Flowers of Acadia National Park

There is an area in Acadia National Park, along the Park Loop Road, called Sieur de Monts Spring.  This area is a lush little oasis, full of a sampling of the types of flowers and plants you can see throughout the Park.  Here are some of the loveliest examples (in my humble opinion!)

I’m not certain what these flowers are – they must be in the daisy family – but I loved the look of these soft delicate blooms against the rough bark of the tree they were growing under.  It was a lovely contrast found in Nature. 

Delicate Blooms against Tree

This is another flower that is just so beautiful in its gentle delicate way.  It just sort of sprung up out of green to highlight my walk down this garden path.

Blue Iris

These blooms were new to me!  They are called pitcher flowers, and their bloom actually faces down toward the ground.  I love the dusty red color of the petals.  I think they get their name from their leaves, found at the base of the plant (unseen in this image).  The leaves curve into what look like little pitchers that hold water that the flower needs to bloom.

Pitcher Flowers

Enjoy!

Watercolor Sketches from Acadia National Park

There are many beautiful sights to see in Acadia National Park.  I decided to take a few of the images I took and convert them to watercolor pencil sketches.  Please, take a look….

Happiness

How can you look at these tiny daisy-like blooms and not want to smile.  They look so happy and cheerful.  They were nestled in the green grass and other foliage growing at the Sieur de Monts Spring area in Acadia National Park.  There is a garden there that contains all the flowers and other plants that grow in Acadia, as a sort of sampler of what can be seen.

Pitcher Flower Bloom

The bloom of this flower is generally hidden, as it faces downward toward the ground. This bloom was coaxed into a face-up position for a moment to allow me to capture its beauty.

Egg Rock Lighthouse

There are several lighthouses off the shores of Acadia National Park, and Mt. Desert Island, the island where the main potion of Acadia is located.  This lighthouse can be found just off the shore and in Frenchman Bay on Egg Rock Island – hence, the name.  The island got its name from a time when early coastal settlers used to gather seabird eggs on the island.  That practice stopped due to a couple of the bird species nearly going extinct, due to that practice.  The island is so small, the actual light house beacon was built on top of the keeper’s house to conserve space!

Along the Shore at Otter Cliffs

The waves can crash against the rocks at Otter Cliffs and create what I’m sure must be a dramatic scene.  However, on the day I was there, the seas were relatively calm.  They still created an intimate landscape portrait of the shoreline that I captured in this peaceful sketch.

Enjoy!

Note:  All of these images can be found in a variety of sizes and finishes (including tote bags!) on my site at http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/nadine-berg.

The Best of Traveling – June 1-7

This blog post will be highlighting some images that I created while on our June – July Atlantic Canada trip.  Altho I like these images, they don’t quite measure up to what I put on my Fine Art America.  Still, I felt like they are good and nice enough to share with all of you!

We were driving from New Mexico to our first stop in Amarillo, Texas, when Jeff noticed this ramshackle deserted homestead along the side of the highway we were one.  I quickly snapped a few images and chose this one to process for this blog.  If you look closely, the homestead is actually not very steady!  It’s leaning and odds are, in a few years, it will fall down.  This reminded me of a time gone by, and so I processed this with a vintage camera light leak effect – something I might have seen when I was a kid looking at some photos my aunt might have taken.  Altho, she was more in to people, and not into deserted homesteads!

Leaning Homestead

This scene was one I saw as we drove along the highway to Tulsa, Oklahoma.  There were a number of farm homes along the way.  I have a feeling that the highway was put in well after the farms were established.  When I looked at this image, it reminded me of living in the country when I was a kid.  That bit of nostalgia was behind the decision to convert the original photograph into a colored pencil drawing.  It reminds me of something Grandma Moses might have done.  Makes me smile whenever I look at it!

Country Life

As we were entering the highway from a country road, I looked to the right, and noticed this herd of horses munching and socializing with each other.  I quickly captured the scene and then thought of what it made me feel like when I saw the ponies.  It reminded me of days gone by, and the heart of the summer.  I processed the image to capture this feeling.

