SOLD -Marcia, Marcia, Marcia

"Marcia, Marcia, Marcia" 6x6" oil on gessobord

Click to Purchase

"Well, all day long at school I hear how great Marcia is at this or how wonderful Marcia did that! Marcia, Marcia, Marcia! " 

~Jan Brady

My daughter, Allie named this painting perfectly! Obviously, there is so much sibling rivalry going on among this group. Middle-daughter magenta Jan is squeezed in between her two showier sisters, Marcia and Cindy, adorned in attention getting orange. While their bright orange dresses are truly stealing the show, too much of a good thing would be boring. Jan's unique presence adds variety as she complements the lemon slices and soft yellow table top. 

Doesn't she look like a referee trying to break up a fight? Growing up as one of seven Dazey (pronounced daisy) sisters, I can totally relate to these feisty tulips. Totally out numbered, my two brothers never stood a chance. 

Thank you for viewing my floradoras. 

nancy

To view all of my available paintings in my gallery click here http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/nancy-parsons-122  * Sold pieces are marked with a red dot.
My blog: www.headondownthehighway.blogspot.com

E-mail: njparsons@suddenlink.net

My book: Head on Down the Highway A Blog Book

My graphic design business: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

SOLD -Magnolia Profile

"Magnolia Profile" 6x6 Oil on canvas panel
Click to buy

 

"They remembered me as this shy girl sitting under the table. But they obviously didn't know what was going 
on in my head." 

~Izabella Scorupco, Polish actress

Here is the last of my magnolia painting, at least for now. Oh, the innocence of youth! Magnolias are totally beguiling subjects to paint. But this one was so modest and shy, she keep turning her head to the side and never would look me in the eye. I tried and tried to get her to give me a Girl with the Pearl Earring-kind-of-a-look, but to no avail. She just kept hiding behind the leaves. All I could coax out of her was this profile... guess she's never posed nude for all the world to see.

Thanks for viewing this x-rated painting. 

nancy

My Gallery: To view more of my paintings click here http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/nancy-parsons-122  * Sold pieces are marked with a red dot.
My blog: www.headondownthehighway.blogspot.com

My other galleries: http://www.saatchionline.com/njparsonshttp://www.flickr.com/photos/nancyparsons/ 

My E-mail: njparsons@suddenlink.net

My book: Head on Down the Highway A Blog Book

My graphic design: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

End of the Line

"End of the Line" 6x6", oil on canvas panel

Click to Purchase

"I feel like I am diagonally parked in a parallel universe." 

~Author Unknown

I pass this beat-up old pickup every night while I am out walking my dog. It was driven here several years ago from somewhere in Montana and hasn't moved since. 

It's really quite alluring, sitting parked on the grass in the shade, covered in the dappled light that breaks through the canopy here on the edge of the forest. The paint is now faded and as dull as chalk but with a shabby-chic-kind-of-appeal. Most of the body is covered in patches of rust gnawing away at what used to be someone's prized possession. 

To me this truck is a piece of art, a sculpture. It begged to be painted back to life and immortalized on canvas. Beauty can be found in the most ordinary of places.

Thank you for parking on my lot today. 

nancy

To view all of my available paintings in my gallery click here http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/nancy-parsons-122  * Sold pieces are marked with a red dot.
My blog: www.headondownthehighway.blogspot.com

E-mail: njparsons@suddenlink.net

My book: Head on Down the Highway A Blog Book

My graphic design business: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

Z-Zinnia Tops

"Z-Zinnia Tops" 6x6" oil on canvas panel

Click to Purchase

"I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers."

                                      — Claude Monet

On stage today, live and in color, all the way from Conroe, TX, welcome Z-Zinnia Tops, the red-hot trio of summer performers. I am a huge fan of these brilliant hand picked entertainers who tour here annually to the applause of sold out crowds of followers! 

