Ummm Bearable…

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bear, bear art, bear market, bear painting, bears, black bear, brown bear, colorful animal art, Colorful Art, country cottage, country decor, farmhouse decor, grizzly bear, rustic decor, wild animals

A little bear with bright colors and a mosaic background. Just the thing for the winter blues!

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I Wanna Be a Cock Star…

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bird, birds, chicken, chickens, country, country art, country cottage, country decor, farm animals, farm art, farm fresh eggs, farmhouse decor, homestead, homesteading, poultry

We started our homestead awhile back and now have 12 chickens that are old enough to give us the most delicious eggs! Our birds are so gentle and loving. They like to nap on you while you pet them. You are what you eat and we are feelin the love!

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Just S.M.I.L.E.

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arrangement, art, bathroom, beautiful, bedroom, botanical, botanical art, botanical painting, botanical prints, bud, buds, cottage, cottage art, country, country cottage, elegance, elegant, feminine, floral, floral arrangement, flower, flower buds, flowers, garden, gardening, happiness, happy, health, health benefits, healthy living, kitchen, ladies slippers, lady slipper, orchid, orchids, phaphiopedilum, photo, photograph, photography, rich, sharon cummings, smile, smiling, soft, table, traditional, vase, vases, yellow orchid

 

It’s so simple.  Just smile.  Even if you have to look at cute videos on YouTub of babies laughing or puppies sleeping, it’s a great way to improve your health and it makes you feel good about yourself.  Below are some of the rewards of lifting those cheeks:

1.  It Lower Heart Rate – Smiling slows the heart and relaxes the body. People who smile and laugh often are less likely to develop heart disease. Smiling reduces blood pressure temporarily too.

2.  It Reduce Stress – Stress relief may be as simple as smiling a little more throughout the day. Smiling releases endorphins that counteract and diminish the stress hormones.

3.  It Increase Productivity – Smiling has been shown to increase productivity while performing tasks. There’s truth to the “whistle while we work” mentality. This also explains why silly internet memes and pictures of cute animals can actually get people motivated and working harder after a few moments of smiling or laughter.

4.  It is a natural Pain Killer – Smiling and laughter both have been shown to lessen pain. They release endorphins that lift our moods, but many of these act as natural painkillers too.

5.  It Increase Attention – Stress limits our perceptions and narrows our attention. Our body kicks into fight or flight mode where we can focus only on one of those things. Smiling counteracts this and widens our attention again, opening us back up to multitasking and insights that come from the fringes of our perception and our subconscious.

6.  It is Contagious – Around 50% of people smile back. This spreads the health benefits throughout those around you and it comes back to you several times as well.

7.  It makes you more Attractive!  – Smiling makes people look more appealing. This seems to be especially true for women. Men are more likely to approach a woman who smiles than one who simply makes eye contact while women aren’t necessarily drawn in by a smile alone.

8.  It makes You Look Younger – Smiles naturally lift the face and in studies have shown to make people look younger, around 3 years younger on average.

9.  It increases Longevity – The effects of a good smile extend past just the exterior good looks. People who smile more often live longer too, around 7 years longer than most according to one study. It releases stress, helps the heart, and much more to keep you healthy longer.

10.  It Boosts the Immune System – Smiles help the body relax and this lets the immune system react more quickly and effectively against invaders.

So C’mon…………………………………………………..S.M.I.L.E. 🙂

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My Petals Are All W.E.T…..

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arrangement, art, bathroom, beautiful, bedroom, botanical, botanical art, botanical painting, bud, buds, cottage, cottage art, country, country cottage, dew, dew drops, droplets, elegance, elegant, feminine, floral, floral arrangement, flower, flower buds, flowers, fuschia orchid, garden, gardening, hot pink orchid, kitchen, orchid, orchids, phalaenopsis, photo, photograph, photography, purple orchid, rain, rain drops, rich, sharon cummings, soft, table, traditional, vase, vases

 

It’s that time of year when all of the flowers are blooming and these quick little showers show up out of nowhere. My orchids look fabulous this Spring!  I can mostly get phalaenopsis to re-bloom year after year. When I buy some from a store or garden shop, I let them live out their flowering lives in my home.  When they are all done, I just stick them under the oak trees and they love it!  I do not do anything else to them.  I just let nature water and care for them.  The white and hot pink especially like to show their pretty little petals for me.  We just had one of those morning showers that leaves everything all sparkly with water droplets….I couldn’t resist!

