtesy of photographers Yann Meersseman and Moira Fitzgerald.

Thanks for viewing.

Nancy

FIRST PLACE WINNING ENTRY!

"Reflecting at Days End", 18x24", Oil on gallery wrap canvas

             "Even a blind chicken finds a little grain of sand every once in awhile."  — Dave Parsons 

I am thrilled to have won First Place in the Monthly Contest at Daily Paintworks, along with a $500 cash prize!!! 

The original is sold, however, a wide range of print and giclee reproductions are available in my online store. Click here to view all of the options.

Thanks for letting me toot my horn. :  ) 
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

"Mooring in Light" Updates

Winning piece "Mooring in Light", oil on canvas, 40x30"

My winning entry in the CAL Spring Judged Show. "Mooring in Light" was also awarded a "Judge's Pick Winner" in the February 2016 DPW Monthly Contest! 

This 40x30" oil painting is now for sale in my online gallery under "Seascapes" at nancyparsonsart.com.

Thank you for viewing my work.

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

At Ease

"At Ease", 18x24" oil on gallery wrap canvas

"At rest, however, in the middle of everything is the sun."

— Nicolaus Copernicus

CLICK TO OWN THIS PAINTING

I've been working on this painting for the past couple of weeks. The photo I used was another from the amazing photographs at Vineyard Colors.

I was drawn to paint it for several reasons. First, I am always attracted to strong patterns of light and dark; the colors and somber mood entranced me; while the quiet solitude of resting boats, anchored in trust and faith that the sun will return, resonated with my tired soul moored along still waters at the end of day. 

William Penn said, "True silence is the rest of the mind, and is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment. For me a day without long periods of silence is a day I was not fully present. "Be still and know that I am God." 

At ease mates,
nancy


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

First Light

"First Light", 8x10", Oil on Gessobord

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“Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark.” — Rabindranath Tagore 

Today's painting was completed on our 3-day trip to Galveston, TX last weekend. I was on the beach each morning, camera in hand, before the sun had even blinked its sleepy eye out over the wide expanse of somber Gulf Coast.  

With the exception of a few scattered fishermen dotting the horizon in hopes of a catch, I sat alone at the outer-most tip of a jetty surrounded in the hug of darkness, and amid the soft crashing sound of waves gliding methodically in rows of foamy caps to shore. Even the daily winged scavengers hadn't arrived for the handouts left exposed on the wet sand by receding tides.

As I sat quietly waiting for the day to show up, I noticed a huge charcoal-gray bank of clouds lining up center stage, just above the horizon. The sky began taking on a soft pastel glow as the sun started kicking off the massive blanket of sea green it had been hiding under. I sat mesmerized as huge swatches of brilliant oranges, pinks, violets and golds splashed across a backdrop of aquamarine canvas. Next piercing yellow rays, like jabbing arms and legs, began to emerge at the focal point. The intense glow continued illuminating clouds into warmer lighter grays with golden hues that appeared as thin as a veil around the outer-most edges. 

Lighter and lighter the clouds continued to transform until suddenly all were outlined in a bright golden halo of pure radiant light. Spellbound, in that moment, I heard the silent words in my heart, "In spite of all the surrounding darkness in the world, know I am here in the brightness and fullness of glory, waiting." In awe-struck reverence and abandonment, I could only utter, Amen!

Thanks for letting me share my catch of the day.
nancy

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

Reflecting at Day's End

     "Reflecting at Day's End" 18"x24", oil on gallery stretched canvas

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"I never found a companion that was so companionable as solitude."  — Henry David Thoreau

Gosh, it has been three months since my last post. That's the longest gap in over five years. I feel like I've been serving time in solitary confinement. If you thought I died you are dead solid wrong. I am alive and kick'n, but had to spend the entire summer wearing my other hat, graphic design to make ends meet. Reality check!

Although I had very little time to pick up a brush this summer, I did receive a couple of awesome honors. In July, the Lone Star Art Guild Convention selected my painting, "Shuttered Repose" for 2nd Place in Professional Oil Painting Division out of 17 other art league's winning pieces. In the spring, this same piece took First Place in my local art league, and has since been juried into the Visual Arts Alliance Exhibition in Houston. This piece was one of 66 pieces of art selected out of 456 entries and will be on display until November in downtown Houston in the 1600 Smith Street Building Gallery. 

