diane splinter

Nature Connections - Rocky Mountain National Park

Just finishing this custom order for a family who loves Rocky Mountain National Park. They sent me a picture of a hike they had gone on last fall, and this is my interpretation of that scene. This painting will a daily visual for them - in their home - of special connection to wild places, especially Rocky Mountain National Park.

This original acrylic is 18” x 18” in a gallery wrapped canvas. Sides are painted. Varnished.

What a joy to paint this! Can’t wait to go and see the spot myself someday.

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Snow Shadows

I have such a good time painting these snow shadows, which are some of my favorite colors.  This was really fun to complete and is based on the scene that was outside my studio where I used to live in Soldiers Grove, WI.  This stream is in the watershed of the great Wisconsin River.  We used to do volunteer water monitoring on it.  I hope it remains a world class trout stream.  I loved being around it in every season.  

You can see other applications of this image on my Fine Art America site.  Prints are available there, too.

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/winter-harmony-diane-splinter.html

 

Lake Superior View

I'm so amazed by the beauty of Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in the world.  Right here in my home state of Wisconsin!   Anyone who has ever seen this lake cannot walk away without an experience of its presence.

 I just finished this yesterday morning.  9 x 12 size on 140 lb. paper.  

It's been quite fun posting more and more images on Fine Art America and connecting with people globally from that site.  To be perfectly honest, at first it seemed a little "kitschy" (or cheesy - when in Wisconsin...) to see my work posted on shower curtains.  But after VERY positive feedback from folks and customers on that site....I'm a convert and continue to post more and more to it.  

Here's the link in case you want to see many of my forest scenes applied to shower curtains, with a money-back, satisfaction-or-your-money-back guarantee. http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/diane-splinter.html

Lake Superior View

New Options

So many people have asked me for prints of my work and to investigate less expensive ways to frame my work.  I've been doing both.  With regard to framing, often the frame can be more expensive than the original painting itself!  

I've been researching this and have seen several prominent international watercolor painters using deep canvases and then treating the work with an archival and protective surface, after it is adhered to the canvas with conservational materials.  No glass involved, no traditional frame, and the painting is UV protected, too!  Plus it is protected from dust and surface dirt and a whole lot less expensive.  

 I tried this on four paintings.  Super exciting.  The fact that all four paintings sold as a grouping encourages me to keep going with this new method!  The customer was glad to have the paintings "up close and personal" - just like an oil painting would be.  And this new method provides has all the protection for UV rays and dirt - without the expense and a very contemporary look.  

These are an example of the four that sold last week:


Keeping An Appointment with the Trees

I frequently tramped eight or ten miles through the deepest snow to keep an appointment with a beech-tree, or a yellow-birch, or an old acquaintance among the pines
— 1817 - 1862 Henry David Thoreau

All winter I've been working on a series of birch tree and landscape paintings, many of which I've started to post on this (newer version) website.   "Keeping an appointment with the trees" feels like a coming home statement to me.

When I was young I regularly sat beneath trees and communicated with them, quietly.  These things I kept to myself.  I kept up my visits with many trees in my life, returning to special ones in all the areas I lived.  How rich it has made my life.  All the simple gifts and rich treasures nature provides!   

So every week this winter I've been keeping an appointment with the trees.  It's been energizing and very fulfilling.  My latest series is one of several birch landscapes, three of which are now complete.