In the Wee, Small Hours of the Morning

“In the Wee, Small Hours of the Morning”    Pastel     12” x 12”     $175     © Sharon Lewis
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            Dawn comes early in Maine, at least in the summertime. I was lucky one morning to wake up early enough to capture the beauty of that time right before sunrise, when the sky is various shades of peach, and purple, and pink, and it’s oh so very quiet and peaceful.

            Apologies to David Mann and Bob Hilliard for borrowing the title of their song (which I love) for this painting.

Happy Weekend!

Out to Sea

“Out to Sea”    Pastel     5” x 7”     $50     © Sharon Lewis
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            I’m back from beautiful Bailey Island, Maine where we had mostly wonderful weather and mostly terrible internet connections. Normally, I wouldn’t have really cared about the internet but I had big plans to paint daily or as often as possible and post daily. Unfortunately, I only managed to post once because we kept losing our connection altogether.

            Nonetheless, I got to enjoy cool (and sometimes cold) morning and evening breezes, hiking through the woods and along the rocky coast, and falling asleep to the sound of the waves. I also got to paint every day, usually outside. My biggest problem was selecting which beautiful view to tackle for a painting.  I’ll be posting some of these over the next few weeks.

            Have a happy holiday weekend!

Sails at Sunset

“Sails at Sunset”        Pastel         2.5” x 3.5”        $20           © Sharon Lewis
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             I’ll be spending some time in Maine this summer and I can’t wait. I’m looking forward to cool morning and evening breezes, hiking through the woods, and falling asleep to the sound of waves. I’m also planning to paint plein air. I’m still a little uncomfortable painting around strangers unless I’m with a group but since we rent a house, I can paint all around this beautiful property.

            This petite painting is based on some photos I took while in Portland, Maine several years ago.

            Happy Summer Solstice!

 

Racing Clouds

“Racing Clouds”         Pastel      12” x 9”       $100      © Sharon Lewis
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            April in the Atlanta area is usually beautiful with blooming trees, bushes, and flowers. It apparently also is typically one of our drier months though you’d never know it this year. It has been raining with very few exceptions virtually every day for weeks! When we get a clear, sunny day, we wander out a bit dazed, looking like pale human mushrooms seeing light for the first time.

            Fortunately, as I drive back and forth to work, I’m treated to the cheerful sight of colorful tulips, red and pink azaleas, purple irises, the wine-red and purples of the Japanese maples, the pink and white blooming dogwood trees, and the lime-green of new leaves sprouting everywhere.

            Hope you enjoy sunshine and April colors this weekend!

Is It Summer Yet?

“Weekend Escape”     Pastel    12” x 9”     $100    © Sharon Lewis
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            Ironically, I don’t have much time to write my usual art blog post because I’ve been working on a presentation on my art and my art blog. Crazy, isn’t it?

            For some reason, maybe because we have been discussing plans for future trips, my mind has been on summer. I have been painting beaches and sailboats like this one. I know it’s a bit premature to be thinking of summer on the first day of spring but we can always dream can’t we?

            Hope wherever you are that spring has arrived or is on her way.

            Happy Weekend!

Loser Buys the Beers!

“Racing Home”    Pastel    9” x 12”    $100    © Sharon Lewis
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        Several years ago I was on a ferry with family and friends between Boston and Provincetown. It was an absolutely gorgeous summer day in New England…cool and sunny on the water. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day until I got an additional gift: on our way back we ran into a sailboat race. All of a sudden there were tons of brightly colored sails all around us. I enjoy painting sailboats so I started taking so many photos that a fellow passenger asked me if there was someone famous on one of the sailboats. I laughed and explained I just wanted the photos to paint from. She looked a little puzzled as if that sounded crazy and for anyone who lives in or around Boston, it probably did sound crazy. After all, they can see sailboats all the time unlike where I live in landlocked Atlanta.       
       Just looking at this painting, I can remember enjoying being with my family, the warmth of the day, the cool breeze and the sun on my face, the sounds of the gulls hoping for a snack from an unwary tourist, and all of the colorful sails that I couldn’t wait to paint.

Black Friday Special: An Image of Peace and Quiet

“The Getaway”   5” x 7”    Pastel    $50   © Sharon Lewis
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             All the work is done. The feast was prepared and enjoyed by all. I know some of my friends and family are out hunting bargains in the shopping chaos of Black Friday. I’m not that fond of shopping even under the best of circumstances and just the thought of this sends chills down my spine.

            Today’s painting is for all of you who could use a vision of peace and quiet relaxation. Hope you enjoy a happy, restful holiday weekend.

It was a perfect day for sailing…

“A Perfect Day”   2.5” x 3.5”   Pastel   $20  © Sharon Lewis
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It’s a sunny, windy day here… a perfect day for sailing.  It’s great to be out on a sailboat with the wind blowing just hard enough to make you feel like you’re almost flying over the water but not so much that you’re worried about flipping over.

Today’s painting is from a photo I took one summer of sailboats in the Boston Harbor.  When I painted this I was reminded of a day that two of my brothers and I took a sunfish (a small sailboat) out on the intracoastal waterway near our home in southern Florida. It was a windy day and none of us were experienced sailors. In addition, the sunfish was really only big enough for one person and we were trying to fit all three of us on it at the same time. Even though we were 3 fairly skinny kids, this was just not working. The problem was as soon as we’d get all three of us on board, one of us would fall off. As soon as we got that sibling back on, another one of us would fall off. And so it went, with all three of us laughing so hard that it made it even harder to climb back on and so much easier to slide right back off. At some point we glanced over at the shoreline and unfortunately saw a police officer standing there who motioned us sternly to come back to shore. Apparently we weren’t supposed to be swimming or sailing there. Well, we immediately thought the worst…we were going to arrested… we were going to jail… or worse… they were going to tell our Dad!  However, after a few minutes of watching us continually fall off the sunfish and our total lack of progress towards shore, the officer starting laughing so hard he was bent over and holding his stomach. He eventually waved us off, like, “You guys are hopeless!” Or maybe, “It’s going to take you all 3 hours to make it back in and I don’t want to wait that long!” I like to think now that maybe he let us off because he remembered being young once and decided to be kind. Whatever he was thinking, I remember that it was a perfect day for sailing…or whatever it was that we were doing with that sunfish.