Dear Art Friends,

This is an introduction to my art blog. I have wanted to do this for a long time because between commissions and large gallery paintings I do little oil Sketches of ideas for future paintings or just small things of beauty that strike me at odd moments. Because I paint every day, after a while, these little canvases add up. So I thought I would share them with you. I will be sending them out about every week or two. If you enjoy them, please forward them to friends on your email list. If you do not want to be bothered, no problem just cancel the blog.

So, please consider joining my weekly newsletter.

Thanks, Nancy Paris Pruden

Longhorn Teenager

Reflective Light; Another Example

Last week I talked about reflective light and here is another example. This longhorn teenager parked himself under a shade tree last summer at a friend’s ranch and I took a photograph. There were orange leaves at his feet bouncing up on his neck and cool blues and purples from the dense shade of that oak tree reflecting onto his torso. To top it all off, a bright yellow sun shining through the tree picked up the green of the leaves to reflect chartreuse on his head! Sometimes nature is so colorful you can’t believe it.

Art is an apprenticeship that can be stretched into a lifelong education. The more I look at nature the more color I see. How about You?

Gardenia for a Mother

Reflective Light

As you know I love to paint white objects because it is easier to see all the colors that will bounce into say, a white flower. And anyway, in nature, nothing is really white. This gardenia has a slightly yellowish cast and when you shine a warm light on the translucent petals it casts a yellow light where the light shines through. Second, in the shadow areas you will see color reflections of other objects closest to the white petals. Finally, you will also pick up the background color as it reflects into the flower.

However; the real reason I painted this flower is as a gift to some Mother out there. So, if you’re a mother, please email me right away and I will give this to the first mother I hear from. Happy Mother’s Day!

PS If you’re too late, do not dispair, I painted two and the second one might be better!

Texas Farmhouse

In a Field of Wildflowers

The wildflowers in Texas, after the drought, were magnificent this year! Once the rains came it was like an explosion of color. At Hollee’s Farm, the Bluebonnets, Indian Paint Brush, and these small yellow flowers did not disappoint. Does anyone out there know what to call these pale yellow wildflowers? They look like small yellow Daises but they close up at night and their faces follow the sun like a Sunflower. This year I hauled my paints to the top of a hill so I could look back at Hollee’s lovely old farmhouse in this field of wildflowers. The orange spots of color are actually dead cedars from the drought but now they are beautiful! Isn’t nature colorful?

I love this quote from “The Diary of Anne Frank”…” The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quite alone with the heavens, nature, and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes people to be happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature. As long as this exists, I know that there will always be comfort for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances may be. And I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.”