Painting Sun and Water and Inspirations

Sun rising... a new day... every day... the light comes in... and pushes away the dark

"Sun Rising Over the Glorious Waters" , Acrylic 4"x6" copyright Delorse Lovelady

Painting
I am back to painting one of my very favorite subjects: suns and light, waters and waves. I find it very meditative to stroke those waves into life and those flashes of light, a kind of rhythm in the painting process. I am continuing my foray into acrylics and texture. So far, it has been satisfying, though at times, I find myself frustrated with the paints. They are not so fluid and mobile as those juicy watercolors... but I am definitely loving the dimensional textures that I could never get with the watercolors.

This small painting will hang in the upcoming July Artsplash show listed in my sidebar. If you are local, be sure to put it on your calendar, as there will be over 35 artists represented with a wide variety of style, plus a miniatures show.

Inspirations
Meanwhile, here is another photo from one of my spring trips. Not bad, considering it was shot through a car window on our way. I'm always looking for the ultimate sky photo, or ocean/water photo, my favorites. These are the kind of scenes that inspire me for painting. Most often, I find I'm painting from my imagination, most likely, little pieces of scenes, composites of years of experiences here and there, so that the painting are not usually so specific a place.

Of Big Skies, Red Dirt and Horses...

I was immersed in the landscape and the culture of Texas....

Big Skies... Horses... and Longhorns...

Aside from being a wonderful family visit, my recent trip to Texas re-immersed me into the landscape and some of what defines the area and the culture of being Texan.... More fun with my camera... still sorting through hundreds of photos. Travel is such a wonderful thing for opening your senses, your mind, getting a fresh view, getting re-acquainted, noticing the extraordinary ordinary things...... like the red dirt or the big big skies with huge white clouds...

Red water... Red dirt.... and fishing in the channels...
we went fishing and caught a huge basketful of crappie. Imagine my surprise, I caught 15 of these "barn door" sized fish... and even helped clean them...

Pick-up trucks... and guns... and outdoor BBQ's
(goat, beef, pork, chicken, fish, you name it, and they grill it)...

Seed and feed buildings... and grain elevators... old and rusting and rustic...

Flatland... and oil pumpers... and pastures,
and seeing for miles and miles...
in the Lone Star state...

Spring, Flowers, and More Flowers

Savoring the Texas spring beauty, overflowing with color...
On my recent April/May trip to Texas I saw so many wildflowers everywhere. I had plenty of practice with my camera's macro setting.

I love the spring in Texas when it is so green, and yes, temperatures are even balmy. During my visit it was mostly in the 60's and low 70's with thunderstorms rolling in one after the other, so dramatic with lightning skies. Sometimes I miss those, as in the Northwest we get mostly quiet slow drizzly rain. Right after I left at the end of May, the heat began with days of 90's, and soon all those lovely greens and colorful flowers will have burnt away to those dulled yellow and brown fields.

I tried shooting a few pix out the window as we were on a road trip to Arkansas too, and some are not too bad. Here you see a vivid yellow field of flowers. The highways were shouting with flowers all along the way.
I am still sorting through photos from my several spring trips and have much inspiration for creating new paintings.... so many colors, textures, shapes to get lost in.