Another intriguing Australian Terrestrial Orchid  was among the many flowers we found on a sunny day last week.  Richard initially saw a plant that seemed to have a differently shaped bud. We noted where it was growing and waited for our expert friend to visit. She identified that it would develop into a Duck-Orchid. Another keen-eyed friend spotted a second one – so we have at least two of them!

Here are photos of the two orchid flowers.

More than one species of Duck-Orchid exists. Unfortunately my Field Guide only contains the Large Flying Duck-Orchid, which seems much darker than the Orchid on our property.  My guess is that this is a different species, but I’m not sure.  It is difficult to obtain field guides to Australian Terrestrial Orchids. The best guide for Victorian Orchids is out of print, so I’m in the process of researching other guides that may…

I had a conversation with a friend the other day about Digital Art.  He wanted to know if I was going to be taking a mix of all my work (i.e. acrylic paintings) or more of my computer art to my upcoming show.  Throughout the chat the words were never said, but the implication was there.  The acrylic paintings were “real art” and the digital stuff…well….not so much.  I myself was resistant to computer generated artwork for years.  I did not think it belonged in the same category as paintings or drawings.  To me it looked “different” and as a traditional painter, I was having trouble with that.  I also did not understand how much hard work it was!  There is also the argument that states that you cannot get a “one of a kind” piece with digitally produced media.  This is true!  But you also cannot get a…

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/christmas-tree-twinkle-sharon-cummings.html

Tis the season for sure around here….commission work hanging on every wall….prints being readied for a show.  Tons of emails to answer from eager people wanting the perfect and unique gift for their loved one on Christmas or Hanukkah. It’s like this every single year and I love it!  The addition of the show preparation is new, so I am even busier than usual.  At some point I will need to find time to decorate my own house and get festive with my family…only another 5 weeks or so…..For now I will get my original Twinkle out to start to mentally prepare.  The original is not for sale, but you can have your own decorated tree using the link above!

Loving All of the Complexities of Life

Life is simple and it is complicated. All in how you want to look at it and what your particular situation is. I choose to love the complexities of life and revel in their colorful mysteries. A flat life would be a colorless one indeed and yet a life saturated in color can start to look colorless as well. I believe that the beauty is in the many variations and how I choose to interpret them. Look closely here and you can see all of the very subtle tales being told. Each area has a bit of mystery to it and taken together is complicated indeed. Although it is all just shades of Red, Green and Gold. Very simple indeed 🙂 So in the end what is the answer is it simple or complex? Again I suppose it is how you want to…

During a visit to the National Zoo in Washington, DC, the male Lion was out for a photo session. It was a cool morning in November and the Lions were very active. This is a full frame image thanks to the Nikon 80.0-400.0 mm lens.

Image Captured with a Nikon D300S Camera, Nikon 80-400 mm f/4.5-5.6G lens, focal Length 400 mm, ISO 800, 1/100 sec at f/6.3, hand held. Noise removed using Nik Dfine 2.0.

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/heart-star-colorful-art-stone-rockd-art-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html

I am going to be in an art show.  This doesn’t sound like big news as most would expect that an artist would be in art shows.  However, after 10 years as a professional artist this is my first show.  My career has not followed a traditional path due to certain physical disabilities that I have faced over those 10 years.  I’ve never made an issue out of them and I never wanted anyone to buy my artwork out of pity, so you will not see mention of any of it in my bio.  Even most of my friends never knew of my greatest issues as I suffered in silence.  Some learned of it as I had times where I could not avoid telling them because it was severe when I was with them.  Most of the time, I just found ways to cope so no one would know…