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Good ol’ Honest Abe.  It is interesting how artists over the years have fixated on certain historic or iconic figures as subject for many creative pieces.  I have a few that I come back to over and over again. Abraham Lincoln is one of them.  Presidents who get assassinated seem to really “stick” with us, but that is not the allure.  He was not a handsome man by any standards, but there is something about his eyes, nose and long face that just says “calm assertiveness”.  And that is sexy!  His features were very prominent and strong which also has appeal.  Lots of contrast to work with. A perfect playground for an artist!  I know when I watch movies, I am always most attracted to strong men with “presence” regardless of their looks….that is what Abe had….”A presence”…..And that alone is enough to get the temperature up a degree…

Stopped at the bird blinds in Pendernales Falls State Park, Texas. The area around the blinds was planted as a butterfly garden and was filled with butterflies, most of them were Queens as seen in this image.

Image Captured with a Nikon D300S Camera, Nikon 80-400 mm f/4.5-5.6G lens, focal Length 370 mm, ISO 400, 1/125 sec at f/5.6, hand held. Noise removed using Nik Dfine 2.0

Friends, this foliage is gone for now, but a little reminder of the wonderful fall that has now passed us by.  The maples are the highlight of my fall, they seem to turn every shade of yellow, orange and red before they pass into winter snow.  til Tomorrow MJ

Working on some new pieces for my upcoming show.  My love of dogs makes painting them a natural to me.  It’s interesting as I am painting more on canvas again and scanning these…the canvas texture makes the image look a little blurry, but then I realized that I am comparing them to the ultra smooth perfect background of digital work.  See like I mentioned in a post a few days ago….it is VERY DIFFERENT!  But both are beautiful. 🙂  I hope you enjoy my dog art paintings as much as I enjoy making them.

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I am creating new original paintings for my upcoming show.  I do a lot more digital work these days, so it is a nice change to go back to more visceral creativity.  I am recreating some of my pieces from 9 years ago, but with a different twist.  Unfortunately the camera I had back then didn’t capture my work well enough for large prints.  But these can go as large as 48×60!  Now that is big and definitely “Standing Tall”!  Happy Sunday all…..

Both of these towns are in Eastern France.  Annecy is known for a boat shaped building.  It is so well known that you will not see it here because I always want to do something different.  The final three photos are from Colmar which has a very German flavor to it.  All are from a 2009 visit.  It’s actually faster to drive through Switzerland to get from one of these towns to the other.

This near full frame image was captured from the deck of the boat we were on while visiting the Galapagos Islands. The angle of the image is unusual for me since it was captured from the side and slightly above the bird in flight not the underside.

Image Captured with a Nikon D300S Camera, Nikon 80-400 mm f/4.5-5.6G lens, focal Length 400 mm, ISO 200, 1/640 sec at f/6.3. Noise removed using Nik Dfine 2.0.

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/perfect-balance-2-yin-and-yang-stone-rockd-art-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html

It can be difficult to find balance in your life when you have so many demands pulling you in different directions.  Family, friends, work, health, etc. all need a place.  I create and list a lot of work and many have asked me things like “Do you sleep?”  I get 8 hours a night. I also market my work heavily and some have wondered how on earth I do it.  With experience, I have become extremely efficient at marketing.  I am also pretty handy with the camera and scanner.  I do most things quickly….I always have.  Patience is not one of my virtues!  I not only run a thriving successful art business, I also grow an organic garden, care for my daughter, care for animals and cook/prepare 95% of my own meals (Celiac).  I shop for my family, clean house and exercise every single day.  I go to dinner…

This is how it all began….my Labor Of Love series.  This was my very first piece titled “A River Runs Through It” after the movie.  Choosing titles is always an interesting endeavor!  This painting is actually a single piece.  I divided it into three pieces because that is the only way I could photograph it at the time (9 years ago) and have it look good.  My camera could not process it in it’s entirety without it looking blurry.  I am so glad I did as to this day these are some of my best sellers!  

I am painting some new originals for my upcoming show.  These take a lot of time and patience so this will be a real treat for my fans.  I have not created many new works in this series in the last few years.  Namely because they just do not make a…