This painting is number six in the series, "Post Cards from the Beach." Living in Florida and 3.5 miles from Indian Rocks Beach, I try to catch as many sunsets over the Gulf of Mexico as possible. As a former mid-westerner, I know that sunsets are what beach vacations are all about. This series records those ephemeral moments as vignettes or "post cards." The blurred edges of the vignettes are almost as if someone blew sand off the canvas and the images were beneath.

About the artist:

I had never forgotten the advice given to me. It was my first official painting class at Kent State University and I was determined to become the 70s version of Georgia O'Keefe. Armed with a bit of an ego blown up by high school art awards, my self-image quickly deflated during the first critique.

• The professor's advice? Paint cosmic.

After twenty years of chuckling over that cryptic pearl of wisdom, I began to understand what it meant when I started painting again after 20 years. I started my professional career as a graphic designer/art director and, spent many years in commercial creative services. To ease the stress, I picked up two hobbies, gardening and metaphysics. It was also at this time that I read that the gardens of Monet's Giverny were planted exactly how the famed impressionist intended to paint them.

• Lightbulb!

As a gardener and closet control freak, I decided to follow that thought. I started to plant with color, design and texture in mind, then paint the results.
Painting from nature connects me to where the illusion of reality blurs into another realm. Colors become richer, sometimes arbitrary, sometimes whimsical when capturing the energy of the moment. Climate, temperature, wind, background noise,fragrances, amount of sunlight...all that is perceived either consciously or unconsciously moves from mind to hand to canvas, carrying with it an indefinable spark of truth.

• In other words, I paint cosmic.

I now compare the act of painting to the actual creation of �reality'. After all, if you follow the credo that reality is but a hologram built with overlapping energy fields, then the act of painting is very similar. Only the energy fields are washes of paint twisting and turning with varying colors, density and hues and then skillfully layered. The result? Images are born. Seems magical yes, but the vision in the artist's mind is achieved through talent, knowledge and sensitivity...and sometimes happy accidents.
Sylvia A. Shanahan