Over the summer I did do one new painting for a book cover  I was designing. Here is that piece. The author, Sandra Johnson, had taken a photo of a model holding a bouquet of flowers for her cover, but decided the photo was cropped too tightly. Hence I was commissioned to work on a painting that would incorporate more of the figure. This novel is being published by Texas Review Press.

Today's painting (show at the top of the page) is a larger piece that I am submitting to another show next weekend. I wanted to give you a sneak preview. This little dingy really snagged my oar. It was painted from a photo found online by Vineyard Colors. If you are unfamiliar with these photographers, check out their incredible daily on-location images direct from Martha's Vineyard. These folks are kind enough to allow artists to paint from their work. Here is the photo I was working from.

Okay, so that's about all the news I have for now. I have purchased lots of new art supplies and intend to be back afloat as long as my money holds out. 

Thanks for letting me come ashore. 

 nancy 

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

Pondering on a Pond

"Pondering a Pond", 12x24" oil on canvas

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There are always flowers for those who want to see them.
— Henri Matisse

I literally pause and let out an aah every time I pass by this watery oasis, which sits juxtaposed at the intersection of a major highway and a clover leaf exit off of a farm road, sandwiched between a business and railroad tracks. I've been driving past it for years, trying in vain to figure a way to gain access into this private sanctuary to paint it.

Swearing profusely that she never saw the "No Trespassing" sign until she was leaving, my friend Angela blatantly hopped a fence onto the property to photograph it after I casually mentioned my dilemma. A friend indeed, and to my total delight, the next thing I know she is sending me inside and close up photos of my masked refuge. This shot was earlier in the spring as the morning fog still blanketed the dried lingering remains of last years reeds and the barely visible new growth of water grasses softly emerging from its murky depths. 

How I wish I could live in a little cabin on the banks of this tiny haven and paint her ever-changing mirrored portrait over and over, day after day. I love the way the reeds, slumping over like exhausted guards, delineate the pond into channels of watery reflections of surrounding forest, sky and clouds. What a hidden gem coexisting side by side in the mundane of our busy lives...aah! 

Thanks for viewing my secret botanical garden. 
nancy 

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

Bathing Beauties

"Bathing Beauties", 8x8", Oil on Gessobord

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"To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it." —Kurt Vonnegut

Because inquiring minds want to know...I recently caught these blatant sun lovers basking alongside the busy counter top in my local coffee haunt, Panera Bread Company. These kept-women flashing highly pedicured extremities and golden tans, shamelessly lollygaged the day away gossiping from an above-ground spa. They were so transparent! For hours on end they did nothing but sit by idly making snide remarks about patrons heavy laden with assorted bagels and hot frothy lattes. 

A self-admitted paparazzi, I couldn't resist exploiting their follies on the front page of my weekly tabloid. Thank you for reading this shocking true confession.  ;  )

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

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 

Darkness or Light?

"Darkness or Light?", 10x8" oil on gessobord

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"A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?"—Albert Einstein

Taking the positive view, today the quiet morning light reflected onto my wooden living room floors creating shadowy markings as precise as the painted lane markers on the freeway. I will even go so far as to say, one of my ladder back chairs has jumped in to play a round of hopscotch? 

However from the opposing viewpoint, it could also seem that this unoccupied, desolate straight back was trapped, worthless, isolated, even trapped in the darkness behind bars. 

Which is it? The same scene with two opposing perspectives. Which slant resonates with you? Is the light overcoming darkness here, or do you see darkness overcoming the light? While I see stillness, quiet, and inner solitude; another might see emptiness, abandonment or even purposelessness. Life is what we bring to it...what we are looking for always finds us.

Thanks for playing along on this beautiful morning.
____________________________________________________

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

 

Pond-ering Thoreau

"Pond-ering Thoreau" 8x10" Oil on gessobord

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"A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. It is Earth's eye; looking into which the beholder measures the depth of his own nature." - 9. The Ponds, Walden, Henry David Thoreau

Did you think you were looking at this upside down? This abstract landscape was painted from another one of my friend Angela's inspiring photos, capturing looking glass reflections of aqua sky and surrounding forest. Sparkling on the silent stillness of another "Walden's" pond, the aqueous pool was dotted with a flotilla of lily pads, all set a sail in the early morning chill. A bare low-lying branch with willowy outstretched arms, hovers just above half submerged logs breaking the water's surface, and forming bridges for sun loving turtles.

