Where Do You Go?

Tags

beach, beach house, beach life, beach sand, beachfront property, coastal living, ocean, salt life, sarasota florida, sea, shark, venice florida, weekend getaway

Where do you go when you are not working?  Do you retreat to a spare bedroom to mediate?  Do you hang out with friends over a few drinks?  Do you get away for the weekend to the mountains?  Do you head for the ocean?  Or are you like I used to be for the past 12 years, do you mostly work and not get away enough to make a noticeable difference?

I made a decision about 6 months ago that my health and spiritual being were more important than my work.  I am not my art.  My art is just a small part of who I am. So I now take long weekends and I commune with nature.  I swim in the sea, hike through the woods, bike ride along the waterways, hunt for sharks teeth along the shoreline, watch turtles and iguanas warm themselves at the park, see the sun set over the ocean and so much more!   I do not blog or promote my art during this time. I do not talk to clients on the phone.  I don’t even have a computer at my beach house.  And no T.V. either.  Imagine that?  For many years I couldn’t, and now I cannot imagine going back to that workaholic person I used to be….

Here is where I go…

B.E.A.C.H. Bunnies…

Tags

art, bahamas, bather, beach, beach home, beach house, beach sand, beach towels, beaches, beachy, coast, coastal, colorful, cottage, cute, female, florida, fun, girl, girls, home, house, key west, ladies, lady, laying out, legs, lido, miami, miami beach, ocean, painting, people, prints, sand, sarasota, sarasota florida, sea, siesta key, sun, sun bather, sun tan, sunbather, sunbathing, sunshine, suntan, tan, tanned, tanning, tommy bahama, travel, trip, tropical, vacation, whimsical, woman, women

They sizzle.

They turn.

They worship.

They burn.

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Enjoy this Summertime treat from my Mother-in-law Betty Cummings.  She was inspired by a walk along Siesta Key Beach in Sarasota, Florida.  She used bright colors in her oils to achieve this tropical look.  I am so fortunate to own some of her original work.  And now everyone can enjoy prints too!

S.U.M.M.E.R.’S Brightest…

Tags

beach, beach sunflower, beauty, florida, flower, flowers, gardening, landscapes, nature, ocean, sarasota, sarasota florida, sea, sharon cummings, siesta key, summer, vacation, yellow, yellow flowers

The Summer sun is particularly brutal this time of year in Florida.  Temperatures soar and it is nearly impossible to spend time outside during the hottest part of the day.  As I head back to my retreat after a long walk along the ocean, I am always stuck by how parched and dead everything is on the dunes.  It looks brittle and bare.  But there are these little bursts of color dotting the landscape.  Yellow flowers that withstand the most demanding months of Summer.  The Beach Sunflower……Summer’s brightest!

I will be away for awhile….see you when I get back!

S.U.M.M.E.R. Blues…

Tags

art, beach, beach home, beach house, buy, canvas, clouds, coast, coastal, coastline, fl, florida, heaven, heavenly, heavenly light, landscape, light, maritime, ocean, online, paintings, prints, ray, rays, sarasota, sarasota beach, sarasota florida, sea, seascape, sharon cummings, Siesta Key Beach, sky, spirit, spiritual, summer, summer vacation, sun, sun beam, sun beams, sun rays, sunbeam, sunbeams, sunlight, sunset, swim, swimming, vacation, waves

I’ve got the Summer blues.  I am not talking about the sad kind.  I am referring to the azure skies and blue aqua tint of the ocean waves of Florida.  There is also the deeper blue gray of rain in the distance that tends to come around 5:00 pm each day.  I am in Venice right now enjoying the salty air and cooler breezes that provide the only reprieve from the stifling heat.  This morning we went out and swam in the choppy swells.  The temperature was perfect and the sun was hidden behind the clouds for a few hours.  I would apologize for my frequent absences from my blog, marketing and work in general.  But I am far from sorry.  I’ve worked hard for this and can finally live the life I’ve always envisioned.  I am spending as much time as possible at the beach this year. It’s just heavenly…

Perfect Company

Tags

beach, beach art, beach print, child, childhood art, childhood prints, Children, dream, dreams, florida, girl art, girl photograph, girl prints, happiness, happy, happy art, happy prints, home, joy, kid, kids, landscapes art, landscapes photograph, landscapes photography, landscapes prints, little girl, Mom and Dad, ocean, ocean art, ocean print, Parenting, peace, play, playing, pretty, sand, sand castle, sarasota, sarasota art, sarasota florida, sarasota print, serenity, spiritual, tides, Tourism, United States, water art, water prints, waves, youth

Sometimes you have to take a new look at an old piece and see a better way to present it.  This one has languished in my portfolio long enough.  It was good, but not great.  I took this photograph a few years ago while on vacation with my husband in Sarasota, Florida.  It was high tourist season and the beaches were filled with screaming children, lobster people and old folks slathered in sunscreen. As we walked the shore after dinner, there was this one magic moment.  A little girl playing in the sand all alone.  She was not playing with any of the other children nearby.  Mom and Dad watched from a safe distance and it just struck me that she looked so happy.  Completely oblivious to her surroundings…totally absorbed in the pleasure of the beach sand….she had “Perfect Company”.

