Costa Rica photos

Sloth (oso perezoso) in Costa Rica. I had a wonderful trip to Costa Rica with a friend. I posted my album at this link: Costa Rica photos

We saw many animals along the river, learned about turtle nesting sites and the ecology. We traveled from coast to coast, the Rain Forest, the Cloud Forest, the Dry Forest. I enjoyed hiking in the Arenal area on the hanging bridges.  Best of all was swimming in the hot mineral pools.  A great trip.

Also, I got to practice my Spanish.  I had taken a review course in the fall and I enjoyed using it.  I definitely need more Spanish classes to become fluent again (I had studied Spanish more than 40 years ago and have forgotten most of it).  I am a perpetual student and always looking to learn new things and more about them. This trip was educational as well as enjoyable. Highly recommended!

I met and enjoyed speaking with another artist, Edgar Yerar, but could not find a link for him online. The one he gave me did not work. He gave me some great ideas for future artwork. I took a picture of him and his display.

Clark's Pond winter trail (WIP)

Heading out for vacation soon, but I thought I would post one last painting. It's not quite finished, but I like it so far. This is part of my trail series, 8" X 10". Small paintings that reflect my love of hiking and nature.  This trail is actually part of the abandoned railroad bed and runs for many miles starting in Manchester and Auburn, NH, near Lake Massabesic (the city's water supply). During the winter it is used by snowmobilers and cross country skiers. During other seasons it is popular with bikers, hikers and walkers (dogs love it too). Across the street there are other trails that are also used by sled dogs in the winter.

If you filter the blog by category "winter", you will find other posts on this trail. Click on this one with photos of Clark's Pond in winter. There are others, including some poems. (In right column, "posts by category")

View from Barrett Mountain

This is another small painting (8" X 10") in my trails series, acrylic on canvas board. I was very frustrated trying to get a good JPG photo. The greens on my canvas did not come out right in the photo no matter what lighting I used. I guess I will have to ask one of my photographer friends for some advice.

Barrett Mountain is in southwestern New Hampshire, near Mount Monadnock. There are several places on the trail where you can see Mount Monadnock in the distance. I posted photos from that hike on here in 2010. Try this link to see those photos and a description of the hike.

I have two other small paintings started, but they will take a while. Despite being retired, I am still very busy with family and volunteer projects. I will be taking a vacation starting next week for 10 days and I'm looking forward to it. I will post some photos from sunnier climates when I return.

Happy Valentines Day.

Fletcher Cascade Trail

Click on this link for: My website for more information on this painting

This is what it looks like when I post a new painting to my new website. This is part of the trail series that I have started. Small (8" X 10") acrylic paintings on canvas board. You can buy cards from this website too.

This trail starts easily off the Drake's Brook trail in Waterville Valley/Campton area of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Then it ascends and crosses a brook.  The cascades are waterfalls that flow over rock steps. They are very beautiful. It is a worthwhile hike and I've written about it on this blog several times. This link should work to take you back to my 2008 entry. If not, you can try the filters on the right, for posts by category, and scroll back.

Small Paintings

 I have started on a series of small 8 X 10 acrylic paintings on canvas board. I am learning something new from each one.  This is a fall view of the boatramp at Dorrs Pond in Manchester, NH.  I have several other paintings of this pond. It is near my house and I can have a good walk around the pond.  I love it in every season, but autumn is special.

This was a muddy day on a trail in Hooksett, NH.  Originally I had done a watercolor painting on a Fredrix watercolor canvas. I never liked it and put it away in a drawer.  I finally convinced myself one day last week to start cleaning out old drawers and when I found this canvas, I thought I would try overpainting my original with acrylic paint. I like the way it came out this time.

Canoe at Back Lake

The photo for this painting was taken several years ago when we were in Pittsburg, New Hampshire during the spring or summer. Pittsburg is at the top of the state, bordering on Canada.  It is a very large land area with very few people, a good place to have a quiet vacation.  Many people go there in the winter to snowmobile. We prefer to go in the summer to hike and fish and see the moose along the main road. There are many lakes and I've done other paintings from our trips there in the past.

This is a small acrylic painting on canvas board, 8 X 10. You can buy a print or card of it at my new website:
http://linda-feinberg.artistwebsites.com/featured/canoe-at-back-lake-linda-feinberg.html

I have just started working on a series of "trail paintings". I am using 8 X 10 canvases as I work my way through them. Trails can be a metaphor for our journeys through life, or they can just be trails that we enjoy walking or hiking on. Once I'm done with the small paintings, I'll see if I like any of them enough to actually do a larger canvas. I have one left at 16" X 20" and I'm not sure what to put on it.  I still haven't finished the bison painting since I'm unhappy with the sky, but I bought a frame for it so I hope that motivates me to finally finish it.

I'm enjoying the winter and I love looking out at the beautiful snow outside. It's a good time to paint although I do get outside every day to walk too.  The birds are enjoying our bird feeder in the backyard. The birds on the branches of the lilac are juncos. They are small birds. I think the one on the feeder is a sparrow.

Cold Beauty

Waiting for inspiration to come

     on a frigid night

Minus six outside and dropping

     icicles hanging down

Too cold for stargazing

     even the windows are frosted.

Yet the sun was out today

     although the high temperature

     only hovered around zero.

The squirrels were out too ‑‑

     snatching stale donuts

     from a hanging basket,

     chasing away the starlings.

 

The children stayed out to

     ride the sled

          laughing down the hill

          ignoring the cold

Cheeks all rosy

     when they came in

          to warm up at the stove

Hot cocoa and popcorn

     to fill them.

 

Others may choose milder climates

But I prefer it here

     the snow frosted tree limbs

          delight the eye

And the changing seasons

     satisfy the psyche.

ã1990 Linda H. Feinberg from “red poppies and green clover”

This is an old poem probably written around 1983 when I was living in Derry, New Hampshire. I thought it was appropriate for winter. I am looking out my window today and watching the beautiful snow falling. I remembered that line "snow frosted tree limbs" -- that's what made me think of this old poem.

Apache Blessing

There was an absolutely gorgeous sunrise this morning. I saw it on my way to the gym. When I returned home and checked my e-mail, I had an announcement from the new website that I had received an order for a print. What a happy day. :)

http://fineartamerica.com/saleannouncement.html?id=f702275f50c5beaa4ee3e85d0130ca73

New website

Working on new website. It's very tedious loading so many images, but I'm determined to finish it this month.  You can look at what I have put up already and order from it at any time.

http://linda-feinberg.fineartamerica.com

Please feel free to send me any constructive comments.  This is a commercial site so I won't be able to change too many things on it.

Bison on Antelope Island - WIP2

I have made some progress on this painting. I'm going to leave it for a while and think about it some more.  The day I was there, it was very overcast. I think I need more gray in the sky, but I don't want to make it too dingy.

Meanwhile, I am going to change my website during the first quarter of 2013.  I have been researching and found two artist websites that I think will work.  One of them will actually print the cards and prints. That site will also ship them to anywhere in the world. I just need to post the images.  The other is more for Fine Arts and will be a bit more professional.  I'm not sure yet whether I will do both.

I framed my snowmobile painting. It was up at the Bedford (NH) library for the month of December. It was an "Artist of  the Month" winner from the Manchester Artists Association last month. I am happy looking at it and now that we have some snow, I hope we can get out on that same trail with our cross country skis soon.

Happy new year to all.