The spring and summer of 2011 has seen an all-emcompassing drought in my area.  No rain for months - crops ruined, ponds dried up, trees dead: plants, animals, humans have been negatively affected.  My backyard has a small pond and multiple trees growing - no longer. It was a home for wood ducks who visit, stay and live. Not this year. The power company has cut down dead-looking trees to protect the powerlines.  My emotional response is this painting.

 

This painting measures 16"x 20"x 2" multi-media on wood. It is a finalist in this year's Gambol exhibit @ the Art League Houston, TX. It will be on view until December 30, 2011

My brush in hand HERE I AM.   My 2 herniated cervical disc are not as painful, and I have slowly started working on some small flower paintings. One was inspired by the several Angel Trumpet trees in my yard.  I have several paintings on my website which show these beautiful and fragrant flowers. This painting will soon be in the hands of my neighbor's step-mother who is a Master Gardener. I am flattered indeed. 

 

Next week, I will post another flower painting called Lady Margaret which is a Passionflower vine growing in my backyard.

 

www.suedonaldson.com

An opportunity came my way, one I  could not refuse. As part of the www.landfillart.org project, I was mailed an old cleaned-up metal hubcab (not sure what car or year it is?). It was just very exciting for me: the opportunity to take a "throw-away", apply my artistic process to it and turn it from trash to art was a karmic thrill. Instead of using the hubcap as a straightforward metal canvas, I thought of it as an ever-turning scenario for my idealized stylistic vision as I traveled the roads and highways from Houston, TX to Austin, TX. The viewer, of course, may also take any destination of their desire. Whadda think?  Check out the wedsite above to see more artistic interpretations for a worthy cause.

early February 2010...As I was admiring over 100 blossoms blooming or about to bloom with leaves blowing in the breeze, the Angel Trumpet aroma permeated the air. The newspapers & the Weather Channel all predicted an Arctic Blast was headed our way. The blast came with a vengance: snow with temperatures plummetting with minus wind chill. It was the lowest low in 40 years. The bark was shriveled, the blossoms frozen, the leaves lifeless. The once beautiful Angel Trumpet tree looked like a very strange tree. My granddaughter commented that it was a "Spinach Tree". I had to paint it as I felt and saw it. It is on a gallery-wrapped 20x20 canvas.

Sienna Afternoon, named from the color Burnt Sienna, is a multi-media piece. In this piece, I used acrylic paint and crackle paste. Crackle paste is a medium which is put on a wood surface with a large palette knife, and let dry for several days. It creates a cracked earth effect.