And where was Monet for all this?

Thanks for pausing and reflecting on my work today.

nancy

My blog: www.headondownthehighway.blogspot.com

E-mail: njparsons@suddenlink.net

My books  NEW 2012 Daily Planner and Head on Down the Highway A Blog Book

My graphic design: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

Show Your True Colors

10x8" oil on canvas

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Do you think these Texas trees are dressing up for a masquerade ball? Check out those December colors! So where has all this color been hiding? For some reason, in spite of the worst drought on record in Texas with only half our normal rainfall, East Texas witnessed the most gorgeous fall color I have ever seen in this part of the country. The only problem was it didn't decide to manifest itself until right before Christmas! Now there is just something not right about hanging Christmas lights on trees that are still full of leaves and fall colors. I am not complaining mind you, but it has been a very unusual year. Who knows maybe we'll be blessed with snow this year?

Thanks for following along and viewing my work!

nancy

Get organized, place an order for my NEW 134-page, Not-So-Still Life-2012 Daily Planner (as seen on my blog), featuring 13 paintings from 2011. Available for purchase online, just click to view all the pages and add to your shopping cart.

Rio Grande Harvest

"Rio Grande Harvest" 11x14" oil on canvas

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The other day my photographer friend Angela sent me a photograph of this hostage image, captured in New Mexico. Knowing I love reflections, she knew I'd want to paint it. Then she asked me what my big attraction was for reflections?

I've never really put it into words before, but do freely confess to being obsessed with reflections which lay in wait, to mystify and delight me everywhere. Like Alice Through the Looking Glass, I can be casually gazing at a seemingly flat surface of water or wet pavement, when suddenly something shifts in my head and in a nano second, I slide down into the hole of right brain dominance.  

My husband confessed to me last night that he is almost afraid to walk into the house when I am painting reflections. Like out of an episode of Twilight Zone, he's sure he will find that I have been sucked into a painting, standing up to my waist in reflections, and waving back at him. He probably isn't far from the truth here... I'm sure the entire house could burn down around me while I stand in oblivion, trapped in the spell of the moment.

If you don't believe me, next time you are driving on a busy, rain-soaked street at dusk, I double-dog-dare ya to turn your focus on all the long red-trailing limbs of taillights and sudden explosions of red and green bombs at stoplights. Be careful not to have wreck but it's an incredible light show. Hum, maybe I need to paint this sometime?

Thanks for viewing my painting!

nancy  

FREE SHIPPING WITHIN USA
I am offering FREE shipping within the U.S. on all paintings in my Daily Paint Works and Etsy stores. These small paintings work great in groups of two or more, and add interest and charm to an entry, kitchen, bath, sitting on a bookshelf, or other small areas.

INTERNATIONAL PURCHASES AND SHIPPING:  Shipping charges are based on actual weight, contact me directly to arrange for online payments and shipping cost.

Strawberry Fields Forever

"Strawberry Fields Forever" 6x6" Oil on canvas panel

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"I was looking back to see, if she was looking back to see, if I was looking back to see, if she was looking back at me", said the strawberry. I set this still life up on top of a mirror and the multiplication of the strawberries went crazy. Reflections of the image, and the mirrored images in the mirror and in the silver bowl appeared every; reminding me of those crazy fun houses we went into as kids with the mirrors that made you look like you went on into infinity. 

This was a fun one to paint because it forced me to let go of what was real and what wasn't and just paint all the little spots of color and values I saw, where I saw them.

Thanks for viewing my painting!

nancy

 FREE SHIPPING

I am offering FREE shipping this summer within the U.S. on all paintings in my Daily Paint Works,  ebay and  Etsy stores. These small paintings look great in groups of two or more, and add interest and charm to an entry, kitchen, bath, sitting on a bookshelf, or other small areas. 

                                                                           FRAMES

To purchase online frames, check out the "floater" frames like those shown below. The paintings just gets glued onto it...super easy. http://www.kingofframe.com/6x6-Frames_c_22.html

   

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"Bases Loaded"

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"Bases Loaded" 8x6" Oil on canvas board
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Orange you glad it's not another "apple"? It was fun painting the runner on 1st base with half his body peeking through the glass. In hindsight, I should have used a blue pitcher instead of the glass. If you didn't hear, the Oranges took the Blues 3-4 in overtime.

Thanks for viewing my painting. - nancy