New Book: In Praise of Mountain Waters

Announcing my new book, In Praise of Mountain Waters

Available at Amazon.com

And Happy New Year!

A Wish for Peace

No painting this week, rather a wish for peace and joy to all people everywhere.

A Capella

"A Capella"   16" x 12"   Oil on Canvas

$200  Click HERE to buy

The point of view is pretty much the same as "Winter's Birth," located just to the left of "Winter Morning on the Tallulah."  This section of the Tallulah has always been my favorite.  Here the river is quiet and serene as it takes a u-turn towards another direction.  And this tree double tree stops me every time I go to the river.  Perhaps I'm caught by its duality:  two distinct trunks growing from the same root system, singing trio with the river, A Capella.

Slight Delay

This week's painting will be a day late.  That's how it goes during the Christmas season.
    Dianne

Winter Morning on Tallulah Road

"Winter Morning on Tallulah Road"     16" x 12"   Oil on Canvas

SOLD

Recently I said to a friend, "I'm actually looking forward to winter."  He did a double take.  And I won't stake my life on that attitude lasting until springtime, but the colors I'm seeing in the winter grays are capturing my attention.  Winter as a metaphor suggests cold, gray and scant of life, but this winter I'm seeing a new beginning.  There is an openness that makes the stars visible at night, that lets me see the deer grazing in the deepest parts of my woods--things that are hidden when summer's foliage is in play.

This week's painting is a section of the Tallulah road from a photo shoot I did last January. It was early in the morning at a time when clouds were taking turns diffusing the sunlight.  Shadows across the road were alternating between disappearing and appearing again.  At times when they were clearly defined, the greens of the mountain laurel and rhododendron sparkled and the grays in the woods reflected subtle reds, purples and blues.

And it was so cold ice cycles were hanging from rocks in areas blocked from the sunlight.  But I was so intent on capturing what the light was doing to those grays, I didn't notice my freezing fingers until I was back in the car.

Winter's Birth

"Winter's Birth"    8" x 10"   Oil on Board
       CLICK HERE TO BUY

For the first time in ages, I am excited about the grays of winter.  From the time the sun comes up until it sets in the evening, the colors I'm seeing in my leaf-bare woods are nothing short of exhilarating.

This little painting is taken from one of my favorite spots on the Tallulah River where the river takes an S-curve, almost as if it's circling back.  It's one of the few places where the waters are quiet.  At this time of year all the summer's foliage has gone, leaving only scant spots of green from the pines, firs, laurel and rhododendrun.  This absence of greens allows the colors among the grays to become the stars.  Looking more closely and without prejudice, you can see purples, blues, yellows, oranges, reds and yes, greens.

Think about it.  We have a communal notion that grays are drab and depressing.  But isn't that a prejudice that prevents us from seeing all the colors inherent in those grays?  It all makes me wonder how much I have deprived myself from experiencing just because I approached things from an opinion rather than an open mind.