Montana Moments

"Montana Solitude" 6x6" oil on Gessobord
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"Something opens our wings. Something makes boredom and hurt disappear. Someone fills the cup in front of us: We taste only sacredness." —Rumi

I painted this plein air piece on the first morning we arrived in Montana, from atop of the hill where my sister and brother-in-law's main house is perched. Gazing out across the property I noticed the isolated house off in the distance. It lay nestled in the lap of golden valley, surrounded by looming mountains, donned with a touch of lingering snow on the farthest peak. The house looked a bit vulnerable, as if it were about to be devoured and disappear into the foreboding shadowy background.

As the morning ended I realized, I was the one who had been swallowed up, up into the delightful solitude of the moment. 

Painting is always my medium of choice to disappear into a day! 

Thanks for viewing,
nancy

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

Watercolor Sketches from Colorado

5x7" Aspen in Light
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Here are four watercolors from a recent stay in Crystola, Colorado on our return from Montana. The lime-tinted aspens are magnificent...shaking and shimmering in the light and cool mountain breezes...sounding like reminiscent tones of an indian paint stick. Enchanting and mystical!  

5x7" Tool Shed
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This watercolor features a tiny tool shed emerging from shadows, perched in the morning light and surrounded by majestic pines. It beckons to be painted. I am sure it's buried in snow most of the winter, but for now it surfaces to bask in the the sun like a tired turtle resting on a warm rock. 

I think it was smiling?  

7x5" Crystola I
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This was one of the views from the house where we were staying. It overlooks the rolling highway that leads to Manitou and Colorado Springs. What a joy to simply stand with the feel of wind and sun on my face. 

For watercolors, I like to do a light pencil sketch of the scene before I begin applying paint. I used a limited palette which required a lot of mixing to obtain all the different greens. To convey a feeling of depth and distance, I used soft and cool colors, saving the warmest hues for the foreground/center of interest. 

7x5" Crystola II
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All of our evenings at the Crystola house culminated outdoors before a roaring fire, sipping wine, and listening to music under the blanket of Milky Way. Here is how the area appears during the light of day. Unfortunately, one evening we had to conduct a funeral for an unfortunate hummer who had flown into the house the night before. Poor little thing never found its way back out the door to the freedom of sky, but rather collapsed from exhaustion into a sconce. During the cremation ceremony, we all stood with hands over hearts singing "You Got a Friend in Me" until at last the tiny shrouded body flew up in embers to light up the night sky. So sad!


So that's all of the watercolors I wanted to share. I'll start post a few oil painting I also completed on our trip, so stay tuned as we Head on Down the Highway of life. 

Thanks for viewing.
—nancy

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

Watercolor Sketches from Montana

5x7" "Flying the Stillwater"
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7x5" "Wood Ranch, Nye I"
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7x5" "Wood Ranch, Nye II
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7x5" "Wood Ranch, Nye III"
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Heading back on down the highway once again...we were blessed to have spent some time in Montana this month on my sister and brother-in-law's glorious property. These watercolor sketches are some of the views from their lovely home which nestles on a hill along the Stillwater River in Nye, Montana.

I hadn't painted with watercolor in years, but loved the easy setup and no-fuss cleanup. I also love the looseness and transparency this medium provides.

I have a few more sketches from our next stop in Colorado which I'll post tomorrow.

Thanks for following my journey.
—nancy

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

Billie in the Bluebonnets

"Billie", Oil on gessobord, 9x12"
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"Sometimes,  when I see my granddaughters make small discoveries of their own, I wish I were  a child."  —Dr. Seuss

This portrait was painted for a dear friend of her beautiful granddaughter, Billie, posed in one of the many fields of bluebonnets here in East Texas every spring.

I haven't painted much over the past year or so. I tend to beat myself up for not picking up my brushes, but have come to accept the fact that there really is a time and a season for everything. Nothing stays the same, things come and go at certain unforeseen periods of our lives and we are powerless to try and resist.

I feel my soul has been wondering in a dry desert...which is not a bad thing. I recognized the need for desert time and gave myself permission to honor that space. I believe this has been a period of gestation and rebirth. I am hopeful this is the budding of a new spring with renewed energy, creativity and discovery. The best is yet to be!

Thank you for viewing.
-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

Sacred Spaces

"Sacred Spaces", 9x12". oil on gallery wrap canvas

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"A painter shows me what he painted, 
but an artist shows me why she painted."

—Clint Watson

Here is a little slice of sacred space in our home. What's sacred about it? It's right smack dab at the heart of our home, and the first thing to grab your eye as you enter the front door. It's a part of our living space full of chairs and couches where family and friends gather to share.

Our most recent stray, sits perched atop my grandmother's wooden trunk ready to pounce on our unsuspecting chihuahua. We have used this trunk for years to store childhood Halloween costumes, grandma's once beautiful silk gown, boa and lacy robe, dance recital costumes, pom-poms and cheerleading uniforms, pirate swords, ruby slippers, princess crowns and fairy wings. It's a treasure chest sure to produce screams of delight and excitement for bored grandchildren on rainy days. 

Nothing in our small 70s home matches, nor is it fancy, or expensive, but rather an eclectic collection of hand-me-downs from parents and grandparents. Pieces of furniture wounded over the many years with scars, scratches and nicks, yet somehow healed and made whole by the memories they bear. 

