Colorado offers such a great active lifestyle. Everywhere you turn there is nature’s beauty to enjoy, add incredible weather on top of it and you have the perfect Colorado lifestyle. It is places like and views like this that made me fall in Love with Colorado and Boulder County. This is a short drive up the foothills of the Rocky Mountain Flagstaff mountain and you get a view of snow covered mountain peaks as well as out into the plains.  My new happy place. Everyone should take a walk in the woods it does a body good to get in touch with the peacefulness of nature. I could sit on the bench in the forest for hours and gaze at the view. ( Prints for sale online –  Taking In The View )

Fire In The Sky

Freedom
Is
Relived
Everlasting

Into
Nowhere

The
Heavens
Embrace

Stars
Kiss
Yearning

Save

Save

Save

Scenic landscape view of freshly snow dusted Flatirons and people hiking at Chautauqua Park, Boulder Colorado. I really believe that you can not take a bad picture of the Flatirons. They are so majestic and are always changing with the light and weather. (Prints for sale online – Dusted Flatirons Chautauqua Park Boulder Colorado )

The hard to find male Scarlet Tanagers are among the most beautiful birds in the eastern forest. They have rich red bodies and black wings. This is a mixed media artwork on canvas with texture. 8×10″

On Auction for 7 days – Starting Bid is $9.99 and No Reserve

GO TO AUCTION

scarlet tanager art

songbird art

red bird art

While I still have not found time to learn the camera or even adjust the settings (this Sunday for sure!), I am taking the advice of many of you and shooting everything I see!  While on the way to work, I passed by the site of my Amateur Mistake and decided to try again.

One more thing … I’m attending a meeting at the Boars Head in Charlottesville, VA.  This next photo is a a completely unedited photo of the sunrise on the ice of the pond.

Practice, Practice, Practice

“My Cup Runneth Over” is a quotation from the Hebrew Bible^[1] (Psalm 23:5) and means “I have more than enough for my needs”.  As I spent a good part of this week painting a bathroom instead of canvas, this sentiment could not have been more true.  My husband and I worked the remodel project ourselves and it gave us a lot of time to talk.  William spent a few year living in Southeast Asia on a small island in Indonesia.  Modern plumbing was scarce and the average American potty would seem like opulent luxury to those poor people.  I am thankful for all that I have including indoor plumbing.  We have two rest rooms…..more than enough for our needs…..indeed.  My cup runneth over…..

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/bird-talk-bird-of-paradise-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html

There is no shortage of strange and fascinating flora and fauna in Florida.  Luckily we grow more than mold. 😉  I’ve always been attracted to The Bird Of Paradise flower.  The leaves and are boring and a dull green, but when they flower it is an explosion of color!

As I continue my photographic learning journey, I am delighted with the choices I now have.  I can choose to list a pure photograph or I can process the imaged to create a unique work of art. Either way it is a joy to create!

New Life Forming

Nebulous
Expressions of
Wisdom

Leaving
Interference
Frees
Experience

Foundations
Overcoming
Resistance
Migrates
Insight
Nearer to
Gratitude

Save

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/inner-strength-abstract-painting-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html

If you are an artist or photographer who has a dream of making a career out of your craft, you will need three things:  practice, promotion and patience.  And you will need them exactly in that order.

Practice means that you will be painting a lot of paintings.  Many will be thrown right in the trash because they just didn’t work out.  Photographers will be taking many photos in a single shoot only to find that none of them work or if you are lucky one is good enough to list for sale.  You will try new things that will either be total flops or lead you to something really cool and interesting.  You will invest money that seemingly never pays off.  These days I sell about 5 prints a day on average from the various POD sites I am on and about 2 originals per week. The majority…