This year they arrived so pumped up on nitrogen, I was afraid they might turn the entire scene into a wild frenzy. I was one step ahead of them though and quickly hosed the background down with some calmer cooling shades to settle these fellows down before they took to the stage. Gosh, I have to stay on top of everything!

I hope you enjoy the concert.   

nancy

To view all of my available paintings in my gallery click here http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/nancy-parsons-122  * Sold pieces are marked with a red dot.
My blog: www.headondownthehighway.blogspot.com

E-mail: njparsons@suddenlink.net

My book: Head on Down the Highway A Blog Book

My graphic design business: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

Guard Stand

"Sunburned Lifeguards" 6x6" Oil on canvas panel

                                                       Click to Purchase


You've been walking in circles, searching. Don't drink by the water's edge. Throw yourself in. Become the water. Only then will your thirst end.   — Jeanette Berson

Dive right in. Take a refreshing plunge under the careful watch of vigilant sunburned lifeguards, on duty from their towering stands.

Author/poet John O'Donohue said "water takes on the shape of whatever contains it: jug, stream, well, river, lake, ocean, tears, rain, mist or moisture." I painted this from my studio looking out over our womb-shaped pool which beckons below. With 90 percent of the human body comprised of water, swimming... in a way... is sort of like going back into the womb, and to our first experience of existence. No wonder why we all want beach houses and lake front property.  

Thanks for testing the waters here.  

nancy

 

To view all of my available paintings in my gallery click here http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/nancy-parsons-122  * Sold pieces are marked with a red dot.
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 business: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

Sister Act

 "Magnolia Minuet" 6x6" oil on canvas panel

SOLD

"Magnolia Memory" 6x6" oil on canvas panel

Click to Purchase

  
Only one of the two paintings above is a duplicate of the one I already posted on Tuesday. Can you tell the difference? Look again. These are two separate paintings using the same magnolia for my subject, but one is from a bit further away. I entered both of them in the "Seeing Double Challenge" on Daily Paintworks and painted them simultaneously.
 
Thanks for doing a double take. 

nancy

 To view all of my available paintings in my gallery click here http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/nancy-parsons-122  * Sold pieces are marked with a red dot.
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 business: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

SOLD -Stealing Magnolias

"Magnolia Memory" 6x6" oil on canvas panel

Click to Purchase

The beautiful things of the earth become more dear as they elude pursuit.  — Thomas Hardy, Desperate Remedies

I've never painted a magnolia but recently had a request for a painting of one. The only trouble is I don't have a magnolia tree in my yard.  I thought about sneaking over to my next door neighbor's yard and stealing—er, I mean, uh—borrowing one. ; ) The trouble was I couldn't figure out how in the world I would explain it if I got caught in the middle of the night 20 feet off the ground in my pajamas." However, my friend Patty came to the rescue and gave me one from her tree. The blossom was pristine and in a tight bud, but by the time I got it home— to my utter amazement—it had completely opened. Wow! Things do grow fast around here! I shot some quick reference photos and was glad I did. The next day the beautiful white bloom had turned completely brown and left in its wake only a magnolia memory. 

Thanks for stopping by for a spell to sniff my magnolia. 

nancy

 

To view all of my available paintings in my gallery click here http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/nancy-parsons-122  * Sold pieces are marked with a red dot.
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 business: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

Shady Characters

"Shady Characters" 6x6" oil on gessobord

Click to Buy

One of the coolest things about summer—an oxymoron in Texas—are the deep cool shadows and dappled light filtering through the leaves. I could sit and watch this light show for hours. 

We have five huge-old-oak trees hovering above our yard spending their days lazily cascading shards of light into silent flickers of colored shapes that dance across my tiny islands of grass and gardens. Their countless wash of winks, mottle the breadth of towering orange canas, coral winding trumpet vines, spikes of scarlet and blue salvia, rose-colored oleanders, a row of pastel-tinted crape myrtles, fiery lantana, white butterfly gingers and powdery puffs of pink hydrangea...the magical oaks taking special delight in waking blushing four o'clocks from their slumber; speckling the wings of oblivious birds splashing in the garden baths.

