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“The Accent Tree” 5x7 Pastel $105 © Sharon Lewis
I hope that wherever you are this Thanksgiving, that you are gathered with love to celebrate this holiday of gratitude.
May you feel the warmth of all those who love you today, and always.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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| “A Beautiful Find” 7 x 5 Oil $ 105 © Sharon Lewis |
There’s something mesmerizing about waterfalls. There’s the beauty of the water as it falls from above to splash into pools or streams below, the often impressive rock formations the water travels over, and also the rhythmic sound of the water. These all seem to combine to make waterfalls immensely appealing. This particular one was no exception and was discovered only thanks to some friendly Norwegians who had hiked everywhere in this area and shared their beautiful find.
Happy Weekend!
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“Turquoise Waters” 5 x 7 Oil $ 105 © Sharon Lewis
It’s been over a decade since I visited Norway but I still find my memories of the country and her people so vivid. We took a train across the country to the west coast and drove up along breathtaking fjords with crystal clear, turquoise waters. Everywhere we went, the people were friendly and warm – much like the temperatures that summer. I love to escape the hot, humid summers of north Georgia so I was hoping for cool or even cold temperatures. In talking with Norwegians along the way, we found they were having an unusually warm and sunny summer. Apparently, it is often cold, cloudy, and rainy so everywhere we went, people were outside delighting in the warmth and sunshine. I may not have experienced the cool temperatures I was hoping for but I was so lucky to meet such warm people and photograph such gorgeous scenery.
Happy Weekend!
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“The Red Roof” 5 x 7 Oil $ 105 © Sharon Lewis
As a landscape artist who is often working with many, many shades of green and blue, I love when I run across red as an accent color. When I’m lucky enough to find it in a coastal scene, which I also love to paint, I feel I’ve hit the jackpot. So, of course I took many photos of this house on the rocks, admiring the red roof and imagining the killer views they must have from their front porch.
Happy Weekend!
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“Autumn Bounty” 9” x 12” Pastel $216 © Sharon Lewis
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I spent a wonderful October weekend in the North Georgia mountains several years ago. After hiking we found a great open-air market selling a variety of local produce including pumpkins of all shapes and sizes. The owners were happy to sell us their produce but were a little puzzled by me photographing it. This painting is based on that beautiful fall day and the bounty of autumn.
Happy Halloween and Happy Weekend!
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“My Backyard” 7 x 5 Oil $ 105 © Sharon Lewis
It has finally become more fall-like and even the mosquitoes don’t seem to be around as much so I’ve been painting outdoors from time to time. I always find this challenging in that I have to figure out how to simplify what seems to be just a huge mass of different greens competing for my attention. But it’s also all beautiful and I’m so grateful for the good weather and the opportunity to be outdoors doing something I love doing.
Happy Weekend!
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Delphiniums with Tiger Lily 8 x 8 Oil $ 195 © Sharon Lewis
I enjoy painting flowers from time to time and try to make sure that I always have some in the house. The flowers I painted here are primarily delphiniums which as it turns out are associated with positivity, big-heartedness, cheerfulness, and love. So, today I’m sending some of these good feelings out into the world with the hope that it encourages all of us to be the best versions of ourselves as we interact with others.
Happy Weekend!
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“Sky Meadows II” 5 x 7 Pastel $ 105 © Sharon Lewis
Today is a beautiful fall day – sunny, breezy, and cool. I would love to have days like this for weeks! Instead, I see the weather forecast is for the low 80’s next week. In spite of the unseasonably warm weather, the leaves are changing signaling fall is here. Last year around this time, I was in this lovely park in Virginia, hiking with my kids. The leaves were not quite this colorful, but I used a little artistic license to adorn them with rich autumn colors.
Happy Weekend!
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“Summer Parade” 5 x 7 Pastel $ 105 © Sharon Lewis
This is a painting I completed while onsite in Maine. It was August but it was sunny, windy, and cool – for me, an ideal summer day. I had a constant parade of clouds drifting by and so I had to quickly paint what was in front of me. For a relatively slow painter like me this was challenging but also exhilarating. I feel so lucky that I had the opportunity to be outside on a gorgeous, sunlit day getting to do something I love.
Happy Weekend!
