What a fascinating creature a caterpillar is. It starts life as a pest and turns into a beautiful butterfly that can help to pollinate our food crops and perpetuate our ability to feed ourselves. According to Wikipedia ” Some species of caterpillars are pests because in their larval stages they can damage domestic crops or trees; however, some species are agents of pollination of some plants, and caterpillars of a few butterflies (e.g., Harvesters) eat harmful insects.” So truly life can be a matter of perspective and time. How you see something and what role it plays are different depending on when you look at what you are looking at. A caterpillar is a great example of this. Do you see it as a pest or a beautiful creature that helps to feed us?

Nature and life fascinate me. They are an ever evolving portrait of creation and evolution. I…

It is hard to take simple pictures. Too often I’ve looked at the day’s harvest of images only to see tree limbs, cars, people, and who knows what else in the background. Sometimes no matter how much I try and frame a subject just right against the sky or a mass of foliage something shows up that I didn’t plan on. So I was really pleased with this image, which has only the simplest of elements and was thus the perfect vehicle for this quote from Robert Pirsig, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

Available as a print here.

I am a certified color junkie.  Ever since I can remember colors were never bright enough for me.  There were never enough in my environment to satisfy me.  The world was boring and I’ve always wanted more.  It’s why you just don’t see muted pastels in my art (or maybe you do).  I use the brightest and most vibrant colors I can find and mix, but you may not see all of them.  And now there may be a scientific explanation for my extreme color cravings.  An unknown number of women may perceive 
millions of colors invisible to the rest of us.  These women have four cones in their eye for detecting colors.  The vast majority of people only have three.  I am not a scientist, so I will just post a link (some text in this blog is referenced from this article):

http://discovermagazine.com/2012/jul-aug/06-humans-with-super-human-vision#.UcROCfk3vMU

Scientists have dubbed…

As I am browsing around Fine Art America today, I stumble across this gorgeous piece titled “Red Lotus Flowers”.  Being the color junkie that I am, I am immediately drawn in.  I love the bright red petals that contrast with the vivid blue sky.   It has so much visual texture in the green leaves and interest.  It looks like something I would hang in my own home.  Much to my great pleasure, I see that this piece belongs to my friend Laura Carter.  She and I go way back to the beginning of online art sales together.  We survived the eBay years listing side by side.  We may go years without speaking, but always rekindle our appreciation and respect for one another now and again.  Laura has a unique style and emotive expression in all of her work.  I took some time to go through her entire portfolio on…

I see many emotions in this painting. Joy and Sorrow and everything in between. The range of emotion is played out in the colors and the shapes. I see sad faces and happy faces. I really enjoy the way that the colored emotions are strong in some places and weaker in others. Just as in life, things play out the way that they are meant to and we are along for the ride.

My take on life at this point is that you do your best, try to stay positive, and realize that not everything happens the way that I think it should. There are many mysteries yet to be unveiled and many paths not yet taken. Finding joy in the many small places each day is a constant challenge and reward at the same time.

That’s right…it’s not a fish today. 😉  I do enjoy creating artwork with animals as the subject matter.  The Universe has provided us with such an array…so many colors, textures and expressions.  When a friend agreed to allow me to photograph her companion lizard Lizzy, I was thrilled.  Such a beautiful gecko girl with large expressive eyes.  Perfect for a great art painting.  Contrary to the popular belief that reptiles are cold and heartless, Ms. Lizzy is quite the love bug wanting scratches and touch.  Some say reptiles only learn trust and safety and that is why they can respond affectionately.  This may be true, but either way she was a joy to play with, photograph and paint!

Learn more about my lizard art here:

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/ready-to-leap-lizard-art-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html

This flower is a type of Sedum which is part of a larger family commonly known as stonecrops.. The flower on this plant is just amazing. It starts small and then just keeps blooming and growing over the course of a couple of weeks. It is such fun to go out every day and see how much it has changed. Placed next to some ground cover and a tree branch it is really striking. I love being in my garden and taking photographs out there as well.

I very much enjoyed  turning this photograph into a painting. Look closely and see the very small brush strokes. This painted look gives the photograph a much softer feeling than the original. I hope you like it.

When I was a little girl, I was fascinated with photography.  I had my little Kodak Ektra camera and I would take quick snaps everywhere I went.  The most exciting part of the process was always going to the drug store to pick up the developed photographs.  Back then there was no one hour photo.  It took about 5 days and the anticipation would drive me crazy!  I would constantly ask my Mom if they were ready yet.  Then I would revel at the surprise shot.  The one that wasn’t anticipated.  A casual shot that turned out to be a “wow”.  Today it isn’t much different.  I still take snaps wherever I go whenever something catches my eye.  And then when I get home, the anticipation of downloading them on my computer is the same as when I was young.  The only difference is now I wait mere minutes instead of days…

I have been drawing and painting fish for as long as I can remember.  Growing up and living in Florida has allowed me to see a variety of marine life up close and personal.  I have spent many hours at local beaches swimming and snorkeling.  For years my family lived next door to a fish market on Siesta Key in Sarasota.  Every day I would go over just to watch the fish swim in the huge aquarium they had on display.  I particularly loved to see the clown fish.  That burst of orange contrasting with the white and black is one of natures finest masterpieces.  Yesterday I was interviewed for a feature and one of the questions was:  What inspires my art?  And my answer was that it was an accumulation of my life’s imagery.  It’s no wonder my portfolio is filled with the ocean…

Learn more about my aquatic…