Friday, January 28, 2011

Nature Walks



















Beginning in 2011 I am now well into my 40’s and feeling my age, have begun a new chapter in my life.  I call them NW’s, or Nature Walks.  Starting in January I implemented an exercise program of walking every morning to blow out the cobwebs.  Now my home is about 45 minutes west of Charlotte in rural Gaston County of North Carolina, and I am grateful to have a vast wilderness behind my backyard.  I can tell you this has become a most enjoyable experience. 


















I start at the creek which borders my backyard and from here I follow it upstream, crossing several tributaries taking me about 25 minutes round trip.  I have been enjoying so many interesting things, like springs bubbling out of the ground, flocks of birds in the bushes singing their hearts out, changing moods of light with each sunrise, thinking of all the things I want to paint on the trail, deer trails, many beautiful stands of trees and Bushes – including Beech, Yellow Pine, White Oak, Giant Yellow Poplar, Hollies, Mountain Laurel, and Briar Patches.


















Besides the discipline of exercise I look forward to utilizing the assets out back to studying nature and all it's subtleties and as an artist creating many interesting plein air works as well as saving expensive gas!