Petals in the Breeze

STORY

I love pink trees - what can I say. When spring time comes around - it gives me a lot of pleasure to see the beautiful trees in bloom. I was blessed to get an afternoon free this spring so that I could make this painting. It was a really windy day and the clouds were rolling in. I'd been itching to paint some of the pink trees I was seeing and by the time I was able to get an afternoon free, they were starting to fade already. I wasn't going to let a little wind and rain stop me from making this painting. I knew I had to be really quick, but had some difficulty choosing a tree. I was stopped in my tracks by the beauty of a cheery tree in blossom in front of the Police Credit Union on Highway #2 in Pickering. Funny thing was - once I got out of the car, it was a smaller blooming bush just outside the old Saturn dealership that really seemed to be what I was looking for. I painted as fast as I could because I could see the storm clouds rolling in - I just finished up in time to get my painting supplies back in the car before the rain really started to come down. Hope you like it.


POETRY

'Petals in the Breeze'

Petals in the breeze
Dance the Spiral
Flow of life
With no regrets.

Blossoms bloom and fade;
Celebration
Of this day...
Blissful freedom.

Open to the now
Like a petal
In the breeze,
With gratitude.


PAINTING
Acrylics on Maisonite -- 11" x 24"
See more of my landscape paintings here:
http://www.museon.com/landscape/html/thumb-1.html

World Tree

STORY

It was a glorious fall day. The sun was shining, crisp and clear. The colours were at their height, magnified in the sunshine. The sky was impossibly beautifully blue; only gets that clear and intense in the fall when it's magnified with all the ambient orange foliage. It was after lunch and I was walking in the park with my camera just soaking in all the colour. On a forest path... just me, the trees, sky, birds and sunshine. Life has some very sweet moments.

I noticed off to the side of the path some of the most intense orange and yellows I had ever seen and had to stop to explore. The creator of that colour was a large old oak tree. I spent a long time looking at that tree. Being quiet and listening in nature, opens the heart.

This painting is my attempt to share this experience. I wanted to make a portrait of a tree... but more than that - I was trying to give a feeling of the universal tree - the lungs of the earth - supporting all life...

Funny thing about the painting process. Sometimes things just show up. I was not initially trying to put a figure in the tree - she just showed up somehow...

POETRY

'World Tree'

She stands
Arms outstretched
Connection between
Heaven and Earth.
Rooted in the seasons
Reaching through time
Watching the cycles flow
Holding love, light, life...
She stands

PAINTING

Title: World Tree
Size: 20" x 36"
Medium: Acrylic on Canvas


Gallery wrapped canvas, no frame necessary.

I use Artist Quality acrylic paints to create my paintings and my paintings are varnished with Gloss Polymer Varnish with UVLS.

Please note, the copyright watermark does not appear on the original. Also, the rights to reproduce this image remains with the artist.

Flamingos in the River

Flamingos fascinate me so much, I can watch them for hours at the Toronto Zoo. It's not only their shape and movement, but that in itself is really something. I mean really...

IMPOSSIBLE GRACE

Big pink eggs on stilts...
Terodactyl heads
On end of garden hose.
Yellow eyes watching...
Noisy commotion momentarily;
Flamingos in the River...

Not even the most off the wall afternoon TV reality show can hold a candle to the sheer drama of a flock of flamingos. These birds can EMOTE! Not only that, they do it in chorus. If you spend some time watching a flock of flamingos, you will notice that... the flock is an entity - these birds are so much part of each other - they move, sleep, eat, and fight like one.

This painting was created using a photograph I took at the Toronto Zoo. It was a quite time in the flock - most were sleeping only one bird who was looking for food in the water, took a moment to look up and make sure the silly woman with the camera was staying in her place.

PAINTING

Title: Flamingos in the River
Size: 18" x 27"
Medium: Acrylic on Maisonite

Sold

Blue Teapot

STORY

I love beautiful objects... pots, cups, saucers, bottles, teapots, you name it. Can't explain it. Makes it dangerous to take me into second hand stores. I usually fall in love with something and have to have it. This teapot was one of these found treasures. It is just so beautiful, I had to include it in a still life. The lace tablecloth in this painting was handmade by my Grandmother and was given to me as a teen. I truly treasure it. Nanny made one of these beautiful hand-crocheted tablecloths for all of her daughters, daughters-in-laws, and granddaughters. I really love blue and orange together - it gave me a lot of pleasure to paint this picture.

Drinking tea with friends is another treasured activity of mine. I wanted this painting to show how we are getting ready for a time of friendship with the special women in our lives.

POETRY

Girlfriend

Make way for beauty
Make way for lace
Remember the love
Remember the place

The tea warms our bodies
The love warms our souls
Our friendship is special
Our stories we've told

In my heart you'll be dear
For now and always
Waiting to share
Our feelings and days.

This painting has been sold

Touch the Sky

STORY

This old willow stands on a corner of Petticoat Creek. I have been watching this tree for many years and am always struck at it's majesty and an incredible sense of dignity. It is so very beautiful and serene, and standing there on the bank of the creek in the early spring sunshine, painting this painting outside plein air was quite a special time for me.

I find that this time of the year - late March and early April, when the trees are still bare but the buds are growing and the land is pregnant with spring... is like a pause, a quiet breath, a sigh of sheer delight at the return of the sunshine and the warm weather. You can almost hear the sap running and all the preparations nature is making for the coming growing season - but there is no hurry... In nature, there never seems to be any hurry. No need to rush as we humans are apt to do. To be quiet, to be still and wait for the glorious summer to unfold is enough - but the waiting does not negate the incredible glory of this early spring time. Nature celebrates every moment with beauty.

Painting outside is a high-point of my life as an artist. The part that is so compelling to me is that the process of painting becomes a communion with nature; very spiritual. Like a prayer that is continually answered with natural abundance. It is bliss, a feeling of being connected with all things. The more you paint, the more you can see. What was once flat and gray becomes luminous and glows with glorious colours.

It is in the fullness of this sense of connection with nature that I made this painting and wrote the poem 'Touch the Sky. In this poem, the tree itself tells a little bit of it's life story. The wonderful thing about painting outside is that as you slow down and become more attentive, you can almost hear the trees whispering. I don't think it surprising at all that they would whisper poetry.

POETRY

Touch the Sky

I stand here rooted
Where my seed fell.
I've watched the world
With stories to tell.

The sky, he called me
To my height.
Many the years
I've seen the light.

The sun, he shines
On this Spring's day.
The birds, they call.
The squirrels, they play.

The creek, she calls me
To my sleep.
Reflections dance
Into the deep.

Before I die
I'll touch the sky,
And sweep the clouds
With my branches held high.


PAINTING

Title: Touch the Sky
Size: 30 inches Wide x 24 inches High x 2 inches Deep
Medium: Acrylics on Gallery Canvas

The image of this painting continues on the sides of the canvas, it can be hung without a frame, or you may frame it if you like.

Mona-Lisa & Harriot

FERAL LOVE

Feral Love,
Lost innocence,
Abandoned and forgotten.
Life's fragile courage,
Affirms 'We're here!"

Sister's love,
Twined together,
Adopted and accepted.
A kind neighbor savior,
Creates loving home.


STORY: This feral cat family was found by a kind lady in the neighborhood who took them in and found them all homes.

ARTWORK:
Title: Mona-Lisa & Harriot
Medium: Charcoal on Paper
Size: 14" x 17" (Unframed)
Price: $150 (Paypal Accepted)