See more here:

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/perfect-company-sharon-cummings.html

 

B.E.A.C.H.!!

Tags

art, Artist, beach, beach house, beaches, bird, birds, coast, coastal, coastal living, florida, gull, gulls, ocean, photo, photo collage, photograph, photography, sarasota, sarasota florida, sea, sea gull, sea gulls, seagull, seagulls, sharon cummings, vacation

 

Heading for the beach for a few days…..Summer is almost over and I want some more swimming before it gets too cold.  Enjoy your weekend everyone!

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/searching-the-sea-seagull-art-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html

Wish You Were Here…..

Tags

art, beach, beach house, beach sand, beaches, best beaches, blue sky, bradenton, brandent beach, california, clouds, coastal, coastal living, coastline, florida, hawaii, home, honeymoon, horizon, house, landscape, ocean, oceanscape, paintings, perfect sky, photographs, photography, photos, prints, sand, sarasota, sarasota florida, sea, seascape, sharon cummings, shore, shoreline, siesta key, Siesta Key Beach, sky, summer, summer sky, summer vacation, sun, sunbathing, sunshine, surf, surfer, surfing, travel, tropical, tropics, vacation

No words needed….ahhhhhh

See more here:

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/siesta-sky-beach-art-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html

Magic Moments

Tags

art, beach, beaches, Fine Art, florida, honeymoon, lido, lido beach, love, lovers, photography, romance, romantic art, sarasota, sarasota florida, sharon cummings, sunset, sunsets

When I have my camera in my hand I am constantly looking for “magic moments”.  Often I get home and download my images only to find that most of them are not worthwhile at all.  But sometimes you get a stunner.  This piece was indeed amazing as my daughter and I watched the sun going down over Lido Beach in Sarasota Florida.  This couple gazed out patiently and expectantly over the horizon for that last glimmer of light going beneath the water.  It was surreal.  I am delighted that I captured this memory…..

Learn more about this moment here:

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-honeymoon-sunset-art-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html

Paradise Found

Tags

amazing sunset, beach, beach combers, beaches, bradenton, bradenton beaches, bradenton florida, california, clouds, coast, coastal, coastal living, daybreak, diving, florida, hawaii, honeymoon, landscape, landscapes, lido, naples, night, nightfall, north lido, ocean, resort, sarasota, sarasota beaches, sarasota florida, scuba, scuba diving, sea, seascape, seascapes, set, sharon cummings, siesta key, sky, snorkeling, summer, sun, sun rays, sunset, sunsets, surf, surfing, tropical, tropics, vacation, venice, water

 

One of the things I love most about living in Florida is the easy access to the most beautiful beaches in the World.  I have made Tampa my residence for over 25 years, but Sarasota is my home town and it is where my heart wonders when I need to calm my spirit.  It is about an hour drive from my house to Lido Beach and I can tell you it is well worth it.  There are closer coastlines, but none can compare to this tropical oasis.  It truly is paradise!  I recently took my daughter on a getaway to Lido Resort and this is the sunset that kissed us goodnight the first evening.  Enjoy!

See more here:

 http://fineartamerica.com/featured/sunset-in-paradise-beach-photography-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html

Shop Till You Drop

Tags

art, Artist, ellenton outlet mall, faabest, florida, Goodwill, sarasota, sarasota florida, sharon cummings, Shopping, shopping queens, shops, thrift shopping, thrift store, thrift stores

 

Every Summer I take my daughter on a little girl’s getaway.  Neither of us are real fashion hounds, but we do love a good bargain.  We like to make our way down to Sarasota, FL hitting the Ellenton Outlet Mall first.  We can usually find a few goodies there, but the best shopping is along the main drag through Sarasota and Bradenton.  There seems to be a Goodwill or a thrift store every few miles.  It’s fun to find odds and ends at each place and then put them all together at the end of the day to make a unique outfit.  Sometimes I find interesting things to photograph for my artwork too.  We eat like queens and give each other pedicures.  This is what life is about and I leave work far behind me…..