Showing posts with label sunrise. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sunrise. Show all posts

Sunday, November 30, 2025

Morning Has Broken



 

"Morning Has Broken"

Watercolor

12"x17.75"

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This first stanza of the hymn, "Morning Has Broken" was the inspiration for this watercolor painting.   One of my favorites sung at morning Mass, the words and melody fill my heart and mind with the joy of witnessing a sunrise at the beach.:

Morning Has Broken Like the first morning,
Blackbird has spoken
Like the first bird.
Praise for the singing!
Praise for the morning!
Praise for them, springing
Fresh from the Word!
Text: Eleanor Farjeon, 1881-1965


As often happens, once I complete a piece of art and try to write something that viewers might find of interest, I start writing and find myself writing a poem. This piece was no different. In response to this watercolor and the hymn mentioned above, this is a poem that emerged that best describes my impressions and joy of witnessing a sunrise as dawn breaks.  

 

MORNING HAS BROKEN 


Staring at the lingering last lights of night still present at the beach,
first crack of yolk emerges,
pouring out its golden center, spewing
across the dark canvas of horizon.

Quiet pounding of rhythmic waves, hypnotically
crashing onto sand amid the shrill cries
of gulls in search of perhaps a tiny crab
washed up onto glistening wet sand.

The silent flurry of desperate matchstick-legged sandpipers
racing down the shore line of feathered-traffic,
as if the alarm never went off-late, now frantic
in the hunt for tiny insects, crustaceans and worms.

In unison, countless banks of overlapping clouds
of all sizes and shapes, erupt cotton-candy pink
against an emerging blue backdrop, while
companies of preying flocks comb, survey,
and dive into the depths to an unaware
catch of the new day!


Thank you for viewing my post. 

For pricing, additional information, or to purchase this painting, please visit my Daily Paintworks gallery at Nancy Parsons Gallery 



Thursday, June 11, 2020

"..the lands of sunrise and sunset you fill with your joy."

"the lands of sunrise and sunset you fill with your joy." (Psalm 65)
11.25x14", watercolor on 140lb. cold press
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I had so much fun painting this watercolor inspired by the photo below by photographers Yann Meersseman and Moria Fitzgerald at Vinyard Colors. Their work inspires me to pick up a brush and grab my paints. I have had this image stashed away in my heart since 2016. 

Watercolor seemed the perfect media for transparent layers of clouds, dazzling light and churning waves of foamy water. 

When I came across a quote from my Morning Prayer, I knew immediately that had to be the title of the piece because just seeing the photo filled my heart with joy. 

Here is the reference photo.
















Thank you for viewing.

nancy

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



Tuesday, May 30, 2017

Just a Chair on a Porch

"Just a Chair on a Porch"
14x11" Oil on 1.5" gallery wrap canvas

"The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity." —Walt Whitman

Stripped down to the barest necessities for guaranteed joy and contentment, give me a front porch with a chair to sit in silence and greet a neighborly morning knocking at my door. 

Coffee cupped in hand...sliver of melting moon fading...first chirps of the winged, chanting praise...cool stir of wind caressing cheeks...last stand of shrinking shadow...sunburst on the horizon, duck the first warm hurls of orange and gold rays. Morning has broken!


Photographers: Moira Fitzgerald & Yann Meersseman

The reference shown for my painting was another amazing image found on Vintage Colors blog. I was totally swept into the quiet stillness captured by the simplicity of the morning scene. However, as you can see, I went to town taking huge liberties with pumped up colors and values pulled from my imagination to match the intensity of the light and serenity that infused me. 

In this latest piece, I decided to challenge myself by taking a different approach. I usually try to match the same colors and values to what I see, but this time my goal was to try punching up the warmth and coolness of the light and hues for added mood and mystery. I have been working on this one for some time and hit many dead ends along the way. I had to wipe my canvas off many times and start over until I began seeing on my canvas what I was feeling about the image, rather than what I was simply seeing. 

For me painting is a war, a battle of push and pull, trial and error to the very end. I now stand with white flag in hand...a truce declared. I am at peace...and just wish I could plop into that inviting chair. 

Thanks for the visit,
—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