Apricot Mallow desert flower of tender mercies

August 3, 2024, Saturday—Apricot Mallow, desert flower of tender mercies. I like the ring of that. This apricot-colored desert flower stole my heart on my trip to Sedona this spring. The flower exudes a very tender feeling. The color is soft, yet it lights up the desert floor gently and powerfully at the same time. […]

History Of Impressionism In Art

The history of impressionism in art is an interesting one. The word “impressionism” was initially intended as a pejorative by art critics who were utterly horrified at the new painting style. By the middle and late 1800s, it was generally accepted that serious artists blended their colors and minimized the appearance of brushstrokes. Impressionist paintings […]

Castle Creek Rock Hopping

Sep 10, 2022, Sat — Today we took an excursion near the base of the Montezuma Mtns that I am calling Castle Creek rock hopping. That’s because when the trail spur we chose ended, instead of turning back, we pressed on stumbling along the dry creek beds hoping they would eventually join with the main […]

Art Stimulates the Brain

May 19, 2022 — Art stimulates the brain in manifold ways. Whenever you look at a work of art, your brain is trying to make sense of the visual information it is receiving. In addition to the brain’s ability to make sense of what we see, the brain actually undergoes changes when we look at […]

Art is Everywhere in Tropical Hawaii

May 16, 2022 — Flowers, birds, perfumed blossoms, blue ocean against green hillsides, separated by a white line of sand and surf. Art is everywhere in the tropical Hawaii. Nature’s art, God’s art. We did a 5 mile hike in this steep green mountainous area yesterday between Lahina and Wailena. Beautiful!  And now I’ll let […]

A Brief History of Impressionism

Part 1 Although some of the most respected artists in the Western canon were part of Impressionism, the term “Impressionist” was originally intended as a derogatory term used by art critics who were completely overwhelmed by this new style of painting. Although the rise of Impressionism in France came at a time when many other […]

Hanging Artwork – the where of it all

Everything you read about how high to hang art will tell you to hang pictures at eye level. But if you applied the eye height rule to every piece of art, you would have hot porridge in your hands and many of your pieces would hang at the WRONG height. The ideal height to hang […]