pandemic Archives - Cynthia Llanes Art

New Paintings for a New Season

The Autumn season has inspired many artists for centuries, and I must admit that as cliche as it is to say, the Fall season is one of the most magical seasons to watch. So I can say that creating new paintings for a new season is always exciting. I just love how Nature transforms itself into a blanket of colors! The contrast of bright yellows to rust and oranges to reds is breathtaking!

Painting en plein air is irresistible. Setting up my brush and paints as I find arresting landscapes to paint is easy to do along the Blue Ridge Park Way. There are so many beautiful spots around the Asheville hiking trails, waterfalls and gorgeous vistas, too. I am ready to create new paintings for a new season such as this especially since our lives have been wrapped with the new normal due to this pandemic.

The hike to Rainbow Falls is moderate but it can be challenging for a less seasoned hiker. It can be so rewarding when you reach the peak and see the spectacular grand finale. I gasped at the first sight of its grandeur…the majestic Rainbow Falls. Then as you hike up higher you will find smaller waterfalls cascading down the rocks and foliage around it. My hubby and I just sat there for hours enjoying the sight of this powerful rush of water from this awesome mountain.

I felt joy and was glad as I finished my paintings. Painting with mixed media again is exciting! I love to express all the different textures, the sounds and the sweet smell of the forest. Moreover, fall evokes and symbolizes the beauty of life’s seasons and transformation. I hope that art can help all of us find a new focus and perspective during these challenging times. May we pause, reflect and find rest in the process as we embrace our own seasons.

View my new works online : https://cynthiallanesartist.com/portfolio-items/plein-air/

https://www.romanticasheville.com/rainbow_falls.htm

Choose A Sunshine State of Mind

A New Paradigm Shift: Choose A Sunshine State of Mind

When I was a little girl, playing house was one of my favorite games. All I needed were my teapot set and Gina, my doll. Isn’t it so amazing to see children entertain themselves when they are alone?! As a result, their minds take them to a whole new world. Therefore they easily adapt and make a paradigm shift to create, build, and imagine. Why can’t we do the same? What is your “sunshine state of mind?”

So Let’s Go to Paris, the City of Lights

Posing by the historic Arc De Triomphe

During this uncertain time of a sudden pandemic crisis, we are forced to be alone staying home. And unable to socialize in person, unable to do our long list of many things we have routinely done. This 360 degree paradigm change shocks many people’s lives. As a result, a feeling of panic can set in. Alas we are alone with ourselves! But amidst this seemingly fearful state, let’s choose a new normal. In other words choose a new paradigm shift. A sunshine, state of mind with comforting and sweet memories.

I am frustrated I can’t travel now but I can change the paradigm and recollect those times I have been blessed to travel. For instance, I reminisce of my past travel to Paris and recall the delicious aroma of baked goods from a patisserie below my apartment. I smell the freshly baked baguette in the morning and it’s wonderful. I recall catching the Metro (Paris subway train) to visit the museums. And discover the grandeur of Parisienne architecture feeling like a treat. An evening cruise along Seine River is romantic again. This was my first time to visit France and I remember greeting everyone with my rehearsed French phrases like Bonjour, Merci, Au Revoir. Oui! It still feels very good 🙂

Overlooking the magnificent view of the palace gardens

2020 Paradigm Shift — The year 2009 in October

My girlfriend and I were set for an adventure. We visited the magnificent Versailles Palace and its gardens. The opulence is unbelievable. After that, I went to the Louvre museum that houses thousands of paintings and sculptures of past centuries. Another favorite museum is Musee d’Orsay at the centre of Paris on the banks of the Seine, opposite the Tuileries Gardens. It was installed in the former Orsay railway station, built for the Universal Exhibition of 1900. So the building itself could be seen as the first “work of art” in the Musee d’Orsay. It displays collections of art from the period 1848 to 1914.

http://en.chateauversailles.fr

Standing at The Louvre and Versailles Palace grounds

Monet’s Gardens in Giverny: The Heart of Impressionism

Artists and botanists alike love Monet's gardens in Giverny

Monet planted bamboos, wisterias, and colorful array of flowers. Floating lilies adorn the ponds.

Alone, I took a train to visit Giverny, 50 miles west of Paris. It’s a very charming village where Monet lived and painted most of his life. Remember those paintings of waterlilies and ponds? He built a pastoral paradise complete with a Japanese garden and a pond full of floating lilies. Claude Monet was the leading light of the Impressionist movement and revolutionized painting in the 1870s. Monet gave courage to fellow artists by enduring harsh criticism of impressionism. He hosted open air painting safaris painting landscapes, seascapes and ladies with parasols. Read: http://giverny.org

Reminiscing Paris is one of my most unforgettable adventure. And so maybe tomorrow I will browse again through photos. Another paradigm change! And this time my recent trip to the Philippine Islands. Au Revoir!

Monet's garden was his inspiration for his painting series of ponds and waterlilies

Monet diverted a river to form a pond, planted willows and bamboo on the shores.

Monet’s oil painting of his Japanese Garden at Giverny — located 50 miles outside the hustle and bustle of Paris, would become a colorful, flowering monument to Monet.