Art will never exist without...

Art will never be able to exist without nature. (Pierre Bonnard)

Let's really stop and think about this.

Without nature, there is no art.

Nature is inherent in almost every piece of art, whether it is the subject matter, the materials, or the emotion conveyed through the artwork.

It's a gorgeous morning here in New Hampshire.

The leaves are turning, the sky is a deep cerulean blue, and the grass glistens with the morning dew.

It's a work of art.

I hope you enjoy the artful side of nature today.

Richard Wilson   View of Syon House across the Thames near Kew Gardens  
c. 1760       Oil on canvas, 104 x 139 cm

The View from the Summit

Live your life each day as you would climb a mountain. An occasional glance toward the summit keeps the goal in mind, but many beautiful scenes are to be observed from each new vantage point. Climb slowly, steadily, enjoying each passing moment; and the view from the summit will serve as a fitting climax for the journey. (Harold V. Melchert)

 Caspar David Friedrich   Morning in the Mountains  
1822-23  
Oil on canvas, 135 x 170 cm  
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

Happy First Day of Autumn!

The one red leaf, the last of its clan,
That dances as often as dance it can,
Hanging so light, and hanging so high,
On the topmost twig that looks up at the sky.
~Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Thomas Cole (1801-1848)
Morning Mist Rising, Plymouth, New Hampshire (A View in the United States of America in Autumn)
Oil on canvas
c1830
55.88 x 38.1 cm
(22" x 15")
Private collection

Today is the first day of autumn -

a glorious season here in New Hampshire.

Happy Birthday - Francesco Zuccarelli: The Little Pumpkin

Francesco Zuccarelli (8/15/1702 – 12/30/1788) was an Italian landscape painter, who travelled to England and enjoyed great success there as a critically acclaimed artist. His name means "little pumpkin," and he sometimes signed his work with a pumpkin-like marking.

Francesco Zuccarelli
Landscape, before 1788