Sun Kissed

Noticing how the sun gently kisses and illuminates whatever it touches, has become a real fascination for me.  So much so that I'm creating paintings and lesson plans for a series of watercolor classes in October.

Sunrises and sunsets are magical moments for catching glimpses of glory reflected.  A few weeks ago I got up before sun rise and headed out with my little Sony point and shoot camera to capture the sun's rays on Indiana corn fields. As I waited on a mound of dirt that elevated me above the tops of the corn, I positioned myself for those first rays with great anticipation.  I was rewarded with some wonderful photos for painting studies.

There was another early morning photo shoot in my little garden, as I watched the sun gently kiss and illuminate the zenias, the hostas, the morning glories and even my tomato plant leaves.

Of course, I have photos of sunsets on the Pacific and sunrises on the Atlantic from this summer - always dramatic.

From time to time I write haiku's to condense and express my thoughts about something.  As I was swimming my laps in the pool, I wrote a haiku that I forgot to write down when I got home.  But I did reconstruct another one.
                  Sun Kissed
Sun rise  sun set  glow
Gent ly kiss ing cre-a-tion
Re veal ing Glo ry.

So, here are some of the paintings I've enjoyed working on trying to capture the essence of the sun's kiss.

Sun Kissed Corn

Sun Kissed Corn 2

Glorious Web

Autumn Blaze

Salisbury Beach Sunrise

Salisbury Beach Sunrise #2 in progress  - trying to capture a bit more of the atmosphere I felt, not as dark as the first one, still in process

Inspired by the Ocean!

This has been a full summer of travel.  I've been to the Pacific Ocean in June and the Atlantic Ocean in August.  The ocean is always a place of beauty and inspiration.  I'm always mesmerized by the waves, the sun, the birds, the changing sky and atmosphere.

The photographer in me tried to capture many of the beautiful changing scenes my eyes saw.  I took well over 400 photos of the oceans alone, (not to mention the ones of family and sites we saw!)

When I came home I wanted to try to capture the essence of the dynamic beauty I'd seen. It seemed the medium to use was pastels.  Pastels are something I've only dabbled in - but enjoy each time I do.  Here are a few paintings inspired by Little Sur, near Cambria, California.  Next, I'd like to paint the Atlantic.

This is not the ocean - it is a sunset in the wake of the boat on Bond Lake, Illinois