Victor, Idaho A-Frame – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor

“I have learned, as a rule of thumb, never to ask whether you can do something. Say, instead, that you are doing it. Then fasten your seat belt. The most remarkable things follow.”
– Julia Cameron

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

Idaho A-Frame – 4″ x 6″ Watercolor

I painted this little cabin from a photo on the website for the actual cabin I have reserved for a solo painting retreat in the Teton Valley, Idaho in August.  It is a little south of Victor and not far from Driggs… one of my favorite places on earth.  I’ll spend a few days with my mom and brother in Blackfoot, Idaho, before scurrying off to paint in the Tetons for 4 days.    This is a view of the back of the cabin.  Yes, that is a hot tub. 

About Julia Cameron

American author Julia Cameron has become an icon in the creative community for her best-selling self-help book, The Artist’s Way, which guides people through a series of simple but profound exercises to awaken their creativity. She grew up in Chicago and has been writing seriously since age 18. In addition to her 28 books, she has written plays, screenplays, and songs. She was married to film director Martin Scorsese and has one daughter. She currently lives in New York.

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.

View from 4 Paws Cabin - Watercolor on Masa

“When you have a great and difficult task, something perhaps almost impossible, if you only work a little at a time, every day a little, suddenly the work will finish itself.”
– Isak Dinesen

Copyright Beth Parker Art 2013

View from 4 Paws Cabin – Driggs, Idaho

This is the view from the beautiful little cabin I stayed at, in Driggs, Idaho two years ago.  I wish it was available this year, but it’s booked the whole month of August.

This is painted in watercolor on masa paper.  You wad this paper up, get it wet, then spread it out and drop watercolor into it.  After it dries, you attach it to watercolor paper with matte medium and let it dry again.  Then you do your painting on it.  Fun!

I learned about it from Leslie White.  You can see her “how to” post here.

About Isak Dinesen
Isak Dinesen was the pen name of Karen Blixen, the Danish author famously portrayed by Meryl Streep in the film of her best-selling memoir, Out of Africa. She was born near Copenhagen on April 17, 1885. In 1914, she and her new husband moved to Kenya to run a coffee plantation. She stayed on after divorcing her husband ten years later, living an unusually independent life. Her book of stories, Seven Gothic Tales, sold well, but Out of Africa made her a worldwide success. She died on September 7, 1962.

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

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.

4 Paws to the West – 8″ x 8″ Acrylic

“I have always believed that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value.”
– Hermann Hesse

I like that!



4 Paws to the West – 8″ x 8″ Acrylic on Black Gessoed Aquaboard

This is my favorite of the three acrylics I did from my 4 Paws vacation cabin.  I literally sat out in front of the cabin and sketched it with chalk onto the black aquaboard.  I took my artistic liberties, of course, but the view was that spectacular.   They are still doing the square bales there, and everybody had huge stacks of them, stored up for winter.  I’m sure people thought I was weird, taking photos of hay.  I just loved it! 

It was such an inspiring place to have my own private painting retreat.  I can’t wait to go back there!

Here are the progress shots…




I hope you have a wonderful Labor Day weekend.  Be safe. 

About Hermann Hesse

Hermann Hesse, the Pulitzer Prize–winning German writer, became extremely popular in the 1960′s and 1970′s for his deeply spiritual novels spiked with Eastern philosophy. He is best known for the novels Siddhartha, The Glass Bead Game, and Steppenwolf. He was born in 1877 in Germany and immigrated to Switzerland in 1912. Hesse was exposed to Eastern thought from childhood: His grandfather taught Indian studies, and his mother had been born in India. He won the Noble Prize in Literature in 1946. He died in 1962.

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.

4 Paws East – 4″ x 4″ Acrylic

“All that is necessary to break the spell of inertia and frustration is this: Act as if it were impossible to fail.”
– Dorothea Brande



4 Paws East – 4″ x 4″ Acrylic on Black Gessoed Aquaboard

If you lived in my head, this is the view you could see when you looked due east from the beautiful little cabin (4 Paws) I stayed in, outside of  Driggs, Idaho last week.  This cabin was the most amazing place.  It went waaaay beyond my wildest expectations.   Next time I go, I’ll try to extend my stay at 4 Paws.  It was wonderful!

Here are some of the stages this painting took, on it’s way to being what you see above.



I even had some pink and some polka dots on those far yellow trees, before I came to my senses.  It really wasn’t working for me until I filled in the little woodsy area.  This is the view I enjoyed from my deck every day, including all the colorful wildflowers.  Can you say aaaaaaahhhhhhh?  

About Dorothea Brande

Dorothea Brande wrote the quintessential how-to-write book, Becoming a Writer, which was among the first to address every writer’s core problem: How to sit down and let the words flow. Her book, published in 1934, remains in print today. She was born in 1893 in Chicago. She worked as an editor on the Chicago Tribune and The American Review and married the latter journal’s owner. She also wrote Wake Up and Live, which was adapted into a movie in 1937. She died in 1948.

Idaho Retreat

“Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit.”
– Peter Ustinov



Idaho Retreat – 9″ x 7″ Watercolor on Masa

This was painted from a photograph I fell in love with.  It is the view from the porch of the cabin I have rented for my 3 day painting retreat  in Idaho’s beautiful Teton Valley.  I have permission from the cabin’s owners to post this painting, but I won’t be telling you anything about them or the cabin, until I return.  What good is a retreat, if you’ve told everyone where you’ll be?  I am so excited!  

(Click on the painting for a larger view.)

Yesterday, the entire city of Eufaula lost power from a storm, so I went back home and made my hubby a big country breakfast.  Then, I played for a bit and went back to work when the power came back on around noon.  That was one of those times I was glad to live 13 miles out in the country.  Well…. except for the 52 miles of driving I did. 

About Peter Ustinov

British actor Peter Ustinov is best known for his Oscar-winning roles in Topkapi and Spartacus. He was born in London in 1921 to parents of blended pan-European extraction. He wrote several plays as well as a well-received autobiography, Dear Me. From 1969 until his death in 2004, he took on the role of goodwill ambassador for UNICEF, visiting disadvantaged children all over the world. He said his multicultural background gave him automatic loyalty to the UN.

An Open Heart

“The be-all and end-all of life should not be to get rich, but to enrich the world.”
– Bertie Charles Forbes

 

An Open Heart
2.5″ x 3.5″ Watercolor on Strathmore Textured ATC

If I was to stay with my window project theme of a woman’s emotions, I would say this one is an open heart.  Maybe she is a little gray and not as shiny as she once was, but she is still receptive and open to whatever the day may bring. 

About Bertie Charles Forbes

Bertie Charles Forbes, known as B.C. Forbes, is remembered as the founder of the long-running Forbes magazine, aimed at investors. He was born in 1880 in Scotland. He worked as a reporter for a Dundee newspaper until 1901, when he moved to South Africa and founded a newspaper there; but he stayed just three years before moving to the United States, where he became a financial editor and columnist. His sons Bruce and Malcolm succeeded him as editors-in-chief of Forbes. He died in 1954.