The noon day palette I would need to paint this scene would be quite boring, but it was interesting at dawn.
Indian Paint
Texas spring is all about color. It is an impressionist’s dream come true, the fields are just a beautiful blur of pure color.
Thank You Lady Bird
My studies and thumbnails from Hawaii outlasted my trip, and although I still have a dozen or so more to complete, spring in Texas is just too hard to ignore. I hope you enjoyed the tropics; you might want to trade your flip flops for boots, we are headed deep into the heart of the lone star state!
“When I was a little girl, I grew up listening to the wind in the pine trees of the East Texas woods.
My heart found its home long ago in the beauty, mystery, order and disorder of the flowering earth.
My special cause, the one that alerts my interest and quickens the pace of my life, is to preserve the wildflowers and native plants that define the regions of our land—to encourage and promote their use in appropriate areas, and thus help pass on to generation in waiting the quiet jobs and satisfactions I have known since my childhood.” – Lady Bird Johnson, in her own words
Thank you Lady Bird for leaving such a beautiful legacy. May we all find our special cause that alerts our interest and quickens our pace.
Orange Dawn
Quick analogous color study. I Ike the energy of the square edges give.
Rooster Rosey Day
The light made the grass look pink. It was a lovely afternoon.
Na Pali
Na Pali, meaning “The Cliffs” in Hawaiian, is a 17-mile stretch of rugged coastline located on the northwest side of Kauai. It is this beautiful stretch of earth that my dear husband I went backpacking on. Here the dramatic colors are muted by clouds, the whole scene was greyed down.
Sunset on Niihau
Niihau Island is located 18 miles from the island of Kauai across the often-times rough Kaulakahi Channel. The oldest of the inhabited Hawaiian islands, Niihau is also the least changed by modern progress. The Niihauans fish and hunt for their main staples of food, with their diet supplemented by supplies brought in by air and sea by the owners of the island. The residents of Niihau still hunt with ropes and knives and fish with spears and nets. Niihau is called the forbidden Island, and the place where time stands still. Niihau was clearly visible along the horizon as I painted this sunset.
Banyan Town
This is the perfect town for those who are willing to imagine it. There are many paths into the interior, and plenty of nooks and crannies to assign purposes to. It is the kind of place gnome and fairy legends are made from.
Banyan in morning light
A banyan is a fig that starts its life as an epiphyte when its seeds germinate in the cracks and crevices on a host tree. It is an impressive magical tree with many, many trunks, and long roots that swing and sway down to the ground.
HANAKAPI’AI SUNSET
I managed to paint only one of the many cairns on this beach. This is the first beach on the Kalalau trail, it is very rocky and the surf is rough…so the rocks are wonderfully smooth. Previous hikers have stacked many, many rock cairns on this beach. If you are a hiker you know that a stack of rocks on a trail is called a cairn, and it symbolizes that you are to head that direction on a trail. To find many of them together, is not only impressive, given a tremendous surf, but inspiring and encouraging.
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