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On the way back to Boston from rural Maine, we stopped in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, a place I’ve been several times and love. On my way to walk in the woods and explore a stream and waterfall, I had a view of Mount Washington in the distance. Even from this far away, it looks impressive. On a previous trip, we thought it would be fun to drive to the top of Mount Washington, something I don’t want to repeat anytime soon. For the passenger, the drive up gives you some magnificent views….of how far you will fall if the driver makes a small mistake and drives just a tiny bit too far to the right. It’s a sheer and very scary drop off the right side of the road as you drive up to the top and I recall having a death grip on the arm rest as if that would save me if we went off the road.
On that cheery note, have a Happy Weekend!
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“Sailing Saturday” 5 x 7 Pastel $ 105 © Sharon Lewis
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This is another painting I did while in Maine recently. I was in my version of heaven, painting on the coast, in sunny, cool weather, with gorgeous clouds overhead and sailboats gliding by.
Happy Weekend!
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“Plum Beautiful” 6 x 6 Oil $108 © Sharon Lewis
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I found these beautiful plums in the grocery store some weeks ago and painted them from life. I noticed, like many things – and maybe like some people, they appeared perfect at first glance. It was only as I studied them and got to know them that I realized they had slight imperfections but were still beautiful. I think most of us are like that. Maybe we work hard to appear perfect, to hide our imperfections, because we’ve been taught they are signs of weakness. What I find interesting is that some of the most courageous people I know, are those who share their vulnerabilities. These are my brave and beautiful friends.
Happy Weekend!
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“Racing the Rain” 5 x 7 Pastel $ 105 © Sharon Lewis
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While in Maine recently, I was lucky to be treated to the sight of many clouds racing across the sky, with lots of sailboats trying to beat the rain clouds. I love painting skies outside, especially in cool, sunny weather but it was a challenge to capture these fast-moving clouds before they exited stage right.
Happy Weekend!
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“Blanket Flowers” 9 x 12 Pastel $ 100 © Sharon Lewis
I’m re-posting one of my favorite flower paintings as I’m currently traveling. I love the vivid colors in the Blanket flower (or Gaillardia grandiflora) and the fact that they attract butterflies and bees. Apparently, they’re also great in that deer leave them alone, something I have a hard time believing after watching the deer in my area eat everything in my yard.
Happy Weekend!
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“Small But Beautiful 3 x 3” Oil $25 © Sharon Lewis
Even though I’m mostly a landscape artist, I love painting fruit from time to time. It’s easy to paint from life and if you don’t take too long to paint it, you have a healthy snack waiting for you in the end.
Happy Weekend!
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“Rocks at the Beach” 8 x 10 Oil $200 © Sharon Lewis
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There’s a beauty and drama to the rocks rising out of the blue-green waters of the Pacific, that I never get tired of painting. What I’ve noticed is that they’re often found in what looks like family groupings with some adult size rocks and a couple of smaller, baby rocks. Soon however, I will be challenging myself to paint the rocky shores of the east coast along Nova Scotia’s and Maine’s coasts, where the rocks are often in very different formations – more like long fingers reaching into the sea.
I’m anticipating a respite from the heat and humidity of the Atlanta area in August and hoping that the tropical storm they’ve named after my daughter stays far away.
Happy Weekend!
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“On the Rocks” 5 x 7 Oil $105 © Sharon Lewis
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I’ve been into painting the ocean and the rocky shores of the west coast lately. I love how the warm reds of the cliffs contrast with the beautiful blue-greens of the water. There’s also something fascinating to me about scenes like this. This is obviously not a shore for sunbathing or riding gentle waves onto a sandy beach. I think I’m drawn to these more dramatic beach scenes since they are so different from the sandy, southern Florida beaches I grew up. We had our own drama however, when someone would at some point yell “shark!” We’d all rush out of the water, look for the fin, wait for it to leave, and then get right back into the water again. Were we foolish or brave? I think we were just kids used to swimming on a southern Florida beach.
Happy Weekend!
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“Erinn’s Flowers” 8” x 10” Pastel $160 © Sharon Lewis
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Happy Weekend!
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“My View” 2.5” x 3.5” Pastel $25 © Sharon Lewis
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I’ve been visiting family and staying with my daughter and son-in-law. They live in a beautiful neighborhood with lots of trees all around. To warm up, I painted this small study of the view from my room of their neighbor’s beautiful house with flowers lining the front.
Happy Weekend!
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“Alexander Lake” 9” x 12” Pastel $216 © Sharon Lewis
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This is a painting of Alexander Lake in Panola Mountain State Park, a place I love to hike in the fall, winter, and spring. I’ve seen some of the most spectacular sunsets when walking there in the winter. It’s almost as if Mother Nature compensates us for the short hours of light with a gorgeous light show at the end of the day. Happy Weekend!
