4 Paws Facing Southwest - 5″ x 5″ – Painting Stages

“Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him.”
– Aldous Huxley

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

4 Paws Facing Southwest -  5″ x 5″  – Painting Stages

I painted this little painting from the driveway of the cabin I stayed in during my 2011 Driggs, Idaho visit.  It’s 5″ x 5″ and I’ve included the progress shots of the stages.  First, I took a panel that I had painted earlier with black gesso.  I drew the lines on with chalk that I wanted to stay black.  Then, with Golden Fluid Acrylic, I painted the underpainting.  I come in and add color after that.  Layers and layers and layers of glazing (with Golden Fluid Acrylic) later, I end up with the finished painting.  These little acrylics are better in person. 

About Aldous Huxley

Aldous Huxley, the cerebral English writer and social critic, is best known for his dystopian novel Brave New World, about a theoretically ideal society that stamps out individuality. He was born in Surrey on July 26, 1894. His teen years were difficult: His mother and sister died when he was 14 and a few years later, he became nearly blind. After early success with fiction, he switched to essays and screenplays, moving to California and becoming a kind of guru for the 60′s counterculture movement. He died on November 22, 1963.

4 Paws West View – 8″ x 8″ Acrylic on Panel

Change and growth take place when a person has risked himself and dares to become involved with experimenting with his own life.
–Herbert Otto

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

4 Paws West View – 8″ x 8″ Acrylic on Panel

Since I have Idaho on my mind, I thought I would share another painting from my Driggs visit in 2011.  I painted this while I was there at the 4 Paws cabin.  It’s my interpretation of the view to the west of the cabin.   I am so excited that I’m spending time in Driggs this summer, especially since it will probably be 110 degrees here in Oklahoma.  During their heat wave in August of 2011… it was 90. 

I really love that quote by Herbert Otto, but I couldn’t determine what Herbert Otto to credit this quote to.  Yes!  There was more than one Herbert Otto when I googled him.  Who knew?

Inside 4 Paws Cabin – 6″ x 6″ Watercolor and Ink

“Many of us, whether we are conscious of it or not, create much of the unhappiness we experience. Our disappointments are the result of our own negative or limited thoughts about ourselves and our world. What are some of those limiting thoughts, those subconscious beliefs, which keep us from experiencing joy and wholeness?

 

TODAY I will see each disappointment in my life as a challenge to discover the negative or limited beliefs which keep me from seeing myself as a person of unlimited resources and potential.”

 

–Liane Cordes

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Inside 4 Paws Cabin – 6″ x 6″ Watercolor and Ink

I just booked a flight and rental car for my trip to Idaho this summer.  I’m headed there to see my mom and my brother.  I love Idaho so much and I’m particularly fond of Driggs, Idaho, on the quiet side of the Tetons.  Jackson Hole is on the busy side.  I stayed in Driggs 2 years ago at a lovely cabin called 4 Paws, after spending time with the family in Blackfoot.  The cabin was so cute!  Lots of bear themed decor and wonderful privacy, as the cabin was situated on acreage west of Driggs.  I painted this little painting for the owners of the cabin.

This year 4 Paws is booked, so I am on the search for a similar cabin to spend a few days painting and exploring.  I have a little time, since I’m not going until August, but I’m already excited! 

Liane Cordes is the author of Reflecting Pond.  The Reflecting Pond is a collection of meditations that takes one subject at a time and covers it in depth. Whether we have a concern about self-acceptance, fear, friendship, or love, there is a chapter full of understanding thoughts. Used as an extra dose of support on specific issues, this book will help us think through day-to-day living problems

Teton Pass - Watercolor

“We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.”
– Carlos Castaneda



Teton Pass – 6″ x 6″ Watercolor & Sharpie

I have a terrible fear of heights.  When I was driving back from Driggs, Idaho to Jackson Hole, Wyoming across the Teton Pass, I pulled over and took a picture of this view.  I stepped way closer to the edge than I was comfortable with, in order to get some good painting references.  Isn’t it funny what we’ll do for the sake of our art?

