Happy New Year 2023

This week I am sharing two snow scenes that give me a sense of tranquility. Both are from the Seattle area taken a couple of years ago right after a Christmas snow. I have shared these scenes in the past, but since then have added some inspirational thought. As we head into a busy holiday season, to me it’s important to take a step back and appreciate all that we are and all that we have. Sometimes we get so tied up in the current events of the world and our individual lives that we lose sense of any calming peace.

Just take a step back, seek the peace and beauty within your life. Take it in…take it all in to appreciate what you have. Perfection doesn’t exist and there will always be issues and challenges dragging us down, but only if we let them.

Seek His Peace: Snow Clearing In The Woods

This is a challenge I put upon myself on a daily basis as I start each day. Am I always successful? No, but more times than not, I am. And when I am…..the world and my life look completely different.

Thoughts? As I have said before, everyone reacts to visual art techniques and looks differently, so I am not in the least offended by opinions.

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Pointillism in a Variety of Settings

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Pointillism is a unique method of using small dots of paint that collectively form a subject. It was developed in 1886. Click Wikipedia for further detail. With the onset of digital art, it is a style that can be replicated. I have created a few art prints with this technique and have shared some of them in the past. Today, I wanted to share 5 prints where I used this technique. The prints represent a variety of subjects and I thought it was interesting to show all five to see how this technique works with the different perspectives. Pointillism generally softens and lightens almost any subject it is applied to.

The first two prints are fall based subjects.

The setting in the next print switches gears from these subtle fall colors as it’s a farm setting in Iowa during the winter months. No snow, just earthen tones.

The next print takes us to a mountain meadow lake near Whistler, British Columbia. The color mixture (still softened) brings in natures basic colors

The final two prints move us into the heart of Denver, Colorado with two famous landmarks in downtown Denver. The first one is the D&F Tower which sits on the 16th Street Mall. This pedestrian mall connects the State Capital on one end of downtown to Union Station on the other end with lots of office buildings, stores and hotels in-between.

This technique creates a very unique visual experience.

Thoughts? As I have said before, everyone reacts to visual art techniques and looks differently, so I am not in the least offended by opinions.

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A Week For Thankfulness

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This week the United States celebrates Thanksgiving. The time together with family and friends on the specific day makes me pause and think about all of the things to be thankful for. We live in an imperfect world fill with blessings and challenges….some random, some self created. In my opinion, this is the time to take a step back and focus on all the beauty of life as we live it. It’s easy to get caught up in the negativity of the world we live in, being reminded of it daily via news and online access.

I start with being thankful for all of the people in my life that I love and enjoy. Whether it be family or friends. Think about how many people you have come to know and love throughout your life. Be thankful for the love that comes from those relationships as well as the guidance we receive from others experience.

Think about the beauty of the world we live in and how inspiring nature is in its natural state.

From that overall view point, I come down to those quiet, peaceful moments with those closest to you albeit a parent, spouse, child or very close friend. In those moments we help each other grow and find peace within.

And that brings me back to my faith and trusting in His faithfulness and being grateful for it.

Again, I’m not saying there aren’t issues and challenges we all face daily, but I do believe it’s good to take a step back and think about the people and things that we are blessed with.

Thoughts? As I have said before, everyone reacts to visual art techniques and looks differently, so I am not in the least offended by opinions.

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Gothic Style Art Prints – That Old World Look

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Within most of my art galleries you will see this style of art print. It’s created using a digital technique that uses deep earth tones for color…..lots of brown hues. I got hooked on this style when I saw it used in an old historic mansion from the 1920’s. This style was used to create a warm and old world look. I have featured it before, but have attached some prints that represent different geographies in North America.

We’ll start in a New England village on the east coast with a scene of a village street using the gothic style.

We head south to New Orleans for the next couple of prints.

And then up to Whistler, British Columbia for the final one.

So even completely changing the subject matter, doesn’t really change that old world feeling because of the style and color hues used.

