Tag: Winter

Desert Winter Range

Desert-Winter-Range-Merged-by-Steph-AbbottDiluted sunset
Washed upturned schist glows
Hues dance formation

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©2014 Stephanie Abbott. All rights reserved.
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Saturday, December 13, 2014. Today, I created the image and wrote the haiku after the recent Pacific storm passed through the Mojave Desert. I am not a trained artist, so it’s a bit rough. Normally I stick to graphic design and simple doodling. However, I chose to paint mountains after watching an ArtRage tutorial video by Terry Jachimiak (‏@ThtrProfessor). I enjoyed the challenge to create outside my comfort zone.I created the image on my Windows 7 laptop using ArtRage 4.

Ode to an Early Winter

20141109-195839.jpgShhh! Here it comes
Leaves rattling, timbers yawning
Temperamental sentries
Shrugged, ready to listen
As whispers get louder

Ooh! Did you feel that?
Flakes landing here atop
Hills braced for impact
Bearded, ready for slumber
As shoulders get shrouded

Brrr! Are you ready?
Grounds shivering, warmth waning
Time waits but not really
As winter arrives, early

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©2014 Stephanie Abbott. All rights reserved.
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Tuesday, November 1, 2014. I wrote the “Ode to an Early Winter” this morning after cooking pancakes for the family. I was inspired by a prompt from a friend who noticed my doodle, “Early Winter.” Yesterday I had a vision, today I have the words. My mind works like that sometimes.

P.S. I’m not sure that it’s long enough to be an ode, but it’s long enough for me. Ha!

A Mindful Season

Mindful Season by Steph Abbott

Amoral reaction
Crystal clear fragments each one
Shots fired, souls lost

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I wrote the haiku this morning. However, I began this digital painting in early November 2012.

My original doodle was simple. I had a vision of innocence for the winter season. I even tried to capture a memory from childhood, one of freshly falling snow. I envisioned a day trip in the Sierra Nevada mountains. It was a time of joy and serenity. My painting started out much bigger, with bright colors, and lots of light.

For whatever reason, I felt compelled to stop and reconsider the landscape. Was life so simple, clean, and picturesque? Was my vision simply to recreate a lost reality? I started to lose my focus.

When I returned to painting over a month later, my vision was not so clear. My memory seemed fuzzier. I felt compelled to deepen the mood. My lovely landscape became transformed.

Why did my vision change? Perhaps I was distraught after recent acts of violence and loss of life in Sandy Hook? Perhaps I was distressed from the reactions from both sides of the political aisle? How did so many people become so sanctimonious and self-righteous?

My soul tells me the reactions are simply manifestations of the human condition. From here, I can only hope our society takes a step towards enlightenment. Can we learn how to cope with our differences without the use of violence? Or is that too simple a vision?

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Sunday, December 23, 2012. I doodled this image using ArtRage Pro.