Trees I love

I am wondering... are there are any artists in the world who have not attempted to draw, paint, or make a woodblock print, or some other image of a tree?

The first thing I can remember painting is a tree.  Not very good, but my grandmother was impressed enough to frame it in an important gold antique frame.  My mother had it hanging in the dining room for years.  I now have it in a box in the garage, because I cannot bear to paint over my first painting.

My relationship with trees is both complex and spiritual.  For me they form a connection between the heavens and earth, reaching up to the sun, pointing to the Creator.

The artists who come to paint at my house are all busy learning to paint trees and just as there are no two trees alike, so their paintings differ dramatically as well.  Perhaps they will let me photograph their paintings in a few weeks, but for now, I thought I might share how some famous artist's see and render trees...

Georgia O'Keefe - Painting typical New Mexico trees

Emily Carr  - Painting Canadian trees

Maynard Dixon painting the trees of the Southwest...

Eyvind Earle distilling trees to their essence...

Vincent Van Gogh...

Paul Cezanne...

 

Andrew Wyeth....

Tired of looking at paintings of trees?  Me too.  Time to look at some real ones!
However if you want to see some more visit my Pinterest page... Trees

The Power of Pinterest

I have been spending some time pinning images of trees on Pinterest for my painting classes on Mondays.  Last Monday I showed my class how to set up their own Pinterest Boards for inspirations photos.  In the summer I like to paint plein air but this is what it looks like outside my house...

 No plein air painting for the next few months!
 On someone's Pinterest board, I found this image....

Image Via Style Pacifica

The pinner had not identified the artist, but it sure looked like one of my favorite artists, who lived and worked in New Mexico for a great deal of her life.  Do you recognize the artist?

If you don't use Pinterest and were not sure, how would you go about verifying your hunch?  You might Google images of "waterfalls" or perhaps "paintings of mountains with waterfalls."  However on Pinterest, you can just click on the image and it will take you back to the original webpage from which the image was pinned.  Good pinning etiquette now requires that each of your pins include that information in the comments section, but this may have been pinned in the early days of Pinterest.  So off I clicked to find out more about this image.

Pinterest took me to STYLE PACIFICA, where I learned, to my surprise, that Georgia O"Keefe had spent some time in Hawaii during a very difficult time in her life.  For more information and some wonderful (and out of the ordinary) paintings by Georgia, visit Poerava at her blog STYLE PACIFICA.

Image Via Style Pacifica

 As a primarily visual learner, Pinterest if one of my favorite places on the internet to visit.  If you haven't discovered Pinterest, it is a giant repository of images, all of which you can organize onto your "boards."  If you are interested in recipes, that are thousands.  Love photography?  Learn more from the "pinned" tutorials.  Planning a trip?  Search for your destination to find photos and blog post about it.  Have a question about something that is pinned?  Ask in the comments section, and the original pinner will be notified and will respond (usually!).

So how do you get started?  Type Sign up for Pinterest in your browser search which will send you to the website.  Just follow the easy instructions.  If this "less than" techie grandmother can do it, you can you.

Christmas is Coming and the House is Not Decorated!

My advent wreath is made...

  and I opened up the Nativity, 

 

But to make up for the lack of decorations in my house, I am sending you all on a Christmas tour of designers' homes who are way more on top of things than I am.  Most of them conduct their design business by email, so if you are looking to update some things, you could do it from the comfort of your couch. 

Just to get you started, here are some common themes I noticed..

Chalkboards...

Via The Shabby Nest

Image Via Jennifer Rizzo

 

Via The Inspired Room

Via City Farmhouse

Via Jennifer Oliver Designs

Image Via Paige Knudsen

If you don't have a chalkboard in your holiday decor, I have a can of chalkboard paint I can give you, SERIOUSLY.

Not the usual red and green...

Image Via Thistlewood Farms

Image Via The Yellow Cape Cod

Image Via The Yellow Cape Cod

Image Via Paige Knudsen

Image Via At The Picket Fence

Reindeer Population Exploding...

IMAGE VIA The Inspired Home

 

IMAGE VIA At The Picket Fence

 

Image Via Jennifer Rizzo

 

Image Via The Yellow Cape Cod

 Don't give up... the tour is right below.  Take some reindeer feed along with you!

HOLIDAY HOUSE WALK

Click on "HOLIDAY HOUSE WALK" to journey to homes of designers around the country who have photographed their holiday decorations (some with tutorials) for you to admire and maybe emulate.