A Slam Dunk!!

This year you’ve got this……bag the traditionally hyped up gifts or if you must, make them REALLY SPECIAL.  It’s time to think outside of the box. Consider a beautiful piece of artwork that will show your love and affection!  It will last a LIFETIME!  Every time your love looks at the piece hanging on their wall or sitting on their desk they will swell up with a warm feeling.  Seriously….you will blow them away!

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Wanna pump it up a notch and SCORE major points? Sure you do!  Write a love note on the back of the gorgeous print you just bought them.  Perhaps a Neruda poem (look it up….they will melt!)?

Planning on proposing or giving jewelry?  Why be ordinary?  Tape the engagement ring to he back of the romantic print!! Imagine that…..a beautiful ring and a piece of artwork to mark the occasion…

Bryce Canyon Utah views of this incredible canyon. Image number 505.  Bryce Canyon National Park is located in southwestern Utah, USA.  The major feature of the park is Bryce Canyon, which is not a canyon but a collection of giant natural amphitheaters along the eastern side of the Paunsaugunt Plateau.  ( Prints for sale on line –  Bryce Canyon Utah Views 505 )

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/ethereal-orchid-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html

I found this beauty at Selby Gardens in Sarasota Florida.  It’s just a phalaenopsis of the more common variety.  But once I got the photo home and did a little magic, I was able to create a ghostly almost ethereal effect.  

A busy day here…..I am going to do another show in March!  But I will keep new work coming when I can. 🙂

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/blue-dragonfly-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html

I have really been branching out lately into new techniques and media.  I do not know if it is peri-menopause, the rotation of the sun or just a new mindset, but I am feeling so much happier about myself and my work.  I am finding myself a lot less critical and more open to the process of creativity.  “Making a sale” is taking a back seat to “making a moment”.  Yes….I am spreading my wings and it feels so good!

In his series ‘The Real Toy Story’ photographer Michael Wolf captures the truth behind made in China stickers. The series exposes the viewer to row after row of anonymous faces, but it’s effective enough just to see that there are actual people behind the knickknacks rather than a succession of robotic machines. Interspersed within the wide shots of the factory are intimate portraits of laborers, giving even more of a human feel to the series. Though Wolf’s project is, at times, depressing, especially when you think about all the hard work these people put into their livelihood everyday without much acknowledgement, it is also eye-opening and insightful. It is through the photographer’s journalistic eye and his decision to share their faces and work environment that they are finally given some much deserved recognition. (text by my modern met)

Downtown Boulder, Colorado,  “Pearl Street Mall” scenic view from Flagstaff mountain  with a early morning sunrise.   The pedestrian area stretches from 11th Street to 15th Street along Pearl Street and is home to a number of businesses, art galleries and restaurants as well as the Boulder County Courthouse. Boulder is nestled in the foothills, where the rolling plains meet the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Prints for sale online – Downtown Boulder Colorado Morning Sepia View SC

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/big-bill-pelican-art-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html

I got a call on Friday while my husband and I were on a photo shoot in St. Petersburg, Florida.  We were capturing images of the beautiful birds that call our state home.  Pelicans and blue herons mostly.  The call was timely as it came from one of my licensing agents who had just completed a trade show in Atlanta, Georgia.  Her voice was hoarse and weak from all of the talking she had to endure, but she couldn’t wait to give me the news.  They had taken a handful of my animal pieces for display and got a tremendous response from buying agents for zoos, aquariums and museums from around the country.  I was specifically excited to hear that the San Diego Zoo was interested in my work!  More animals she says…….and that is exactly what I was working on! Serendipity is definitely “for the birds”. 🙂

“The reason birds can fly and we can’t is simply because they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings.” – J.M. Barrie

I see a flock of birds flying into the sunset. Taking flight on perfumed air wafting in the last of the evening light. The day is leaving the earth as are the birds. They are flying home to dinner and the security of a warm nest.

Hanging out to see the rest of the flock depart, the braver of the flying animals await the spirits of the night. They make their way into the darkness as it welcomes them with open arms.