Spring Fever!

“Moody Mountains”     9” x 12”        Pastel       $100       © Sharon Lewis
Click Here to Purchase

 

            We have one more full week of classes and then we have our spring break and my students and I can’t wait! I know that our southern winters are nothing to complain about as I was reminded of when talking to my son in Madison, Wisconsin last night. He was getting excited because the temperature was going from 6 degrees to a balmy 18 or 19 degrees!!

            Today’s painting is of the Castlerigg area, a wonderfully, moody and mysterious place in England’s Lake District. Castlerigg is one of over a thousand stone circles in the British Isles, located near Keswick in Cumbria, Northwest England. Some sources suggest that it may have been constructed in 3000 BCE which means it may be about 5000 years old!

            From the center of the stone circle you have a view of the surrounding mountain peaks which have really interesting names such as: Helvellyn, Skiddaw, Grasmoor, and Blencathra. It may have served as a ritualistic place where stone axes were traded but no one knows for sure. I do know that it would be a wonderful place to do plein air painting because no matter where you placed your easel in this area, you would have a beautiful view to paint.

            Happy Weekend!

Let’s Head for the Beach!

“ Windswept”         4” x 6”       Pastel        $35        © Sharon Lewis
Click Here to Purchase

 

            Today is a beautiful day in the Atlanta area! We are experiencing our usual weird weather this time of year. Last week we had snow and ice, and this week we’ve had fog, mist and temperatures in the 70’s! Today is a little cooler (50’s) but nothing like the cold that friends and family up north are experiencing.

            On a happy note, I have noticed daffodils pushing up their yellow heads, a welcome cheery sight in an otherwise, brown and gray landscape. Speaking of cheery sights, I’m so in the mood for the beach! I want a view of warm, peach sand and cool blue water, so today, I’m posting a painting of a beach. This painting is of a beach from Tofino, which is on the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada.  It’s a beautiful place to walk and observe all sorts of amazingly colorful starfish and other assorted wildlife. Tofino has relatively warm winters and cool summers… just the kind of place I love to visit. However, although I found their cool summer temperatures a welcome respite from the heat of north Georgia in July, I believe I wore several layers of clothing every time I walked this beach.

So, as an artist, I changed the view to hopefully convey warmth and sunshine with an ocean breeze.

            May your weekend be filled with warmth and sun!

Happy Valentine’s Day and a Painting to Remind You of Warmer Days

“Memories of Summer’s Sun”   9” x 12”  Pastel   $100  © Sharon Lewis
Click Here to Purchase 

           The Atlanta region has survived another bout of snow and ice. I enjoy snow but I could do without the ice. I had a thick coating of ice with some snow, more ice, and more snow…. the perfect recipe for ending up on in a horizontal position when walking outside.

            Fortunately, the sun came out and melted most of it yesterday with more of it disappearing today. I don’t know about the rest of you but I’m ready for spring and I know my kids, my sister and her family and most of my friends up north have been ready for some time now. So to do my part, I’m posting a painting that shouts summer warmth and sunshine.

 Enjoy, have a Happy Valentine’s Day and a great weekend!

Mountain Serenity and Thoughts about “Snow Jam 2014”

“Mountain Serenity”     8” x 10”    Pastel     $75     © Sharon Lewis
Click Here to Purchase 

            Well the Atlanta region has finally recovered from the Jan 2014 “snowpocalypse” or the “snow jam”. I know that my northern friends are laughing their heads off because it took only 2-3 inches of snow last week to paralyze a metro area of about 6 million people (Thank you Governor Deal and Mayor Reed). But that’s winter in the south.

            I think about winters when I lived up north and had to try to find my car on the street after the snowplows went by. I would walk outside and if I was lucky, maybe I could see the tip of my car antenna (it didn’t help that I had a Triumph spitfire convertible, a low profile sports car). I remember scraping and shoveling and more scraping and more shoveling.

            Most winter days we don’t need to do that here. In fact, when it snows here, we adults do the sensible, mature thing: we close down workplaces and we take off and go play along with all of the kids. We grab sleds or anything resembling a sled (garbage can lids, plastic trays, sheets of cardboard, boogie boards, etc.) and enjoy the fact that Atlanta is located among the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. A snow day in the Atlanta area can truly be a glorious and enjoyable time!

            Today’s painting is another in my mountain series. Have a happy weekend and stay warm!