I caught these two shady Adirondack characters red handed hanging out around the pool, sitting on violet stippled decking looking oh, so innocent! They were trying their best to lure me away from my work. But I knew they were up to no good and not to be trusted, one quick repose and they've got you and won't let you go for hours on end...especially if you happen to have a great book in your hand. 

Thanks for resting here awhile and viewing my work.

nancy

 

To view all of my available paintings in my gallery click here http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/nancy-parsons-122  * Sold pieces are marked with a red dot.

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 business: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

SOLD -River Walk San Antonio

"River Walk San Antonio" 8x16" Oil on stretched canvas

Click to Purchase

 "As a river flows through a landscape it carries with it the memory and life of that place. It has flowed through every moment of life that has happened there." 
                            — John O'Donohue, Four Elements- Reflection on Nature.

This colorful scene found along The River Walk in San Antonio, bustles with sidewalk cafes, restaurants, shops and galleries. The river, a popular tourist attraction, flows right through the middle of town, passing the site where The Alamo still stands. 

In Texas, water has been a lifeline for many generations for centuries past. First described by Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, a shipwrecked captive of Indians, in 1536. The stream originally called Yanaguana was renamed San Antonio in celebration of Saint Anthony's Day in 1691.

While the river canals stretch for two and a half miles, it was quite a stretch for me to paint this one section. I had photographed it on a recent visit but had been too intimidated to even pick up a brush. There was so much going on with water, trees, architecture, people, reflections. Whew, I was overwhelmed before I began. Luckily this photo didn't also include one of the many passing and packed tour boats that methodically cruise the narrow waters. 

Thank you for floating by and viewing my painting. 
nancy

 

 

To view all of my available paintings in my gallery click here http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/nancy-parsons-122  * Sold pieces are marked with a red dot.

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 business: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

Refiner's Fire

"Refiner's Fire" 3x5 ft., oil on stretched canvas

Click to Purchase

“I don't know anyone who actually likes the dark or night-time. I don't care how much they say it doesn't bother them. That's why we used to huddle in caves and light fires when the sun went down."  — Paul Kane

One of the four elements, fire has played a key role in our lives since the beginning of time. It can arise from the coldest and blackest matter. Fire defies gravity and is the force that cleanses —like gold in a furnace—burning away what is no longer needed.
 
In his book, The Four Elements, John O'Donohue writes, "The fire was dancing. It was full of all kinds of liquid fire shapes. The fire is transfiguration. Here matter changes into nothingness. The fire is the place where form is sacrificed to breath."

Fire brings light and warmth when it's in a fireplace. "Its energy, color and shape are a narrative in themselves that unfurls side by side with the flow of your own consciousness."

This very large 5x3 ft. painting ignited in the hearth of my own heart. I actually painted it awhile back but know that the transforming fire has never rested as it continuously blasts away at the dark corners of my mind and soul.

Thanks for viewing my work.

nancy

 

To view all of my available paintings in my gallery click here http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/nancy-parsons-122  * Sold pieces are marked with a red dot.

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 business: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

Gardenia Gratitude

"Gardenia Gratitude" 6x6" oil on canvas board

Click to Purchase

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” — Albert Einstein

Right on cue "April showers brought May flowers." My three gardenia bushes are literally loaded down with budding hopefuls. This one was the first to wipe the dew from her eyes, and unfurl intricate tiers of snowy-white petticoats. Once this floral symphony begins, the alluring bouquet will waft on waves of silent fragrance to fill all my senses. 

This flower always takes me back to the memory of my first corsage, which was also a gardenia. It was the most beautiful flower those 15-year-old eyes had ever seen. I was totally mystified how such a delicate... and seemingly... exotic flower could be alive in the dead of cold winter. Today, I am graced with a hundred of them every spring. Abundance is everywhere!

