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~ March 2009 ~
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March 2nd ~ Beauty
| We woke this morning
to a true "Winter Wonderland"! The beauty of it is
simply breathtaking. Here in Southern NJ, the climate is warming
and now we only get a snow like this every three or four years.
I guess that makes me appreciate it even more. This time
I believe the snow will be with us here in the pines for a week
or so. That should give me plenty of opportunities to soak
up nature's impressive grandeur. |
"Beauty is one of
the rare things that does not lead to doubt of God."
~ Jean Anouilh
"Everything has
its beauty but not everyone sees it." ~ Confucius
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Today's photo was
taken early this morning with my new Nikon from my kitchen window.If
you are a friend on Facebook,
you can see the album of photos I took today with my little
point and shoot - Cannon PowerShot A590. I will wait until it
stops snowing to take my big boy out to play. I've also
posted more snow
photos on my web log.
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March 5th ~ Magic Of Snow
| I'm sitting here
in my studio looking out the window at the deer, wild turkeys
and large variety of songbirds in my yard. I'm surrounded by
a winter wonderland! A year ago to this day, I was in beautiful
Crested Butte Colorado. My visit there filled me with great enthusiasm
and inspiration. Nature's magic always has a way of reawakening
my inner child. Getting up close and personal with the beauty
of the natural world soothes my soul and refreshes my spirit
like nothing else on this planet can do. I've also posted more
snow
photos on my web log. |
"Snowflakes are
one of nature's most fragile things, but just
look at what they can do when they stick together." ~
Unknown
"The future lies
before you, like paths of pure white snow. Be
careful how you tread it, for every step will show." ~ William
Faulkner
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Now license this image through iStock.
"Ski Bunnies
and Snowshoe" - Crested Butte, Co.
16" x 20" ~ silver level - original watercolor
double matted and framed - $399.00
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March 9th ~ Portraiture
| My weekend Spirit
Art Workshop was a success. Students left here with expanded
knowledge, better technical skills and a feeling of accomplishment.
I talked about values a lot during the class, as this is connected
to light and shadow and is the core of creating images with all
mediums; be it painting, drawing or photography. One of the participants
of the workshop was my college buddy, accomplished designer and
photographer, Nancy Louie.
She brought her photo gear and treated us to some portrait work
while she was here. Below is a portrait she did of me doing a
blind contour drawing demonstration. I converted it to black
and white to show you how good imaging is dependent on values.
To see this full color portrait, photos of participants and more
about the workshop, go to my
web log. |
"When you photograph
people in color you photograph their clothes. But when
you photograph people in Black and White, you photograph their
souls!" ~ Ted Grant
"Light makes photography.
Embrace light. Admire it. Love it. But above all, know light.
Know it for all you are worth, and you will know the key to photography."
~ George Eastman
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"Sandy Sandy Spiritartist
- 3/7/09 - © Nancy Louie"
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March 12th ~ The Internet Classroom
"One of the best
ways to keep your mind young is to remain a student for life."
~ Sandy Sandy
"When you create
art, you want to use yourself as an instrument to find out about
things." ~ Kim Tran
"36 satisfactory
exposures on a roll means a photographer is not trying anything
new." ~ Freeman Patterson
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This painting subject
is from the current "sushi challenge" on Karin's blog
and the technique is from Larry's video. This little oil took
me under an hour with just over 250 strokes. |
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March 16th ~ Possibilities
| I became intrigued
and emotionally involved the first time I saw this blog "art
for the animals" . It's headed up by a couple of my
blogger buddies. After seeing it, I couldn't get it out of my
mind, so I knew I just had to get involved and do something to
help. The idea of helping out some homeless pets, the people
who care for them and the shelters got me real charged up. I've
been so inspired just considering all of the possibilities! Go
to my
web log to see all three paintings I've completed so far
and to find out more about this wonderful project. I'd love to
get more artists and animal lovers involved, so contact me if
you are interested in helping! |
"In art, there is
room for all possibilities." ~ Pablo Picasso
"Every new day begins
with new possibilities." ~ Ronald Reagan
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5" x 7" oil
painting ~ "Black Is Beautiful" ~ the third
in my series of shelter pets. |
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March 19th ~ Spring
| One of the blogs
I follow is called "Thought
Sketches" by Bill611. I enjoy reading his "thoughts"
because they are often fresh and routinely unpredictable.
