10 Friday Apr 2015
Posted in Art
Tags
art, grass, green, green grass, hat, photo, photography, signs of spring, spring, springtime, summer, Summertime, walk, walking
“Summer Stroll”
Photography/Digital
William Patrick
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This time of year you can find me outside enjoying the beautiful weather and lush landscape that Florida has to offer. Don’t worry, the brutal heat will be here soon enough and I will be blogging more art. 🙂
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30 Wednesday Apr 2014
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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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18 Friday Apr 2014
Posted in Uncategorized
Tags
bold, botanical, botanical art, botanical photos, botanical prints, clock vine, clock vine flowers, colorful, floral, floral photography, florida, florida botanical gardens, flower, flowers, garden, gardening, gardens, lavender, macro, macro photography, natural, nature, olive flower, periwinkle, photo, photograph, photography, pinellas county, plants, pretty, purple, sharon cummings, spring, spring flowers, spring time, springtime, vibrant, vine, vines, wild flowers, wildflowers
Yesterday me and the hubby went on a little field trip. We found our way to the Florida Botanical Gardens in Pinellas County. Somehow in all of these years in Tampa, this gem has been hidden from me. We frequently drive down to Sarasota to enjoy the Selby Gardend, but this place was also amazing! So many flowers all out in the open to see and smell. The winding paths lead to many beautiful surprises. Plus there is a little heritage village with old houses and buildings that were to be destroyed, but were saved and moved here. What a treat!
It is a macro lens photographer’s delight. 🙂
14 Monday Apr 2014
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Tags
art, art buyer, botanical, building, business, cacti, cactus, canvas, colorful, construction, contractor, corporate, decorating, decorative, desert, echeveria, floral, framed, garden, gardener, gardening, gift, homes, horticulture, hotel, house, houses, interior design, interior designer, jade plant, landscaping, model home, motel, office, paintings, photo, photographs, photography, plant, plants, prints, retreat, sharon cummings, southwest, southwestern art, spa, succulent, succulent garden, succulent plants, succulents, wall art, wall decor
The word “succulent” sounds titillating. You can almost “feel” what it means as it rolls off of your tongue. Say it right now. Slowly…
O.k. maybe I just wanted to use the words “succulent and “titillating” in the same sentence. 😉 But these beauties grow all over the place in Florida. They seem to be just as happy in our tropical swamp as they are in the dry air of the desert. But with thousands of varieties available, they do have varying care requirements. So if you want to grow some of these beauties inside or out, read the labels on the plants before buying. They do love bright sunlight, but they can get sunburned. I have seen a few wither and die myself.
I love the smooth feel they have and the variety of colors they come in. I’ve taken artistic liberty with this one obviously. I was intrigued by the interesting shapes and shadows in this plant. Nature is my inspiration!
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12 Saturday Apr 2014
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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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08 Tuesday Apr 2014
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Tags
bold, botanical, botanical art, botanical photos, botanical prints, colorful, floral, floral photography, flower, flowers, fuchsia, garden, gardening, gardens, ground cover, groundcover, hot pink, ice, ice flower, ice plant, macro, macro photography, natural, nature, photo, photograph, photography, pink, pink flower, pink flowers, pink petals, plants, pretty, sharon cummings, spring, spring flowers, vibrant, wild flowers, wildflowers
This past weekend was filled with fun and diversion from my normal routine. I spent a lovely day with a friend in Tarpon Springs eating Greek food, playing pool and hitting the vintage shops. I also got in some photography on Saturday. My husband and I headed out to Sand Key, FL and surrounding beaches to soak up a little sunshine and explore beach condos. While we were trekking about, these hot pink flowers really caught my eye. They were ground hugging beauties. He immediately identified them as “ice plants” which I had never seen in the South before. He said they grow like wild up in California where he is from. In 45 years this is my first ice plant spotting. Wow! The color is fantastic (unaltered…straight from my Nikon D7000). I find I actually “see” more when I carry my macro lens with me. There really is so much beauty in our world. 🙂
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05 Wednesday Feb 2014
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Tags
art, art prints, common beauty, garden, gardening, growth, macro, macro photography, macro photos, natural, nature, photo, photography, plant, plants, prints, seasons, sharon cummings, signs of spring, wall art, warm weather, weed, weeding, weeds
I have been super busy painting commission work lately and they are all HUGE! But I am not letting the World completely go by me. I try to take time each day to get outside into the sunshine and fresh air. To commune with nature. I am ever amazed at how strikingly beautiful the World is “up close”. Through my macro lens even a common weed is bursting with beauty. This one reminded me of stars and snowflakes……Ahhhhh taking time to smell the roses….or in this case the weeds. 🙂
24 Friday Jan 2014
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art, beach, beach house, beachy, bermuda, bird, bird of paradise, caribbean, coastal, coastal living, floral, florida, garden, gardening, gardens, island, islands, key west, miami, of, orange, orange flower, painting, paradise, photo, photograph, photography, sarasota, sharon cummings, sunny, tropical, tropical flower, tropical flowers, tropical garden, tropics
There is no shortage of strange and fascinating flora and fauna in Florida. Luckily we grow more than mold. 😉 I’ve always been attracted to The Bird Of Paradise flower. The leaves and are boring and a dull green, but when they flower it is an explosion of color!
As I continue my photographic learning journey, I am delighted with the choices I now have. I can choose to list a pure photograph or I can process the imaged to create a unique work of art. Either way it is a joy to create!
21 Tuesday Jan 2014
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Tags
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. 🙂
13 Monday Jan 2014
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Tags
abstract photography, art for sale, big boy toys, big hooks, black, building, bulldozer, bulldozers, buy art, claw, claws, construction, construction site, contemporary, contrast, cool, crane, cranes, dig, digging, dirt, dirty, Fine Art, gray, ground, hook, hooked, hooks, industrial, industrial art, industrial photography, interesting, land movers, loft, machine, machinery, metal, metal hooks, modern, photo, photograph, photography, sharon cummings, teeth, textural, texture, unique, urban, urban loft, urban photography, william patrick
One of the things I am learning as a photographer is that there are no “ugly” things. Through the lens of my camera the entire world is becoming one beautiful thing after another. Even dirt has shape, shadow and form that create interesting imagery. The above piece is just the front end of a bulldozer but upon closer inspection it has a wonderfully curved shape and interestingly detailed teeth. The light and soil create contrast and shadow forming an abstract image that is very pleasing to the eye.
Two massive hooks used on a crane create a dance of beauty in a spectacular blue sky. They seem to hang there weightlessly. Just waiting for their work to begin….
Here in Florida we pass by huge cranes doing their work almost daily. Construction is an ever present condition of our roads and buildings. Usually these machine wouldn’t be considered works of art, but when you take notice of all of their lines and detail, suddenly there is an explosion of intrigue. Bright red lights up the frame with provocative cables leading to…..
No……there are no “ugly” things and that is a “good” thing!
Abstract Art by Sharon Cummings 