Paint the flying spirit of the bird rather than its feathers.         

Robert Henri, an American painter who identified strongly with the Impressionists made this profound statement.

It resonated immediately with me, because I don’t make pictures that look like the actual thing. Instead, I try to create images that make me feel something powerful.

Lagniappe (wonderful French-Cajun word that means “a little extra”) would be if the images make you feel something powerful, too.

This image, which I call Simply Summer, is about the spirit of the moment, how I felt on a recent evening. See the gently curved weed against a weathered fence? Maybe you do, maybe you don’t. But maybe you feel it more than see it. I added intriguing skies floating above and below that spoke to me of the coming-to-an-end of a long, beautiful July day in our valley.