Thanks for visiting my blossoming blog.

nancy

 

To view all of my available paintings in my gallery click here http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/nancy-parsons-122  * Sold pieces are marked with a red dot.

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 business: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

SOLD -Puttin' on the Ritz

"Puttin' on the Ritz", 6x6" oil on gessobord

"Why not seize the pleasure at once? How often is happiness destroyed by preparation. Foolish preparation?" — Jane Austen

 

If the hat fits wear it ... but if it doesn't fit wear it anyway! Meet Juliet our youngest almost-three-year-old granddaughter caught on camera as she delights in playing dress up in a huge green hat and blue satin slippers. Painting children is really a challenge, however it does seem to capture Juliet's joyful and playful little spirit in the moment.

Why is it when we are little we can't wait to grow up, and then once we're grown we want to go back? The grass always seems greener everywhere except where we happen to be. Perhaps the secret is to learn to water the grass where we are, and see what interesting things spring up. Or... as an alternative to watering... put up a bird feeder in your backyard and never know what the heck it is that's sprouting up all over your grass. I can personally guarantee that spot of your yard will be greener. 

BTW, speaking of seizing the moment, Dave and I are going to hit the road again in our pop-up camper this summer. We're planning to head for mountains and rivers to fly fish and paint somewhere out west. Yee-ha! I've been itching to paint more landscapes in plein air. I guess I'm still looking for greener pastures?

Thanks for trying on my blog... carpe diem! (translated from Latin, seize the day)
nancy

 

To view all of my available paintings in my gallery click here http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/nancy-parsons-122  * Sold pieces are marked with a red dot.

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 business: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

The Eligible Bachelor

" Eligible Bachelor" 6x6" oil on canvas board,
Towhee was painted from photo by Angela Fletcher

Click to Buy

"Be like the bird in flight . . . pausing a while on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, yet sings knowing yet, that she has wings." — Victor Marie Hugo



This little guy is a Spotted Towhee, a striking sparrow of sun-baked thickets of the west. His warm rufous flanks match the dry leaves that he spends his time hopping around in. When trying to attract a mate this bright little bird will sit in the branches of a tree and sing away 70-90 percent of his morning. Once he finds a mate —the honeymoon is over—he is off doing more important things and only sings about 5 percent of his morning. Now isn't that just like a male! ; ) 

Thanks for lingering on my branch. 
nancy

 

To view all of my available paintings in my gallery click here http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/nancy-parsons-122  * Sold pieces are marked with a red dot.

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 business: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

West Texas Landscape

"West Texas Landscape" 6x6" oil on canvas board

Click to Purchase

"I must say as to what I have seen of Texas, it is the garden spot of the world, the best land and the best prospects for health I ever saw, and I do believe it is a fortune to any man to come here."

— Alamo hero, Davey Crockett

"We're not in Kansas, To-To." This painting was taken from a photo I snapped from our 2010 camping trip. We had just crossed back across the state line into the Texas Panhandle when we happened upon these huge gleaming silos. "Tin Man" eat your heart out! These structures jutted out against the barren flat plains like penguins in Africa. "Oil can"... my brain's a little rusty but I think this may be part of a grain elevator?  Irregardless of what they really are, these metallic sculptures could have been the entrance into Silver City.

 

Humm Dorothy.... I didn't get the connection while painting, but now I understand why I felt the need to make the sky dark and funnel threatening. Funny how our subconscious minds work.

Thanks for dropping in to view my U.S.O. (unidentified stationary objects).  

nancy

To view all of my available paintings in my gallery click here http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/nancy-parsons-122  * Sold pieces are marked with a red dot. 

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 business: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

Road Less Traveled

"Road Less Traveled" 6x6" oil on canvas panel, inspired by the photo "Curve in the Road" by: Angela Fletcher

Click to purchase

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference."

— Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken

   

I have to say this has been the story of my life, although not always by choice. Somehow I just never could find the path of least resistance. Life has not been easy but discovering all of the not-so-ordinary along the way has made my travels profoundly rich in experience. 

There is an old Zen saying, "To a man who knows nothing, Mountains are Mountains, Waters are Waters and Trees are Trees. But when he has studied and knows a little, Mountains are no longer Mountains, Water is no longer Water, Trees no longer Trees. But when he has thoroughly understood, Mountains again are Mountains, Waters are Waters and Trees are Trees." 

As an artist my personal goal is to grow in my capacity for perception of nature's inexhaustible supply. I hope that never changes and that this road goes on forever.

Thanks for joining in my journey today and for viewing my painting. 

nancy

To view all of my available paintings in my gallery click here http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/nancy-parsons-122  * Sold pieces are marked with a red dot.

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 business: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

Making Tracks

"Making Tracks" 6x6" oil on canvas panel 

Click to Purchase

“Time goes faster the more hollow it is. Lives with no meaning go straight past you, like trains that don’t stop at your station.” ― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind

 

We had stopped for gas in a little town outside of San Antonio. The late afternoon sun seemed to be dripping warm golden honey all across the landscape. I snapped a photo of a train passing by on the rickety tracks that stretched all the way to the focal point looming on the horizon. This is where all lines in perspective converge. This train is hardly empty, sea-land containers stacked one a top the other, no doubt loaded full of all the stuff we import, most likely from China or Indonesia.


"Art is the outward expression of the inner life of the artist and this inner life will result in his personal vision of the world." — Edward Hopper

Trains always appear alone and haunting to me, as they race against the clock, huffing and puffing to arrive somewhere in the end on time. Our lives are like trains, we tug and pull all our linked cars packed full of the physical and emotional baggage accumulated over a life time. Clickety-clack we race along on our own set of tracks, under deadlines and pressures, slowing down now and again to add more cars to the heavy load. All aboard! Clickety-clack, clickety-clack, clickety-clack.

I could see in my mind how I wanted this painting to come out and was really happy with the resulting mood and color. 

Thanks for boarding today and stopping long enough to view my painting. 
 

nancy

 

To view all of my available paintings in my gallery click here http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/nancy-parsons-122  
* Sold pieces are marked with a red dot.

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 business: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

"Seeing Summer" 6x6" Oil on Canvas Panel 

Click to Purchase this painting

Summer is knocking at my door with color! I've been noticing the Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds are back from their winter migration in Mexico and South America. They're lapping up sugar water at my feeder like it's nectar from the gods. 

Hummingbirds along with the sight of zinnias, found at my local nursery, puts me on high alert that summer's right around the corner. When I see zinnias I always think back to my childhood and memories of my grandmother's yard. She had a huge garden filled with these sun loving performers. Hot summer days at her house always included running through her sprinkler, filling up the bird bath, sucking on ice cubes made from Kool Aid, and picking zinnia's for an awaiting vase. 

Did you know that zinnias are a part of the daisy family? Zinnias can be found in a wide assortment of colors and all with meaning. For instance the magenta zinnia denotes "lasting affection", orange "constancy", white means "goodness", yellow "daily remembrance", and according to my sources, a mixture of zinnias—like the ones I have planted on my patio and in this painting—implies "thinking of the absence of a friend."

Thanks for memories and for viewing my painting. To view all of my available paintings in my gallery click here http://www.dailypaintworks.com/Artists/nancy-parsons-122  
* Sold pieces are marked with a red dot. 

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 business: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

Softly Silent

"Softly Silent" 6x6" oil on canvas panel

Click to Purchase

"In silence we must wrap much of our life

because it is too fine for speech."

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Silence really is golden! Unless I am in the company of others, or stop to answer my phone, or slow down occasionally to watch a movie, I live every day—all day—in treasured silence. Call me weird, but it's the only place I feel as if I can actually hear! It's in that inaudible space of silent interior whispers, where imagination and creativity succeed in coaxing beauty out from her place of hiding. It's a place mostly overlooked by us, too distracted to hear.

