This photo was taken before the broken leg. We went out in our kayaks with Buckley of course. Currently I am working on a painting from this day. It will be titled "Pelican Point" and features the river, basalt, and some Pelicans. I am excited about it and nearly finished. Please stay tuned. In the meantime..........

"Life presents us with much more than we can understand. If I chased after everything that makes me curious, I'd have not time for the part of life I do understand".

Quote from Your Heart Belongs to Me by Dean Koontz

Rowena and the Miners

I cannot help myself. The miners are coming up out of the mine in Chile one by one. I feel the need to watch and worry each and every miner to the top. It is so wonderful and frightening all at the same time. Then once they get to the top watching the families unite, makes me cry. Only once in a great while does something wonderful and inspiring so captivate the world. This is a day of celebration and thankfulness.

Oh, back to painting. Plein air at Rowena with my cast on.

Thank You for a Night of Basalt and Discovery

Last night was the Vintage Evening of Fine Wine & Art. The location of this event was the Discovery Center in The Dalles, Oregon. The Center is an interactive museum with cultural treasures of the Gorge and Wasco County. We have long enjoyed the Center along with the basalt rock used in the architecture of the building and a waterfall cascading down basalt as you enter the building. I have completed many paintings from the grounds and very much enjoy the painstakingly restored native vegetation. Basalt rock dominates the landscape and as visitors drive along the Gorge from both directions basalt formations prevail. Thus the influence on all of us last night was basalt from the landscape to the building itself and I heard many comments to that effect.

I had only two paintings left over from the long summer season that included our basalt cliffs, and both were popular items. As I reflect on the evening it is clear to me that influences lead to inspiration and clarity, and then on to a final painting . For others I think they are transformed and influenced to stop at a painting and reflect and enjoy. Below is quote about the enjoyment of a painting and what matters. To each and every one of you that stopped and reflected on my paintings last night, I thank you!

All art is a gift, it is first of all a gift that the maker can do it. It is then a gift to someone else, whether they pay for it or not. The wonder of it is that we cannot get the production of these gifts stopped. Art is life seeking itself. It is our intractable expressions of love for the beauties, ideas and epiphanies we regularly find. "I have walked this earth for 30 years, and, out of gratitude, want to leave some souvenir." Robert Genn

The Fun Factor !!

www.donnavantuyl.com

Today is the official launch day of my new web site. Fine Art Studio Online (aka FASO), has splendid templates for the artist along with the ability to send newsletters for marketing, and a wonderful events page where old events fall off and new events move to the top.

Not only will this new service save the artist time and frustration as it is all automatic in nature, but it has a huge fun factor!

Try it out and sign up for newsletters. I promise not to deluge you with trivia, but I will update with events and new art.