Monthly Archives: May 2018

The Masts Have It – Featured Art Prints

Here in the United States, we celebrate Memorial Day the last weekend in May. It is a national holiday to honor our fallen soldiers. Since it is a three-day weekend, it also has become the unofficial beginning of summer and summer activities. As we honor our fallen, we also celebrate life with family and friends and for many parts of the country it is a time to finally get out and celebrate sunshine and outdoor activities. I was fortunate enough to be in New England a few years back at this time of the year. I can’t help but think of the scene I have featured here when I think of this three-day weekend. Boating, fishing and enjoying the great outdoors.

I created these two prints using an abstract watercolor technique. This particular technique creates sharp lines and shapes. With the detail of the masts, I wanted to keep them and the harbor as the focal point. What you are seeing is two, two mast boats side by side in both prints.

Majestic Boat

I love the majesty of these boats and can only image the splendor with their sails unfurled.

Docked Masts

Thoughts?

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Fog – Featured Art Prints

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I can honestly say I haven’t really ever tried to take pictures of fog….not saying I haven’t, but just not actively sought it out as a subject matter. Having lived here in the desert Southwest for over 4 years , I have almost forgotten what it looks like. Our house in San Diego was just three miles off the coast, so very familiar with it for all of those 20+ years we lived there. Having said all of that, these three art prints have that item in common…they all have fog in the composition of the setting. Not “oops” I can’t see anything fog, but subtle mood setting hints of fog. All three of these scenes were created from photographs where I used a classic watercolor technique to soften them up to complement the fog feature.

This first scene is along the Oregon coastline and the fog was just lifting from the surf as you can see along the top of the frame and also along the bluffs in the background.

The Rock in the Coastal Surf

This next feature is the entrance to a fishing harbor along the New England coastline. Again, the fog isn’t prominent in the scene, but sets a tone in the background against the trees.

“Morning Fog In The Village”

This last picture takes us back to Oregon, where the low-lying fog was burning off above this farm. It had been a morning of light rain, when the clouds started to break up. The farm actually caught my attention, but when I realized I also was capturing the fog drifting over the field, knew it was a perfect combo.

“The Fog and The Farm”

In all three, the fog adds a feel and look to the final scene that would convey an entirely different message without it. Thoughts?

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Take a Deep Breath and Focus on What is Truly Important

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This simple message has been true throughout human history. It seems so relevant today with all of the negativity and anger we are exposed to daily, but the reality is….that environment has been with mankind always. None of us are perfect and we all have our agendas, but that doesn’t mean we can’t take a step back and hear a message we were given long ago.

Love is very powerful, even amongst the chaos of negativity. I chose these two pictures to use with an overlay of this message as a perfect fit. I took both shots as summer afternoon monsoon thunderstorms were dying down here in the Arizona desert and the sun was setting. Both shots depict a small clearing in the sky with brilliant color reflecting off of the powerful and chaotic thunderstorms. Simple, yet powerful message amidst the chaos…..

Love Each Other Sky

Love Each Other Thunderheads

Thoughts?

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Old World Fountain Urns – Featured Art Prints

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This week I am featuring two art prints from my Gardens Gallery of large urns that I found in a garden fountain. I found the fountain at a Napa Valley winery, just outside of the tasting room. The fountain was quite large and had a distinct old world charm to it. Doing some research and questioning, I found out that the owner had these urns custom-made and shipped in from another country for that specific look. They sit on platforms in a shallow pool of water, with water bubbling up through the middle and coming out the top…just subtle enough to lend that soft bubbling water sound as it washes over the top rim and trickles down the outside of the urns.

With this as an inspiration for a couple of art prints, I chose a technique called gothic to recreate that old world painted look for these urns. This technique uses bold brush strokes and earthen colors giving the prints warm, aged tones.