5 Images Entered for MFA American Landscapes Show

Susan Behrends Frank, The Phillips Collection is the juror for the American Landscapes show at the Maryland Federation of Art Circle Gallery August 17- September 16, 2012 in Annapolis, MD.

I've entered 5 photographs and photo/paintings on canvas for consideration.

Three Quarters of a Million Mornings Like This

A photograph taken in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park in November 2011. This is a very common scene in coastal redwood groves, which are unique to California, Henry Cowell here at the foot of Ben Lomond Mountain where I live. The rapidly growing trees can live thousands of years and grow to 300 feet in the moist coastal range. This scene of small stand of old growth trees here in Felton reminds us that it has been repeated easily as long humans have been reading and writing.

Henry Cowell February Rhytms

Another shot from Henry Cowell Park, this one 4 months later in the early spring we had. This shot along the San Lorenzo River riparian corridor features some of the new growth on the forest floor while the deciduous trees are still tightly in bud.  This one, like that above, is looking North; if you look carefully, you can see redwoods in the dark distance. This image has been filtered in Photoshop to have a painterly feel, printed on canvas and presented as a painting rather than matted under glass.

Matzke Sculpture Park Panorama #5    Camano Island, WA

This spring I took a trip to British Columbia and Seattle. Among the places I discovered was Carla Matzke's Gallery and Sculpture Park on Puget Sound near Bellingham. Carved out of the coastal conifers, ferns and undergrowth, are remarkable sculptures and a destination well worth visiting. Isn't that Western red cedar something?

Athabaska Rhytms in the Stone

Near Athabaska Falls in the Canadian Rockies close to Jasper, Alberta, we're looking into the channel cut into the rocks by the snowmelt swollen Athabaska River. I found the counterpoint of the rocks, water, trees, moss and sunlight to be one of the most harmonious images I've made. Presented as a painting on canvas.

Summer at Seven Thousand Feet Utica Lake Sierra Nevada

The most processed and painterly of the 5 images here, this was a photograph taken in the Central Sierra Nevada in the summer by Utica Lake. It reminded me as I shot it of so many of the subjects and style of the plein aire California painters of the last century. There are times a location like this calls to me from the past like that.

New Framed Images Available!

I've added 21 new framed images to the Gallery section of the website. The majority of these have been in shows around the country. I've had them matted and framed with really nice materials, museum and gallery quality. Please feel free to browse, and if you like anything, please feel free to buy!

Check it out here: Larry Darnell Gallery

Geology as Art

Great photographs of the Grand Canyon as geology

http://abduzeedo.com/geological-photography-grand-canyon

I discover twitter

Well, here are the stats on twitter, for what that's worth.

My intention has been to follow people/institutions etc. that have something to do with art, either artists that do landscapes, galleries, curators, art critics, museums, and places I like.

Seeking information and contacts with others, I have a distinct negative reaction to those whose ratio of following is lower than their followers. I reject some out of hand.

Perhaps I'll change my mind when I'm popular. I doubt it. I see it as a disinterest in self education.

So, this is twitter...

2012 Art Challenge

2012 should be a terrific year with a tremendous amount to be done.

Over the past month I've started to learn how to use Twitter and Facebook. It's taken some time, and I don't have a very good handle on how to use them quickly and painlessly.

Whether or not either turns out to be the wonder the world claims, we'll see.

I'm going to document the process, and other organizational processes I'm working on, so I can both follow my own progress, so you can, and, if applicable, you might find it useful.

I am attempting to use social media to both increase my own awareness of what is going on in parts of the art world that can help me gain viewers and information.

This year I plan to start painting more, some pictures from the ground up in acrylic and pastels. I have joined the California Art Club, and found a few artists, so far, whose work appeals to me, and who I plan to contact to see if I can acquire some lessons with them.

I have also purchased a computer based art management program that should help me manage where my art is, art shows and contact management. This is called GYST. http://www.gyst-ink.com/

In the process of organizing my art work, I will also be accumulating works I can write more about with the intention of creating some brochures and handouts to help promote my work. This, perhaps, in the mistaken belief that the more people know about what they are looking at, the more it might be appreciated.

I will keyword my future posts as follows: social media, gyst, painting
so it may be easier to isolate each of these threads.

I currently have 16 works in 3 art venues in California and I don't know how many locally at The Satellite, an office space rental for part-time use here in Felton. I had applied to a show in Pasadena for which I would have had to prep more pictures if I had been accepted, but, happily, in a way, I have not been, so I now have time to focus on the organizational stuff I need to do.

Santa Cruz County Bank Chooses 12 Larry Darnell Images for Show

October 11th, 2011 - Felton, CA

Santa Cruz County Bank for its "Into the Woods" show has chosen 12 of Larry Darnell's tree images for this 9 artist joint show. The show runs October 18 - January 18, 2012 at 5 bank locations.

In witness to the natural beauty, strength and mythical character of trees, nine artists share their personal and universal perspectives on the earth's most cherished living resource. Spanning from below the earth up to the sky, trees provide sustenance, shelter and bounty for our planet. On a local note, trees hold significant value in Santa Cruz County's history through logging and tourism.

"Trees are one of the living subjects I find most appealing. While they are rooted they are still very dynamic, and their sense of time is very much not in sync with our own," Darnell said. "They make choices over very long periods of time, and, of course, are largely responsible for us having the privilege of being here."

More information about the show.
http://www.sccountybank.com/art_current.cfm

See the images here:
http://larry-darnell.artistwebsites.com/art/all/work+chosen+for+into+the+woods+show+at+county+bank/all

Foundation For Photo Art In Hospitals Chooses Larry Darnell Sierra Nevada Image

The Foundation for Photo/Art in Hospitals recently choose a photograph "Mosquito Lake" by Larry Darnell for their collection. The Foundation for Photo/Art in Hospitals is a non-profit publicly supported organization dedicated to placing colorful, soothing photographs of nature in hospitals to give comfort and hope to patients and their families, visitors, and caregivers.

"Mosquito Lake" is was shot at the High Sierra lake of the same name, near Ebbett's Pass on highway 4. One of many mountain subjects, Darnell stated, "I have a love for mountain solitude and beauty both enjoy being there and then sharing it with others through my work."

The unique mission of the Foundation is to place large, framed photographs of nature and beautiful places from around the world in hospitals to give comfort and hope to patients and their families, visitors, and caregivers. Studies show that nature art has a beneficial effect on relieving a patient’s stress and anxiety. The photographs are intended to provide color and an atmosphere of compassion where healing is encouraged.

Guiding Principles

We believe that beautiful nature images can help heal the soul, which in turn helps heal the body.
We support the researchers and practitioners who recognize the strong link between soothing hospital environments and patients’ improvement in health, both mental and physical.
We maintain that providing photos of nature and places from around the world to medical facilities will bring appreciation of the earth’s immense beauty.
We value the full range of human diversity and seek to cross cultures by speaking to different personalities through nature art – almost everyone enters a hospital sometime in their life, either as a patient or as a visitor, regardless of race, sex, religious affiliation, culture, and economic level.
http://www.healingphotoart.com/mission.php