Good-Bye

Parkway Series#160   12 x 16   acrylic,    Sold

I am signing out today for a week!  My husband and I are traveling the Parkway next week taking photos and taking in the incredible beauty of Spring in North Carolina and Georgia.  I will still be working, painting on location and planning for the last leg of my marathon.  I have exactly 100 more paintings to go before I finish.  The goal is in sight and the journey has been fabulous so far; I have not felt pushed beyond my abilities or time.  I believe that this project was God ordained and God inspired and to Him be the Glory!

Colors of Spring II

Parkway Series #159   12 x 16   acrylic   Sold

The yellow field of milkweed inspired another painting, one with a little warmer yellow than the yellow-greens of yesterday.

Colors of Spring

Parkway Series #158   12 x 16   acrylic   Sold      prints now available

There is a meadow along the Parkway north of 220 that is the most incredible sea of yellow I have ever seen.  The yellow milkweed and the hints of purple throughout the trees, mountains and ground cover really make this painting come alive with the colors of Spring.

Kairos Time

Parkway Series #157  12 x 16  acrylic   Sold

The ancient Greeks had two words for time, chronos and kairos.  Chronos refers to chronological or quantitative or horizontal time.  Kairos refers to vertical time, quality time - a time in between, a moment of undetermined time in which something special happens.  Thanks, Liza, for reminding me that "God lives in kairos time, the eternal present that completely envelopes our chronos time".  My husband and I are traveling the Parkway for a few days next week to take in the beauty of the Blue Ridge in North Carolina and I will definetly leave my watch at home.

The Road of Life

Parkway Series #156   12 x 16   acrylic   Sold

I really appreciate Liza Field's article in Saturday's Roanoke Times entitled "A road isn't just a line between two points."  The metaphor of the road as human life has intriqued many through the ages.  Chaucer wrote Canterbury Tales as pilgrims journeyed the road to Europe's great cathedrals; Dante's Divine Comedy begins "midway along life's journey....".  Jesus referred to Himself as "the Way" that leads us home.  "In slower ages, the path itself, like the life it represented, had value - even sacred meaning." (Liza)  Have our 70 mph speed limits and high speed information lifestyles eliminated the appreciation for the journey?  Maybe as we travel the road of life we need to slow down, feel the Sunlight, smell the Mountain Air and appreciate a Creator God who gives us so many blessings and beauty.

Glory

Parkway Series # 155  12 x 16  acrylic,  on display, $95.

I've heard artists say that painting nature without a house or a barn or an animal etc... is hard because there is no focal point.  That may be true on a cloudy day but when the sun is out, that is all the focal point I need to get really excited about a painting!!  There is GLORY in sunlight; can you imagine a better focal point?!!

Musings on Art

Parkway Series #154  12 x 16   acrylic  $95.

The quote of George Inness from yesterday's post continues.... "A painting changes with your mood.  It is a thing to live with.  You study it; you learn to see the soul of it.  It is like a face that becomes beautiful because you have learned to know and love the soul behind it.  When a painting gives you this effect, it is great art." 

Subtlty of Tone

Parkway Series #153  12 x 16  acrylic   Sold

The great artist George Inness (1825-1894) wrote "A work of art must have subtlty of tone and a certain amount of mystery that can never be seen at a glance.  It must be looked at a long time before its subtle tones can be grasped; and if it is great it grows upon you.  And the longer you look, the more you see."  Thoughts from those who went before us are always inspiring and provoke us to better works.

Glade Creek III

Parkway Series #152   12 x 16   acrylic   Sold

  The camera can see a lot of things that I cannot see but when I paint I want to paint something that the camera cannot see.  The artist must simplify, arrange, compose, invent colors, tell a story, express emotions, translate words to images and still have the technical know how to put the paint on the canvas.  It is a lot the think about!!!  It is something a camera cannot do and a book cannot teach.  It takes a lifetime of practice and still there is more to learn!!!

Glade Creek II

Parkway Series #151  12 x 16   acrylic   Sold

As the winter snows melt and the spring rains fill the tributaries of the mountains, I am really looking forward to painting waterfalls and creeks this summer!! I love to sit in the shade and listen to the sounds of running water. In planning our trip on the Parkway into North Carolina, I also hope to paint on location as much as possible!!!

Glade Creek

Parkway Series #150   12 x 16  acrylic  Sold

Glade Creek runs under the Parkway near the N & W Railroad tracks near 460.  I was excited to get a series of photos that I plan to paint of the creek and its reflections.   I am also changing my medium to acrylic for a while.  Because I am doing  plein air workshops on the Parkway this summer, I need to "brush up" on acrylic.   Acrylic paint is better for quick outdoor paintings because it dries fast and allows for faster completion.  I am finding that my style of painting may be better suited to this medium than to oil.

After the rain

Parkway Series #149   12 x 16  oil  $95.

Right after the rain, I captured the rain cloud and bright sun on this wet Spring morning. I am looking forward to painting "plein air" instead of in-the-studio painting and being in the landscape to absorb more of the feel of open space.    I anticipate a better use of color and value as I paint on location, now that the weather is improving.

Lichens

Parkway Series #148  12 x 16   oil   Sold

My interest in this image was actually the lichens on the tree!  The scene is beautiful but I just wanted to document the patterns of light green on the tree before summer greens camouflage them.  I am actually ahead (by about a week) in my paintings so there is a bit of a "seasonal" lag in my postings.  More color is on the way!!

My Journey

Parkway Series #147  12 x 16   oil   Sold

It is not the subject matter but it is the way the subject is thought of by the artist and how it is painted that makes a successful painting.  This is just a "road"; but the light and shadow, the warm and cool colors, the brush strokes and the story line of "the journey" are meaningful to me.  My journey continues to take me in new directions.  I am determined to find my style and explore new ways of expressing my love of nature as I continue the journey.

Spring in the Valley

Parkway Series #146   12 x 16   oil   sold

When traveling from the valley parkway to higher elevations, you only drive a few feet before you notice the lack of green.  Spring in the valley comes several weeks ahead of Spring on the mountains.  In this painting I actually added the silhouetted leaves on the foreground tree because I could not stand the wintry look of bear limbs.  However, the yellow greens of the valley can be seen in the distance!

New places

Parkway Series #145   12 x 16  oil   Sold

In creating this series of Parkway paintings, I have learned that my ability to paint does not increase in an upward learning curve, but runs in a straight line for months and then jumps to the next level by surprise.  My desire to see more than the camera is beginning to take me to new places.

Refuge

Parkway Series #144   12 x 16   oil   $95.

The value of painting is not in the product; it is in the inner peace and joy received from the product.  The inner peace of being in nature and portraying that feeling is the value for me.  Nature (God's masterpiece) is a refuge from the unsolvable troubles of the world that I long to share with others.  Being quiet and close to God's creation restores me from the noises of the world.