Dove Love…

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abstract, abstract art, bird, bird art, birds, Christmas art, christmas card, christmas gifts, dove, doves, happy holidays, modern, modern art, peace, peace and love, peace symbol, peaceful art, seasons, seasons greetings, sharon cummings art, white dove, winter, winter holiday, world peace

A peaceful flight into soft soothing colors. Perfect for the Winter Holidays…Dove Love.

SEE MORE HERE!

A C.H.A.N.G.E. of Season…

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beach, beach art, beach prints, beachy, ocean, red art, sea, sea grapes, seasons, tropical decor, tropical foliage, tropical plants

It’s beach weather again.  In Florida we really do not get definitive season changes, except in the Spring.  Fall comes and goes without any fanfare.  Winter just brings some cooler days.   Summer is just hot.  But sometime in March everything comes alive with color!  The oaks are almost fluorescent green! Bougainvilleas and azaleas burst in dots and cascades in shades of fuchsia in every yard.  And by the ocean….the sweet beautiful sea….The sea grape leaves turn many shades of red, orange and yellow.  It’s a happy time for this color junkie. 🙂

Red Sea Grapes (Beach Art)

Photography

Sharon Cummings

2016

Feel The OCEAN Here!

The Wonder Years….

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aging, anxiety, art, bathroom, bedroom, botanical, botanical prints, bug, bugs, butterflies, butterfly, butterfly garden, butterfly wings, buy, career, change, ecology, face lifts, Family, feminine, for her, for sale, fun, garden, gardens, gift, gifts, growth, happy, healing, insect, insects, joy, joyful, letting go, living room, marriage, mixed media, mom, mother, mother's day, online, paintings, pentas, personal growth, powder room, prints, season, seasons, sharon cummings, skin, spring, summer, uncertainty, wing, wings

 

Are you trying to hold on to your youth?  Your children?  A dysfunctional family?  A job that isn’t right for you?  A marriage that doesn’t work?  That D you got in trigonometry in high school?

So many of us cling tightly to what is familiar or comfortable.  Others bind themselves to the past and allow it to punish them for their entire lives. Change is scary.  Some just cannot picture a life different than the one they currently have.  I have learned that the harder you grasp something, the more it hurts when it slips away from you.  The secret to life is “letting go”.  Also known as acceptance.  This has nothing to do with giving up and everything to do with knowing when it is time to move on.

I had a few years of uncertainty and fear as I moved into middle age.  I was panicked at the thought of my little girl out in the big mean World all by herself. My marriage had a major hiccup one Summer and I was not sure we would make it.  I noticed that I was starting to lose the interest of men when I walked into a room.  My body and face were aging and I did not know how to handle it. I was also very confused about what I wanted to do with my business.  I considered shutting it down and taking a different path by getting back into Holistic Medicine.  I call those years “the worry years”.

Slowly I started to realize that I could not hold onto all of those things that I wanted to remain the same.  More importantly, I did not want to. I discovered it was safe to let go and just celebrate where I was headed.  I was not only physically different, I was also mentally and emotionally transformed.  At 45 I am now excited to watch my daughter leave for college and blossom into her own life.  I will not be keeping her bedroom as a shrine where I can focus on the past.  Instead it will be converted into a sanctuary for yoga and thinking. She will be welcome to visit anytime, but I will use that space for mediation.  I have learned to work “with” my partner instead of “against” him as we weather life’s bumps.  I am less selfish.  I have also decided that I will not be artificially preserving my youthful face.  It’s gone and no amount of face lifting, injecting or sand blasting is going to bring it back.  It’s o.k. to have wrinkles and fine lines.  In fact, if you allow yourself to let go of what society dictates is beautiful, you can actually admire them for what they really are: signs of a life that has endured numerous storms and celebrated many triumphs.

As for my career that is still being pondered.  I have a few new ideas about what direction I would like to move in. But whatever I decide, the process leading up to it will not be fraught with anxiety.  No, these are truly “the wonder years” for me.  The dictionary tells us that “wonder” means:  a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable.  And that is exactly where I am.  Bring it on life!

