Simple Elegance Two…

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beach, botanical art, botanical prints, Colorful Art, elegant, elegant art, feminine art, flower art, flower prints, flowers, flowers art, fuschia orchid, hot pink orchid, modern, modern art, orchid, orchid art, orchid photography, orchid prints, orchids, phalaenopsis, pink orchid, prints, sharon cummings, sharon cummings art

Because one beautiful pink orchid wasn’t enough. Hot pink, elegant and full of botanical beauty. Art is for everyone!

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Simple Elegance One

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beach, botanical art, botanical prints, Colorful Art, elegant, elegant art, fuschia orchid, hot pink orchid, modern, modern art, orchid, orchid art, orchid photography, orchid prints, orchids, phalaenopsis, pink orchid, sharon cummings, sharon cummings art, spa, spa art, spa decor

More orchids because there is no such thing as too many. 🙂 Elegant spa feel art for everyone!

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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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Have You Been Here?

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asia, australia, big, blue, buy map, buy maps, buy maps online, buy prints, buy world map, buy world maps, continents, countries, decor, decorating, decorative, earth, earthy, elegant, europe, fancy, gift, high end, huge, map, map of the world, maps, nautical, north america, oceans, of, prints, purchase map, purchase maps, sharon cummings, sophisticated, south america, the, theme, travel, traveler, traveler's gift ideas, traveling, unique, vivid, world, world map, world maps, world travel, yellow, yellow and blue

 

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/world-map-16-yellow-and-blue-art-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html

I get asked that question often.  A lot of people I know love to travel.  My In-Laws just got back from Africa recently.  A good friend had an adventure in Cuba last month. My husband lived in Indonesia for a few years.  And the list goes on.  I like the “idea” of traveling more than the actual experience. I love to “see” the world and wish there was a way to beam myself to various locals just long enough to take it in.  Bypassing the long flights, nasty airports, restrooms….sleeping in strange place.  Odd food.  I am not exactly a homebody though.  I’ve been to a few places as far away as Hawaii which is pretty far considering I live in Florida.  And I have been to many cities all over the United States, but I have never been to another country.  I’ve got plans…..  I know it isn’t too far, but Canada is the first place I want to visit off of U.S. soil.  Where have you been?  And where do you want to go?  

Pick your spot on one of my colorful maps….

http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-sharon-cummings.html?tab=artworkgalleries&artworkgalleryid=238389

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. 🙂

Wish You Were Here

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air, alone, art, barren, barren tree, blue, blue sky, brances, branches, breeze, bridge, bright sky, cabin, calm, calming, camping, canvas, cloud, clouds, earth, elegant, fall sky, florida, foliage, forest, galaxy, green, hiding place, hiking, journey, landscape, landscapes, leafless, lonely, lonesome, meditation, minimal, minimalism, minimalist, mountain, natural, nature, note 3, paintings, path, peace, peaceful, photo, photograph, photography, photos, prints, relax, relaxing, samsung, samsung galaxy, samsung galaxy note 3, samsung galaxy note 3 camera, scenery, scenic, secret place, sharon cummings, sightseeing, silence, silent, simple, single, skies, sky, skyscape, skyscapes, solitude, soothing, spring sky, stroll, strolling, sumemr sky, tree, tree branch, tree branches, trees, walk, walking, wall art, white cloud, wilderness, wildflower, wildflowers, wind, winter sky, wood, wooden bridge, woods, woodsy

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/solitude-blue-sky-art-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html

Yesterday was one of those amazing Florida days where I wished everyone I knew could be enjoying the fresh air, the sunshine and all of the beauty that was embracing me.  We took our new Samsung Galaxy Note 3 phones out into the wilderness to see what the cameras could do.  I bought the phone for my business and that is what it is used for 90% of the time, but since we had heard so much about the photographic capacity of these new gadgets we gave them a whirl. There was no shortage of subject.  The cameras took some really nice pictures, but no where near that of our DSLR’s.  My favorite is the piece above titled “Solitude” as it expresses how I feel most of the time.  Working from a home studio without coworkers and/or employees leaves me with a lot of alone time.

But I had the most fun playing with the panorama setting.  This piece below turned out really cool and shows a true slice of Florida wilderness where man has intruded by building a bridge between the city world and the great outdoors:

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/around-the-bend-sharon-cummings.html

Lastly, there were so many wildflowers blooming it was unreal.  Some of these beauties were taller than I was with large golden and yellow fronds reaching into the sky.  Really it was perfect and it turned out to be a lot less about the camera and a lot more about capturing the beauty…..

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/florida-beauty-landscape-art-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html