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“4th of July” 9” x 12” Pastel $216 © Sharon Lewis
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Happy 4th of July and Happy Weekend!
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“Fruits of Summer” 5” x 7 ” Oil $122 © Sharon Lewis
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As my free time increases somewhat, I’ve been eager to get back to painting in oils. I’m not as familiar with this medium as I am with pastels, so painting with this medium is a voyage of discovery – often one involving trial and lots of errors. However, I love being able to mix hundreds of different colors from a handful of tubes of paint and the challenge of creating the strokes and marks I want with brushes instead of sticks of solid pigment (pastels). It’s so much fun to have to time to try something different!
Happy Weekend!
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“The Start of Summer!” 8” x 10 ” Oil $200 © Sharon Lewis
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Friday is the summer solstice and the official start of summer. Summer to me means, the gift of time, fireflies, bird song, the chance to read many, many novels, and the opportunity to escape to the ocean.
Happy Weekend and Happy Summer!
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“Return of the Sun” 5” x 7” Pastel $105 © Sharon Lewis
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It’s been raining every day here in the Atlanta area for what feels like weeks. As a result I’m especially drawn to any of my reference photos that show sunlight. In this painting, I wanted to indicate some dreary rain clouds moving off in the distance and some sun (finally) shining through the trees and illuminating some of the rocks.
Happy Weekend!
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“Quiet Beauty” 2.5” x 3.5” Pastel $26 © Sharon Lewis
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One of the things that I’m looking forward to as I transition into retirement from my day job, is more opportunities to paint outside. This small painting is of a view I had on Orcas Island, one of the beautiful San Juan Islands in the state of Washington. One of the benefits of painting plein air that I’ve learned, is that it encourages me to focus on the quiet beauty in a landscape – not the flashier or more striking, but the beauty others might dismiss as too ordinary or uninteresting. The challenge for me is to slow down, become more aware and truly see what beauty lies in front of me.
Happy Weekend!
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“The Sweetness of Memory” 2.5” x 3.5” Pastel $26 © Sharon Lewis
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The past week I’ve been back in DC, busy with grandchildren’s birthdays and caring for and playing with my now one-yr old granddaughter. All I had time to paint was this corner of my daughter’s yard.
Being around my busy working kids and watching them care for their kids brings back so many memories. I remember the sweetness of when they were so young but also the never-ending challenges of being a parent who works two jobs – one for which you receive money and the other for which you receive hugs and kisses – the sweetest compensation.
Happy Weekend!
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| “Summertime!” 5” x 5” Acrylic $75 © Sharon Lewis Click Here to Purchase |
I was getting ready to finally throw away all the colorful masks I bought during COVID when I suddenly realized, I could repurpose them! I decided to cut them up and incorporate them into paintings in a variety of ways. In this painting, the young girl is wearing a dress made from a mask.
Happy Weekend! |
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“Friends” 2.5” x 3.5” Pastel $26 © Sharon Lewis
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I am slowly but surely extricating myself from the busyness of my job and trying to lean into the slower pace of summer. One of the many things I love about this time, is the opportunity to connect with my friends that I don’t get to see as often. I feel so lucky to have not only a wonderful family but also the presence of smart, kind, funny, and interesting friends in my life.
Happy Weekend!
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“Mother’s Day” 5” x 7” Pastel $105 © Sharon Lewis
This Mother’s Day weekend, I’m thinking of how grateful I am for my two wonderful children, Sean and Erinn; I couldn’t be more proud of both of them.
I’m also grateful for the woman who taught me how to be a good and loving Mom, Clare Albritton. Although she is no longer living, I feel her wise and loving presence with me still.
To all the kind souls who mother others with kindness and support: you make the world brighter for your presence and I hope you feel appreciated and loved this weekend.
Happy Mother’s Day Weekend!
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“Eventually” 2.5” x 3.5” Pastel $26 © Sharon Lewis
Like my colleagues and my students, I find this time of the semester to be stressful and exhausting. What sustains me at the moment, is the thought that I will eventually finish grading exams and papers and then get to relax. When I was last at the beach, I was able to paint these people relaxing by the pool with the ocean in the background. Although I prefer walking the shore rather than sunbathing, at this point, this looks just fine. Ahhhhh.
Happy Weekend!
