Paul Gauguin Brights

Our mostly cold, grey and white days of the past few weeks need an infusion of PAUL GAUGUIN's heat and brights.

Tahitian Landscape

The Swineherd, Brittany

Andy Smith, Contemporary American Watercolor Artist

I met Mr. Smith on a trip several years ago to Lancaster, PA, where he lives. He is a self-taught painter whose vision of finding the charm, texture and beauty in everyday things captured my eye. I especially love his windows and doorways.

You can enjoy more of his paintings on his website or at one of the shows at which he exhibits. To quote Mr. Smith, "I .... feel honored that I can earn a living by doing something I so thoroughly enjoy. I am blessed beyond my expectations."

Still Life

Autumn Invitation

Backyard Shadows

Bittersweet

Harvest Finished

New Bounty

Redside Reflection

Waterford Sunshine 2013

Wolf Kahn, a Pastel Vision

I become enchanted with his purple fields and pastel landscapes many years ago when one of his paintings was used for the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center.

Down to My Studio 2011

The Universal Declaration of Man

Pond Up the Road

The Connecticut River Near Windsor, Vermont 1991

Woodland Swamp

Country Curve

Down in the Valley

Early Morning at Parsons Beach

Fall Maples

Dawn and a New Day

The rare, for me, pleasure of being out to witness the start of a new day.!

A Moment in Time

Grey, wind and rain.  Yet I ventured out, the lure of farm-fresh produce at the weekly outdoor green market irresistible.  Admittedly nudging me out the door as well was the plastic bag in the kitchen, filled to the brim with over-ripening veggie and fruit scraps clearly ready for the compost project at the far end of the market.

Fully aware of the slim possibility of finding parking, I still took the car out of its rare spot in front of my building, relying on the benevolence of the parking gods there and back.  Circling the packed streets only twice, I was relieved to see a space halfway up the road which winds up the hill through the park surrounding the market.  Although it meant a long walk, the dark green leafy trees, dripping with the intermittent rain, made me smile and stop.  Two smooth maneuvers later, settled in to my satisfaction and getting a thumbs-up from two women trekking up the hill, I turned off the motor and climbed out of the car onto the sidewalk.  Damp fragrant tree branches arched overhead, rustled by a gentle cool breeze. Next to me, framed by benches and a low rough stone wall, the park, here a generous patch of forest and dirt paths, stretched away to the distant shore of the Hudson River.

Breathing deeply of the smell of damp earth erased years and took me back to summers in the woods of Massachusetts, away from the cement and bustle of the city to the hopefulness of a young spirit out in the open.  Infused with that expectation of wonders to come, I felt moved to tears in gratitude for the reminder and for the continuing possibilities of the present.  With another deep breath, I put up my huge sky-blue umbrella, feeling like a kid again under its shelter, and made my way down to the busyness and bounty waiting below.

Gratitude

I stand in awe of this extraordinary body
   God created and gave me:
of all its marvelous inner workings and abilities,
  enabling me to take in all that is around me,
    rich sights, endless colors, myriad shapes,
    movement, odors, temperatures, textures;
of its power to heal itself;
of its outward manifestations,
  presenting to the world my being,
  my expressions,
  my thoughts.

As is my duty, my privilege, and my joy,
I vow to be a caring, responsible caretaker of this body,
   my body,
to feed it properly,
to give it movement,
and rest,
and all the love and attention and devotion it deserves
  as a precious treasure,
me.

Summer dreaming

Picture me
   by the sea,
Out in the air, 
   my skin so bare,
Sun and breeze,
   at my ease, 
Strolling
   so happily!