Over the weekend, I was strolling along the tourist-filled Riverwalk in San Antonio where I met a beguiling and towering maiden. She was wading on the water's edge, adorned in delicate white chiffon-like blossoms, that swayed gently to the tune of morning's murmurings.

I stood there mesmerized at the sight of her slender graceful boughs which shimmered above mirrored reflections of crisscrossing leaves and limbs, dividing landscape and firmament into silky mosaic patterns with watercolor edges. Now that was a rock concert!

Thank you for listening and viewing my painting. 

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 business: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

SOLD -Winging It

"Winging It" 6x6" oil on canvas panel

Click to Purchase

I read an interesting article recently about the life cycles of monarch butterflies, and suddenly realized that the gorgeous red and yellow flowers growing right outside in my sunny garden were butterflyweed, mentioned in the article as perfect habitat for attracting butterflies on their returning migration from Mexico. My clustered perennials, literally bursting with nectar-filled flowers, were especially lush this year due to the mild winter here in Texas. I jumped up grabbed my camera— ignoring the fact that I was still in my pjs — and bolted out the backdoor in search of local diners in my open-for-business cafe.

To my total delight, I quickly spotted over 25 plump caterpillars — easily distinguishable by colorful yellow and black bands — munching down on the spiked leaves. They were in a fury, rabidly chewing their way across leaves in perfect unison as if it were corn-on-the-cob and making perfect returns like those of a precise typist at the end of a row. Here's a photo of a couple of the parasites wearing their striped pajamas.

I began inspecting my creeping crop of crawlers daily but never could find a single jade chrysalis. However here are a couple photos of the transformation process.

Over the past week, I have been noticing lots of newly emerging monarchs fluttering about from their empty tombs, warming their glorified newly found wings in the sun. My beautiful butterflyweed is gone, stripped bare of all leaves and flowers, but it was more than worth the offering. 

Thank you for landing here today! I hope you enjoy the painting and my science fair project! : ) 

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 business: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

Three-lips

"Three-lips, 6x6" oil on canvas panel

 Click to Purchase

"When my arms wrap you round I press

My heart upon the loveliness 

That has long faded from the world."

—Yeats

While picking up ingredients for the Easter dinner I was preparing for our family of 20, I decided to purchase some flowers for a centerpiece. I was on a tight budget, but discovered some very ripe pink tulips, crammed into the overflowing slashed-price bucket, stuck against the back wall at Kroger for $2.99 a dozen. They were hidden from view by the more marketable, young buds with firm tight lips who were much richer and vibrant in color then these paling rejects.

Although my mid-life beauties were a bit faded and sagged a little with mouths agape, I decided they were perfect! After all, Eleanor Roosevelt said, "Beautiful young people are accidents of nature, but beautiful old people are works of art." Now, I am sure she would agree this truth applies to flowers as well.

Unfortunately this bunch was catty and rude, whispering secrets to each other behind my back. These three-lips lasted just long enough for me to finish the dishes and paint them before they took their final bow and were tossed into the trash can. 
Thanks for "tip toe(ing) through my tulips" 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 business: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

Shedding Light

"Shedding Light" 6x6" oil on canvas panel

Click to Purchase

The scene reminds me of a song from my childhood that goes, "In a cottage by the wood, little man at the window stood, saw a rabbit hopping by knocking at my door. Help me! Help me! Help me, he cried! Lest the hunter shoot me dead. Little rabbit come inside, safely you'll abide."

Shedding a little light on the subject, this shed engulfed in the warm rays of morning light, seems pretty glorious to me, especially the day after Easter. However, now that I think about it, I don't really see a window, a little man, or for that matter even a rabbit? Actually, now that I am look closer, I am not sure if it's a shed after all? Heaven forbid! It may very well be an outhouse? Oh well, I just see what I feel is there. 