Wall C.A.N.D.Y!!

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abstract, abstract shell, aqua, aqua shell, art sale, beach, beach home, beach house, beaches, beautiful, blue, bradenton, california, canvas, coastal, colorful, east coast, florida, fractal, fractals, geometric, geometrical, home, house, large, maritime, miami, natural, nature, nautilus, nautilus shell, north carolina, ocean, perfection, sale, sarasota, sea, sea shell, sea shells, seashell, seashells, seasons, sharon cummings, shell, shells, spiritual, summer, tropical, vacation, water, yoga, zen

 

Wall Candy Supreme!  My popular Blue Nautilus is on SALE!  A big size:  20x24x1.5.  Luxurious Gallery Wrapped Canvas.  Ready To Hang.  

Only 25 available for only a few days!  First come first served. 🙂  

Click the link below to take advantage of this amazing deal!

http://fineartamerica.com/weeklypromotion.html?promotionid=139722

Hope Springs Eternal

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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

 

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/hope-springs-eternal-macro-photography-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html

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. 🙂

Feeling BLUE….

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abstract, abstract shell, beach, beach home, beach house, beaches, beautiful, blue, bradenton, california, canvas, coastal, colorful, east coast, florida, fractal, fractals, geometric, geometrical, green, home, house, large, maritime, miami, natural, nature, nautilus, nautilus shell, north carolina, ocean, orange, orange shell, perfection, pink, pink and orange, pink shell, red, sarasota, sea, sea shell, sea shells, seashell, seashells, seasons, sharon cummings, shell, shells, spiritual, summer, tropical, vacation, water, yoga, zen

 

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/blue-nautilus-shell-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html

People often ask me what my favorite color might be.  I’ve always found that question extremely difficult to answer because I love ALL colors so much.  When I was a kid, I favored green.  It made me feel happy and alive.  But as I’ve matured, I have found that a lot of my work has shades of blue and aqua mixed together.  Blue and aqua would be two colors, but it is in fact my favorite. 🙂

Blue is the color of the clear sky and the deep sea. On the optical spectrum, blue is located between violet and green. Surveys in the U.S. and Europe show that blue is the color most commonly associated with harmony, faithfulness, and confidence.

Not sure why depression is linked to blue because this hue makes me feel really good inside.  So most days I am definitely feeling blue and love it!

Are You A Perfectionist?

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abstract, abstract shell, achievement, beach, beach home, beach house, beaches, beautiful, bradenton, california, canvas, coastal, colorful, east coast, florida, fractal, fractals, geometric, geometrical, goals, green, home, house, large, maritime, miami, natural, nature, nautilus, nautilus shell, north carolina, ocean, orange, orange shell, perfect, perfection, perfectionism, perfectionist, personal best, pink, pink and orange, pink shell, psychology, red, sarasota, sea, sea shell, sea shells, seashell, seashells, seasons, sharon cummings, shell, shells, spiritual, success, summer, tropical, vacation, water, yoga, zen

 

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/colorful-nautilus-shell-by-sharon-cummings-sharon-cummings.html

As I start off the new year with new work I am reminded to strive to be my personal best.  For my entire life I have been labeled a “perfectionist” by family, friends, bosses and coworkers.  I used to think this was a bad thing.  A judgement call against me.  But today, psychology has established that there are two types of perfectionism.  Normal perfectionists pursue perfection without compromising their self-esteem, and derive pleasure from their efforts. Neurotic perfectionists strive for unrealistic goals and consistently feel dissatisfied when they cannot reach them.  I was happy to learn years ago that I was in fact “normal”. 🙂  I always have goals in mind that I know I can accomplish and I write up a plan to achieve them.  I work hard to get through the outline I created and when I arrive I have a deep satisfaction in my efforts.  Like anyone else, I do not like setbacks, but I do not let them “get me down”.  I just rewrite the plan to get me back on track.

All of the goals I have set for myself in 2014 are attainable.  Today I start the work!  

I hope each of you reading my blog can strive for “your own personal best” this year and not some unrealistic standards set by society/your family/your mate/etc.  Set goals…..write out a plan….and get busy!