Grace

Inherent to a woman's nature is grace. I don't mean the confined pretense of politeness nor do I mean the muted, seemingly idealistic or romantic, dolefulness adorning different Jane Austen characters. I mean the honest, full, almost adverse strength of love, of intuitive understanding, of mercy, and of patience. I mean it as a definition of womanhood. I mean it as a noun and a verb.

Leaves and Water

I love the beauty of nature. I see nature in colors and textures. The water with its bumps and ridges and at the same time it's fluidity. The crispy leaves that create such a softness floating on the water. Juxtapositions of nature are delightful.

Sometimes it is nice to go buck wild on a canvas knowing only the general direction of the painting letting creation have free reign.

Muse

The vacuum of society. Part of our soul gets consumed as we are redirected into the rat race of daily ritual. Remember, "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." It is my hope that we develop ourselves to adhere to who we really are and allow ourselves to see and listen to a grander perspective because "Nature allows no vacuum."

Often times when I start a piece of my art, I start with one shape I see in my mind's eye. I then build off of that. I let creativity and the natural flow of discovery take over. The shape that came to my mind to begin this painting was the blue, jagged, right cheekbone and jaw. I built from there.

American West: Lyle

Lyle Munk lives in Moreland, Idaho. He raised his family in Idaho Falls, Idaho with his wife and three children. He had a barber shop in downtown Idaho Falls. He is a quiet man with a helluva sense of humor. Keep your ears perked, he will crack you up. His favorite teams are BYU (football) and the NY Yankees. He enjoys watching the Lawrence Welk show where he is fascinated at how talented people are. His favorite colors, at least on a quilt, are red and black. He raises cattle, chickens, doves, and pigeons. He has a large garden with the most delicious produce someone could eat. The peaches...oh...so good.

American West: Heritage

Summer of 2010 in Eastern Idaho; Ashton, near Yellowstone National Park. This is the area in which my Grandmother, my Dad's Mom, grew up. A painter, an illustrator, a writer, a decorator, a sculptor, a lover of pie, "Dumb and Dumber", "What About Bob" and anything unusual, a watcher of fire dancing gypsies, a nurse, a comedian, a world traveler, a mother and certainly a grandmother, as strong as the workhorses she used to ride on her farm as a young girl, an inspiration; my Golden Gram.

American West

I took these this past summer of 2010 from a moving car.

Subtle

Sometimes the most beautiful things are found in subtleties.