Thoughts? As I have said before, everyone reacts to visual art techniques and looks differently, so I am not in the least offended by opinions.

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Ready For Boarding and Up In The Air We Go

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In this weeks blog I’m featuring two Hot Air Balloon art prints that I haven’t shared before. I have shared a number of my prints in prior blogs and they all go back to two locations: Coastal San Diego or Avondale, Arizona (Phoenix metropolitan area). I go back to the photo shoots from both areas and always think of different techniques I could try for creating new art. The one consistency between both is that I typically capture hot air balloons in the many stages of inflation as it creates unique art pieces. That’s not to say I haven’t also captured your typical “sailing in the air” moments. Today I’m sharing two pieces that show both inflated ready to fly and half inflated balloons being prepped for flight. I created both using an abstract drawing and watercolor technique that creates the general forms and look, without the specific detail. The colors and patterns on the balloons speak for themselves making each one a unique art piece.

The first one is “Ready For Boarding” which focuses on an inflated balloon ready to be boarded for flight. The perspective is a close cropped aspect of the gondola tied into the balloon that is “Ready for Boarding”.

The next print is another balloon ready for flight, but in this perspective I depicted the entire balloon with a back ground of other balloons being inflated.

Thoughts? As I have said before, everyone reacts to visual art techniques and looks differently, so I am not in the least offended by opinions.

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My art gallery: TheWallGallery

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Griffith Park – Hiking

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My wife and I were Los Angeles a few weeks ago visiting our middle daughter, her husband and two of our grandchildren. They live in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles which bumps up to Griffith Park. If you are not familiar with Griffith Park, it was created in 1896 and is one of the largest municipal parks in the United States. It is home to the Los Angeles Zoo, the Autry Museum of the American West, the Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood Sign. Along with that, golf courses, picnic areas and hiking. It encompasses the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains, which provides some awesome trails to hike or horse back ride. The trails are wide and take you up into the mountains with stunning views. For more details: Wikipedia

So onto the hiking part. I have hiked some of the lower trails with my grandchildren (4 & 6), but those are the ones that follow the valleys and are close to their home. Having said that, I have always wanted to hike up the other trails, but they are too much for the kids. I had an afternoon open while they were both in school and did a spur of the moment thing and took off hiking. I did not take my camera and all of the shots in this post were from my cell phone (just wanted to make that disclaimer).

The first capture is the first picture I took (I hadn’t even thought about taking pictures when I left, but as I got higher up the trail…….). This capture is looking down at where I started. The green lawn with the building in the middle is one of the golf courses and is close to where I started the hike. On the right side of the picture, you can see the trail as it starts to wind up the mountain.

The next capture brings into perspective the trail I had hiked. This particular morning had been foggy, but it burned off about an hour before I started. I add this to let you know that the buildings in the background is downtown LA and that isn’t smog, but remnants of the fog. I also mention it because you will see a completely different look to the sky when I get to the top and show you the other side of these mountains.

You see the trail as it climbs up in elevation.

The next shot is still following the trail I had hiked to get to this point.

You can see how it follows the terrain…..

This capture brings you up to where I had stopped to take these shots. Notice the width of the trail. It almost looks like a road, but again it handles horse back riding and pedestrian hikers.

I took this shot at the top and it looks back to the Santa Monica Mountains that form the park and go all the way west to the ocean dividing the Los Angeles Basin from the San Fernando Valley.

Turning around from the shot above is the top I hiked to. What you are now seeing is the city of Glendale which lies at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains in between Burbank and Pasadena.

This shot shows one of the golf courses that bumps up to Interstate 5 heading north into Burbank. This is literally where the LA Basin winds around the end of the Santa Monica Mountains and feeds into the San Fernando Valley.

There is still that haze in the air, but notice in these last two shots, clouds developing over the mountains. They turned into afternoon showers in the San Fernando Valley later in the day