This is one of the poems he said he "threw together"
and I "thought" it was nice so, I'm sharing it with
you here today. Spring is definitely "in the air" here
in Southern NJ. That could change at a moment's notice,
however, just because these are the ways of the days in March. |
March
I love the month of March
Springtime licking at the bottom of the ice cream bowl of winter
Nature's orgy
Passion play of wind and rain and snow and sun
Something old, something new
Something gray, and something blue
Butterflies and flowers snuggled under their covers
In their last dreamy moments of winter's sleep
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Original Watercolor ~
"The Spring Awakening" ~ *Sold |
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March 23rd ~ The Daffodil Principle
| I often come across
inspirational writing online. The
Daffodil Principle by Jaroldeen Asplund Edwards one such
story. You probably have seen it before. Since the daffodils
are just coming up now, I thought it would be a nice story to
share here today.There are two parables to this story. One is
that there is no better time than the present to be happy. Happiness
is a journey, not a destination. The second message of this narrative
is that big dreams and goals are accomplished by keeping steadfast
focus on your vision and moving ahead gradually. We make progress
by continually working our plan and remembering that the journey
of a thousand miles begins with a single step. |
"We tend to forget
that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something
we don't
have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have."
~ Frederick Keonig
"Enjoy the little
things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the
big things."
~Robert Brault
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Original Watercolor ~
"The Daffodil Principle" ~ *Sold |
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March 26th ~ Outrageousness
| In keeping with
the season, today I wanted to post a painting of tulips. Pondering
this flower brought to mind the late Herbert Khaury, better known
as Tiny
Tim. In 1968, his rendition of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips",
a popular song from 1926, made a big hit on the music charts.
A ukulele player wearing cheap suits and sporting long stringy
hair, Tim sung in a distinctively high falsetto / vibrato voice.
His outrageousness got him gigs on TV with Rowan and Martin's
Laugh-In, Johnny Carson, Ed Sullivan, and Jackie Gleason. A year
later he was married on The Tonight Show in front of an estimated
40 million viewers. In a world where the outrageous has become
the norm, sometimes we forget that big things are often only
possible by taking bold, exaggerated or seemingly improbable
action. |
"In the end, your
creativity - perhaps even your outrageousness, will determine
the final result."
~ Bobby Flay
"Here's to the Crazy
Ones. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can
change the world, are the ones who do." ~ Apple
Computer Ad
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Original Watercolor ~
"Outrageously Opulent" ~ *Sold |
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March 30h ~ Achievement
| I had some exciting
news last week. After several months of preparation, tutoring
and hard work, I submitted my application to become a contributor
to iStockphoto
on Thursday afternoon. I didn't expect to hear anything back
on it for several weeks, however Friday morning I got my acceptance
email! It said; "Congratulations, the iStockphoto administrators
have determined that your files are commercially and technically
ready for iStockphoto.com. Please begin uploading at your convenience."
Now the fun (and work) begins! I owe a lot of this achievement
to my friend and mentor, Nancy
Louie. Thanks, Nano! You can see more about this exciting
new venue on my January
5th - January 26th Spirit Art Blog posts. |
"What separates
those who achieve from those who do not is in direct proportion
to
one's ability to ask for help." ~ Donald Keough
"One reason so few
of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our
focus;
we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way
through life, never
deciding to master anything in particular." ~ Anthony Robbins
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Now license this image through iStock.
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This is one of the photos
I submitted for my application. |
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~
April 2009 ~
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art subscribe" in your email. ~ Sandysandy |
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