Of course, you could NOT get me to make that drive in the winter… EVER!    Check out the link on Teton Pass above to see what I’m talking about.

About Carlos Castaneda

Carlos Castaneda, the Peruvian-born new age writer, is known for his book series about his apprenticeship with Don Juan Matus, the Toltec shaman, including A Separate Reality and Journey to Ixtlan. The books are about the nature of perception and include many hallucinatory experiences. It is unknown how much of his writing was factual. He wrote the first three books as an anthropology student at UCLA, and they quickly gained cult success. He was born in 1925 and died in 1998.

There’s a Bear in the House!

“Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones.”
– Phillips Brooks

I LOVE that quote.  It’s so true!



There’s a Bear in the House! – 6″ x 6″ Watercolor & Sharpie

I painted this little painting for the couple that own the wonderful cabin I stayed in on my vacation.  This is where I set up my art supplies and did a lot of painting.  The kitchen table became my studio.  Since the cabin is named 4 Paws and there are little bear things all through the house, I thought it would be fun to put a bear in the painting.

I mounted it on black canvas, and I’m going to put it in the mail to them today. 

About Phillips Brooks

Phillips Brooks, the American clergyman now mostly known for writing the words to the Christmas song, “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” was one of the most influential ministers of his time, with his sermons reprinted in major newspapers. He delivered the eulogy at Abraham Lincoln’s funeral. Born in Boston in 1835, he spent most of his life there as overseer of Harvard University, rector of Trinity Church, and bishop of Massachusetts. He died in 1893, and the day of his funeral was declared an official day of mourning.

Elk and Magpie - 700th Blog Post

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”
– Annie Dillard



Elk and Magpie – 5″ x 7″ Watercolor

Don’t you just love this?  I’m talking about the image of the magpie on the elk’s head.  It is painted from a photo reference by Crias at WetCanvas.   I took a few elk and moose photos with me, since I knew I was going to be painting things that are a real part of the Idaho scenery.  I also knew there are more critters traveling about, when the weather is colder.   Me…. I don’t want to be traveling around Idaho when it’s snowing… thanks very much.  Been there, done that. 

When I was in Driggs, I saw magpies often.  They look so cool, because they are stark black and white, with no in-between colors.  Magpies  just look amazing against the green and golden rolling hills of the area.

I did have a great time painting this.  The snow was really fun!   Can you believe it?  This is my 700th blog post! 

About Annie Dillard

American author Annie Dillard rose to fame with her first book, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, which weaves theology and meditations on nature into an account of a year spent in the country recovering from pneumonia. Writing the book so fully absorbed her that she forgot everything else; she lost 30 pounds and all her plants died. She was born in Pittsburgh in 1945. She married her college writing teacher but later divorced him. She remarried and lives in Connecticut.

4 Paws Southwest – 5″ x 5″ Acrylic

“A bad habit never disappears miraculously; it’s an undo-it-yourself project.”
– Abigail Van Buren



4 Paws Southwest – 5″ x 5″ Acrylic on Black Gessoed Aquaboard

This is the view (from my brain) to the southwest of my wonderful 4 Paws vacation cabin in Driggs, Idaho.  What a wonderful place!   I haven’t worked on paintings like this for a while and I enjoy the process so much.  I used Golden Fluid Acrylics and apply many, many layers before they are done.

Here is the progress shots…



These little paintings really look better in natural light, but you kinda get the gist. 

About Abigail Van Buren

Pauline Phillips, better known as Abigail Van Buren, wrote the syndicated “Dear Abby” column for 46 years. She was born in 1918 in Iowa. She had never written professionally when she contacted the San Francisco Chronicle‘s editor and said she could do better than their current advice maven. Her version was an instant success. Her twin sister, Esther Lederer, became an advice columnist under the name Ann Landers. Phillips retired in 2002; her daughter, Jeanne Phillips, took over her column.