"Imagination is the eye for the inner world...When our eyes are graced with wonder, the world reveals its wonders to us." "When the imagination awakens, the inner world illuminates. We begin to glimpse things that no-one speaks about, that the outer world seems to ignore." —John O'Donohue, The Invisible Embrace Beauty

Thank you for viewing my shed with the red roof with or without the rabbit.
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 business: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

Iris With Laughing Eyes

"Iris With Laughing Eyes" 6x6" oil on canvas panel

Click to Buy Now

Look familiar? It's another chorus of the same song. I wanted to try the iris from last week again but more abstracted. I started off with a very dark under painting rather than the usual red tint that I customarily use. Instead of painting wet into wet, this time I let the under painting dry completely, and then went back in with all of the other colors which popped against the dark background. This approach kept my colors cleaner without picking up any of the background color. I left some of the dark to peek through. I can imagine this as a stain glass window. I really like the way it worked out. 

Early bird catches the worm! I have decided not to use the auction style to sell my paintings for right now, so if you'd like to purchase, simply click on the link to pay with a credit card.

Thanks for viewing my purple model in her new get up!

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 business: www.graphicdesigngroup.net

Iris Eyes Are Smiling

"Iris Eyes Are Smiling" 6x6" oil on canvas panel 

Click to Purchase Now

When Iris eyes are smiling,
Sure, 'tis like the morn in Spring....
When Iris hearts are happy,
All the world seems bright and gay.
 

Sorry, I just couldn't resist the play on words here. This stunning iris—found resting in the early morning shade beside still waters—was painted from another inspiring photo by eagle-eye Angela. 

Symbolically the iris is associated with faith, wisdom, cherished friendship, hope, valor, my compliments, promise in love and wisdom. Irises were used in Mary gardens as the blade-shaped foliage denotes the sorrows which pierced her heart.

The color purple is a perfect balance of warm red and the calm of blue. In fact, my very astute little niece recently told her mom that "purple was hot and cold." Pretty insightful for a three year old. 

According to squidoo.com, purple embodies a sense of mystic and royal qualities, often well liked by very creative or eccentric types, and the favorite color of adolescent girls. Mentally and physically, purple is uplifting, calming to mind and nerves, offers a sense of spirituality and encourages creativity. So do you think if people thew away their antidepressants and started wearing purple they'd be smarter, feel better, start attending church on a regular basis, and want to paint or take up piano? Hmmm...sounds like a great Jr. high science fair project.

Thanks for strolling into the garden 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

The Bare Facts

"The Bare Facts" 6x6" Oil on canvas panel

Click to Purchase Now

"Simplicity and repose are the qualities that measure the true value of any work of art."

- Frank Lloyd Wright, Architect, designed the Guggenheim

The object of this week's DPW Challenge was to paint an apple using the "smallest amount of information possible" and stopping, not when it is finished but rather as soon as the painting reads as a three-dimensional apple. It certainly requires discipline to limited strokes, the number of colors, and the number of areas of color.

For this red and green painting, I limited my palette to lemon yellow, cadmium red, alizarin crimson, phthalo blue, and just a dot of white for the highlight. I love painting quick, loose and wet into wet, so this was a really fun challenge. The painting ended up with sort of a watercolor feel. My favorite part is the area of green at the top of the apple just where it disappears and merges with the background. Edges should be both hard and soft, I like the loose edge of deep red on the shadow side of the apple. The cast shadow picks up the reflections of the green background and just a touch of the apple's blush peeking through the cool shadow. The hardest part of this exercise is stopping yourself from going back over a stroke twice. That's where the paint dies and looses its freshness.

I believe that less is always more. Leaving parts of a painting seemingly unfinished, beckons and engages the viewer to enter a painting and fill in the blanks for themselves. I'll be repeating this exercise again and again, to learn to simplify further.

Thanks for bobbing in 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