I loved painting the natural light—creeping in like fog through the north facing paned windows of the french door—silently sweeping across oak floors buffed in chalky reflections of cool morning light. 

The key role here is played by the little table lamp casting rays of luminous warm light from the focal point of the painting; a beacon to all who stop by for a visit, perhaps to share in a glass of wine, and bask in the rich abundance of our humble abode. 

Thanks for stopping by,
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

Martha and Mary

"Martha and Mary"
12x9" Oil on gallery wrap canvas

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"There is something joyous in the elegies

Of birds. They seem 

Caught up in a formal delight,

Though the mourning dove whistles of despair."

—Galway Kinnell 

Once again I find myself drawn to the stillness of early morning light. Here the breaking sun illuminates two graceful swans musing on a glassy sheet of shallow water. 

Busy Martha on the right, fluffing a magnificent spread of feathers, rustles about in self-imposed tasks of the new day. Scanning the horizon is she preparing to take flight over the expanse of inland waterways in search of a nesting site? Or, perhaps she's heading off to explore muddy marshes for juicer roots and tubers, or to scavenge for greener grasses and plump morsels of grain from fields nearby?

Meanwhile, juxtaposed sits humble Mary. She floats effortlessly, suspended without a ruffle unassumingly in the shadow of Martha's wings. Caught in motionless wonder and total surrender to the fullness of trust and abandonment, she pauses with eyes closed, absorbed into the silence where in praise she gives thanks for another day. 

To me, painting is a delicate balance between both the seeing and the doing, not remaining in either place too long is paramount. Moving back and forth between the mystery of a subject and the active steps of mixing paint and placing the spots of shape and color—I not only see, but also sense and feel—keeps it real. Without the Mary, the Martha would be lifeless. 

Thanks for reflecting,
—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

Just a Chair on a Porch

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

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"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

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

"Salutations to Sibs" SOLD

36x24" oil on gallery wrap canvas

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But let there be spaces in your togetherness and let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. 

—Khalil Gibran

I have been a lost ship over most of the past year, adrift from paints and canvas, but happy to be firmly back in port of studio with brushes as oars, anchored firmly in hand. 

Family took precedence last April as my 93-year-old mom came to live with us. Her stay turned out to be a short final voyage as she sailed off into the ether of sunset at the end of September. We were honored to care for her those last months of her life, as this is how families love each other. 

Toni Morrison said, “Your need a whole community to raise a child” but to care for a dying parent, I say, takes an entire family. This is what ultimately led me to this painting “Salutations to Sibs.”

I wasn't consciously aware of what was actually drawing me to paint this alluring sunrise from Martha’s Vineyard. It was only after I finished the piece, that I was struck by how much the harbor scene reminded me of my family each one dropping their anchor to tend to mom in many different ways. 

Boats moored at bay seemed the perfect metaphor for family. Our fleet is composed of a large variety of crafts, some strong and secure, some calm, soulful and gentle, others steadfast and reliable. Siblings may sail through life on different bodies of water scattered around distant shores, yet will always tether together when the day is over, or seas turn into rough stormy waters.

It seems appropriate to post this piece on Valentine’s Day to honor the eight loving vessels in my marina including Bob, Debby, Kitsy, Barb, Mary, Julie, Lolly and Dash. 

I love you all!  

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

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

Snug as a Bug

"Snug as a Bug", 9x12", oil on Gessobord

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"Babies smile in their sleep because they’re listening to the whispering of angels."  — Author unknown

Snug among blankets, pillows and an array of furry friends, this is my youngest grandson whom I captured in a photo napping one bright summer afternoon in my studio. 

Getting him down for a nap, I had planned to paint that afternoon. However, there's something about a sleeping child, like a magnet that makes it impossible not to wallow away hours watching diminutive breaths under yielding eyes abducted to foreign lands by sugar plum fairies. Obviously, I didn't get much painting accomplished, however the time was well spent in grateful awe and wonder. 

Being a grandma is the best of times, all the fun without the stress. 

Plans and agendas fall to the side, you have to grab time with grandbabies...they don't keep. 

Lullaby and good night,  

gran-nan

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

Mooring in Light

"Mooring in Light" 30x40" Oil on gallery wrap canvas

"Hope is the anchor of our souls. I know of no one who is not in need of hope - young or old, strong or weak, rich or poor. 

— James E. Faust

I have to admit, I am hopelessly attracted to desolate boats moored in reflective waters. Taken hostage and dragged aboard by the promise of quiet stillness and solitude, I rarely put up a fight. 

To me, empty boats are a metaphor for our own small earthly vessels. Tossed about through changing tides—weathering the relentless storms life throws our way—we survive afloat tethered securely to trust and anchored in the light of hope. 

Finding such a little craft resting in the light of a breaking dawn or a setting sun always compels me to start pulling out paints and brushes. This is the latest from my boat series. It's the largest so far, 30x40" on stretched gallery wrap canvas. 

I am entering this piece in a show so it's not up for sale quite yet, but will be after March 5th. If anyone is interested please email me. All of my boat paintings are also available for reproduction as prints or on stretched canvas. 

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