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“Pretty in Pink” 12” x 10” Pastel $240 © Sharon Lewis
Some anniversaries hit harder than others. This Thursday was the anniversary of losing my sister Meg AND it was the last day teaching my wonderful Oxford College of Emory University students. What connects these two events in my head is the difficulty of separating from people you love. I feel lucky that I had my wonderful, quirky, creative, amazing sister Meg in my life for as long as I did and I am also feeling so grateful to end this last semester of teaching with such smart, kind, thoughtful, and compassionate students. So, although it is painful feeling the loss of my beloved sister and saying goodbye to students I’ve come to love, I hope I always find the courage to choose love and be grateful for its presence in my life.
Happy Weekend!
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“Small Wonders II” 8” x 10” Pastel SOLD © Sharon Lewis
It’s that beautiful time of year where the promise of new life is everywhere – whether it be the nests I see perched in the branches around my house, the tiny buds emerging from the new greenery, or a friend expecting her first child. All this reminds me not to lose sight of the positive, beautiful things around me.
Wishing you a Happy Spring/Passover/Easter!
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“Breezy” 5” x 7” Pastel $105 © Sharon Lewis
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On another beautiful day in April, 39 years ago, I gave birth to my first child, Sean. He has grown to be a very kind, smart, caring, compassionate person, a wonderful father to his two kids and a thoughtful, loving son. I am so lucky!
Happy Weekend!
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“Among the Trees” 8” x 10” Pastel $160 © Sharon Lewis
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Today’s painting title is borrowed from the poem, When I am Among the Trees, by Mary Oliver, a poet I am grateful I found thanks to friends who shared her works with me.
Trying to summarize the sentiments expressed in this poem doesn’t do it justice, so for all who need a bit of comfort nowadays, here is the poem:
When I am Among the Trees – Mary Oliver
“When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.
Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, ‘Stay awhile.’
The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, ‘It’s simple,’ they say,
‘and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”
Happy Weekend and go easy, be filled with light, and shine!
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“In the Still of the Morning” 8” x 10” (Framed 11 x 13) Pastel $330 © Sharon Lewis
I’m so happy to share with you that one of my paintings, was selected by Master artist, Karen Margulis for the “All About Pastels” exhibition at the Alpharetta Arts Center. The exhibition runs until April 30 and has some amazing paintings! If you’re in Georgia, the Alpharetta Arts Center is at 238 Canton Street Alpharetta GA 30009.
Happy Weekend!
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“The Golden Hour” 8” x 10” Pastel $160 © Sharon Lewis
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As an antidote to listening and reading too much about what’s happening to our federal programs, I chose to paint a tranquil scene. The light at this time of the evening is beautiful and is aptly referred to as the “golden hour.” The sand on the dunes starts to reflect the light and I can see pale pinks, turquoise, and blue. Ahhh, I can hear the sound of the surf now.
Happy Weekend!
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| “Beach Memories” 2.5” x 3.5” Pastel $26 © Sharon Lewis Click Here to Purchase |
I’m back from a short visit to the beach and I already miss the rhythmic sound of the waves as I fall asleep. This is a small painting I did as I studied the dunes and the paths worn by eager beach lovers on their way to collect some sea shells, dip their toes into the still cold water, or go for a relaxing run – all things I did on my brief visit.
Happy Weekend!
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“Spring Tidings” 5” x 5” Oil $87 © Sharon Lewis
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I’ve had a long fascination with tulips because at every stage of blooming, they offer us interesting colors, patterns, and shapes. The tulips I’ve painted in oils this week are at some of these different stages. I love the contrast between their vivid, saturated colors, and the grays and browns of everything outside.
Happy Weekend! Bring on Spring!
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“Spring Tulips” 9x12 Pastel $216 © Sharon Lewis
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I’ve been thinking about spring lately and that brings to mind tulips – one of my favorite flowers. There are so many colors and even within one tulip, so many variations in colors. I’m traveling this week so I’m sharing some tulips I painted several years ago.
Happy Weekend!
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“A Day at the Beach” 8x10 Pastel $160 © Sharon Lewis
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The more the news becomes distressing, the more I tend to escape to a place of peace and tranquility. Being by the ocean was always the place I ran to when I was young and my house was anything but peaceful. The rhythm of the waves has an almost hypnotic quality as the water comes in and goes out, always changing and yet the same.
Hope you’re able to find peace and tranquility and have a Happy Weekend!