Vintage Ponies

This heron was captured on a morning walk around a pond in a campground where we stayed.  The morning walk did wonders for my psyche – the drive over the past several days had caught up with me and left me feeling like all there was to see in this country was miles and miles of road.  Of course, we know that’s not true!  This heron helped me remember that!

Take Off

Along the shore of the same pond, we came across about 3 goose families.  Here’s an image of one of them out for a family outing of a morning swim.  This family has 5 little goslings – another had 3 and the third had 6!  I think the color of the water set off the soft almost white color of the goslings really well.

Family Outing

Here’s a very nice shot of the heron in one of the previous images.  It seemed like I had finally gotten to the position where he felt I could capture his best side!

Profile

If you’ve read my other posts, you know I truly love deserted cabins and homesteads.  This one, along a road in Massachusetts, once again reflected the feeling of being sturdy and having weathered more winters and hardships that we mere humans could handle.  This one actually looks to be in pretty decent shape, so it may still be used from time to time. 

Barn from the Highway

Wow!  These are some of my favorite images from just the first week of our summer adventure!  To see other images, please feel free to visit my travel blog – http://travelswithnadineandjeff.blogspot.com.

Enjoy! 

Evening Show

The other day, we had an incredible sunset at our home.  It seemed that everywhere I looked, there was a magnificent view of it.  Let me take you through those few moments between day and night, when Nature put on quite the show…..

The show began with a golden glow, and rays that reached up into the blue early evening sky.

Interesting Sky

This image really made me feel that we humans are truly insignificant, when it comes to Nature in its entirety.  The vastness of the sky and what lays beyond was something I felt in my gut when I saw this scene.  The very large mountains seem tiny in the distance.  The last rays of the day burned bright until they reached the cool of the sky beyond our earth. And, in the forefront, trees that seem so much taller than we are, are dwarfed by all of this. 

Evening Rays

And, yet, there were light, almost whimsical moments in this moment.  I chose to focus on just a small piece of the wonder of this sunset, and came away with this almost happy view of warm and cool colors mixing it up in the sky

Cloud Wisps

Enjoy!

New Art on Fine Art America

The following images are from a recent sunset – one of the magical ones.  Many of the sunsets here in New Mexico are bold and beautiful.  However, the other night, the sunset was soft and gentle.  Take a look at these and see if you don’t agree! 

Abstract Sky

The sky was incredible during a recent sunset at our home in New Mexico.  The entirety of the sky could be overwhelming, so I focused on just one portion where the sky painted an abstract in nature. 

Hole in the Sky

There is something magical when a sunset happens above the clouds.  It’s the only way I can explain this image.  The sunset was shining down through the clouds, creating this almost spiritual effect. 

Evening Sky

Although a sunset can be bright and bold, it also can be soft and gentle, as it is in this image.  It has a soothing, calming effect, as if it’s there to help us slow down, breathe deep, and be grateful for the day we’ve had.

Enjoy!

All of these images are available in a variety of sizes and finishes via my web site at http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/nadine-berg.

Virga Rain

Simply put, virga is rain that never makes it down to earth.  Most commonly, it is seen in the Southwest US and Canadian prairies in North America.  Always interesting to see, when combined with a desert Southwest sunset, it becomes magical.

Enjoy!

Note:  This image is available in a variety of sizes and finishes (including notebooks and cups) by visiting http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/nadine-berg.

Sunset Virga

The other day, we had some virga falling at the perfect time to coincide with sunset.  Great images were the result…..

Rosy Virga

Virga is rain that never makes it to the ground.  It looks like delicate sheets of falling rain.

Raining Sunset

Altho I don’t know if this happened at a high enough altitude, sometimes the virga are ice crystals that melt as they fall and reach closer to earth.

Layers of Sunset

Sometimes virga can trigger a microburst.  We had one of those here last summer that wiped out some power lines and left us without power for about 37 hours.

Virga over South Mountain

Virga is very common in desert and temperate climates, and in North America, it’s mainly seen in the Western US and Canadian prairies.

Enjoy!