I recently spent time at Furnace Mountain Zen Center
in Kentucky where I had a month in a wonderful cabin surrounded by wooded
mountains and fields. I got to walk every day with my camera and it inspired several
paintings and digital works.
On my first walk on my first day I discovered a beautiful but tiny Red Maple down by the barn. (Yes, there is a huge barn, many cabins, a Tea House, a permaculture garden, paths, caves, rock formations, etc. Amazing place!)
The leaves looked blazing in the afternoon sun. I made a point to walk to its location nearly every day to get photos at different times and in different light. Below are a few of my untouched photos of the maple.
The leaves looked blazing in the afternoon sun. I made a point to walk to its location nearly every day to get photos at different times and in different light. Below are a few of my untouched photos of the maple.
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| The branch from above. |
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| The same branch from below with the sun on it. |
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| So beautiful, I visited it every day! |
Below is one of the paintings I completed while on the retreat. It's acrylic on a beautiful piece of 22"x34"rice
paper I bought at Ralph's Art Supply before I left.
Below are digital works inspired by the red maple completed while on my retreat.
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| This is a digital plan for a future painting on the rice paper. |
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| Maple by the Temple |
The Temple is constructed of beautiful wood inside and out and it has a gorgeous blue tile roof. The back of the Temple faces woods and rock formations. The front has a long series of steps down to a pond and the hillside along the steps is covered with milk weed in bloom now, and soon zinnias and cosmos. (However, the maple is actually located by the barn, quite a distance away. Artistic License!)
More posts to come on my fun artist's retreat and the amazing Furnace Mountain Zen Center!
Kathy Garvey