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Got Spring Fever?

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art, art licensing, art prints, bed and breakfast, bird, birds, birds of a feather, bluebird, canary, chickadee, circles, colorful birds, cottage, country, country cottage, cute, design, designs, Family, feather, feathers, feminine, finch, girly, green, happiness, happy, home decor, joy, joyful, life, lifestyle, line, lines, mosaic, mosaics, natural, nature, painting, prints, rainbow, robin, series, sharon cummings, spring, spring birds, spring colors, springtime, springy, whimsical, whimsy

Spring has sprung in Florida!  The weather is absolutely perfect.  The azaleas are blooming in glorious hot pink beauty.  The grass is greening up.  Bees are buzzing.  My orchids are budding. And then there is the pollen.  Aaaaaachooo!!  Yup, I get allergies bad this time of the year and that sticky yellow stuff gets in my nose, eyes and lungs and I spend my time indoors or masked. If I venture outside I wear a hat (so it doesn’t get in my hair), a mask and glasses.  I shower before bed and keep my sheets as clean as possible.  It only lasts about a month or so like this, but it is a wait.  What to do?  Create of course!  I love the LOOK of Spring and decided to keep it positive with this fun and whimsical piece today.

This work is a mixed media piece combining some of my Labor of Love paintings with a stock background and graphic elements.  A real joy to put together. 🙂  Enjoy!

 

FOR A LIMITED TIME….Get this new piece for PEANUTS!!  SALE!!  Click the link below:

http://fineartamerica.com/weeklypromotion.html?promotionid=138605

 

Out Of This World!

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arrangement, art, bathroom, beautiful, bedroom, botanical, botanical art, botanical painting, bud, buds, cottage, cottage art, country, country cottage, elegance, elegant, feminine, floral, floral arrangement, flower, flower buds, flowers, garden, gardening, kitchen, orchid, orchids, phalaenopsis, photo, photograph, photography, rich, sharon cummings, soft, table, traditional, vase, vases, white orchids

 

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/ethereal-orchid-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html

I found this beauty at Selby Gardens in Sarasota Florida.  It’s just a phalaenopsis of the more common variety.  But once I got the photo home and did a little magic, I was able to create a ghostly almost ethereal effect.  

A busy day here…..I am going to do another show in March!  But I will keep new work coming when I can. 🙂

It’s Not Always About You….

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america, American, American Bald Eagle, American Eagle, animal, animals, art, art deco, art for sale, Artist, bald eagle, beautiful, betty cummings, bird, birds, boston, boston eagles, botanical, botanical art, botanical painting, buy art, buy art online, cottage, cottage art, country, country cottage, deco, Eagle, eagles football, floral, floral arrangement, florals, flower, flowers, harley davidson, history, motorcycles, oil paintings, paintings, patriot, patriotic, poppies, poppy, prints, red poppies, red poppy, traditional art, trumpet flowers, wild poppies, wild poppy

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/wild-poppies-floral-art-by-betty-cummings-betty-cummings.html

I am really good at tooting my own horn in my blog.  That is mainly what these online diaries are about.  However, I appreciate so much art from around the world that I enjoy featuring work that I love from time to time.

Today’s featured artist is Betty Cummings.  Betty is an American artist living in CO and FL.  She is well established in galleries and juried art shows, but new to online exhibition.  Her work is full of rich colors and delightful contrast.  She is a great painter and also happens to be my Mother In Law.  There is no shortage of art around my home and I am fortunate to have two original pieces from Betty proudly displayed in the entryway to my house.

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/angels-trumpets-floral-art-by-betty-cummings-betty-cummings.html

Betty has this to say about her work:  “Close observation is a kind of daily meditation. I like to look at beautiful things: luminous flowers, the glitter of glass, opulent fabrics, a landscape lit just so.  I often exaggerate color and contrast in my paintings to try to give shape to what my inner eye is seeing. I often push the scale, also, to something beyond reality. Heightened color, bigger-than-life scale, dramatic lighting and high contrast are some of the tools I use.”

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/american-eagle-bald-eagle-by-betty-cummings-betty-cummings.html

Being a novice to the online art world, you will not find a lot of her work on the Internet, but she has a website here:  http://bettycummings.com/  Feel free to contact her to discuss original commissioned paintings or just to let her know that you have enjoyed her work!