Wild Lands Wild Painting

"Chamisa Essence", 18 x 24, Pastel on Pastelbord

Our wild lands are free, unabashed, driven by nature. I always feel it bit intrusive when I'm in them, feel like treading where I shouldn't be but feel blessed and touched by a spiritual wand while I'm there. Wild lands have always appealed to me. When I'm there it's like going to my spiritual home. I try to capture the beauty I see there and how I feel when I express myself through my art. This painting was inspired by a scene from the Lake Tahoe Conservancy Land.

 Sierra Art Trails ttp://www.sierraarttrails.org/index.html announced that they will have a national exhibition in November called "Our Wild Lands". I hope I get accepted. This is one of two paintings I'm entering for the show.  

The Praying Mantis and Me

I had a spiritual connection with a praying mantis a couple of weeks ago. I was at our rec center pool where my husband and I go to water aerobics class. I put my towel down on a table and noticed a white/straw colored (maybe she was albino) praying mantis sitting at the edge of the table looking, staring deeply at me. She looked right into my eyes. I felt an instant communication between the two of us. What was being communicated I did not know, but I know some exchange had taken place between us. At the end of class, I went to shower off and when I walked out of the shower/bathroom I felt my head itching. I reached up to scratch when whoooops....out jumped the mantis. She landed on the cement deck then hopped away. Very strange I thought. I went up to a very wonderful and spiritual artist friend who is also in the class. I told her of my experience with the mantis. She explained that the mantis seeing my hair color as the same as her eggs( I don't have green hair, the mantis pictured here is not the one I had the encounter with) thought it to be a good place to which to plant her eggs and that it is to be taken as a good sign for she entrusted in me the  care of her precious creations and contribution to life. It is said that when one looks into the eyes of a praying mantis one feels the presence of god and this is exactly what I felt. Needless to say, she did not leave her eggs in my hair but I felt as if I had been touched by a higher essence. I felt blessed. Just remembering the incident sends chills of a good kind through me. OK so are words necessary for spiritual or divine connectivity? Does instinct that goes against all logical reason have a purpose? Does our creativity have to follow accepted/approved guide lines? What are your thoughts on this please.... ?  



Feelings, Memories and Emotion in The Painting

"Chamisa on High", 12 x 16, Pastel on Canson Mi-Tientes paper.

Recently, we had a family reunion in Lake Tahoe, California with our children and grand children to celebrate my husband's 75th birthday. During my time there I drank in the beauty and joy from being in such a beautiful place with my beautiful family. I brought these feelings home with me plus around 200 photos to spark my memory for I knew then I would paint a series of works focused on this place and time. I incorporated my feelings not only of the beauty of the land but also the joy of being with my family into these paintings. When I look at the completed ones now, I feel an over whelming sense of peace and serenity.  Stay tuned for the second in the series.