Buddha tiles

Yesterday, I produced some designs for porcelain tiles with a Buddha accent.  One of my customers had asked for such tiles for a kitchen wall, so I designed several to choose from.  Most of the tiles include the lotus flower, which is closely connected to the Buddha.

Many Buddha statues find the Buddha sitting on a lotus flower, since the lotus flower is considered very pure.

I found these Buddhas during travels and at home.  Each was taken with my digital camera and transposed to the montage that is now a tile image.  I have found Buddhas in the San Francisco Japanese Tea Garden, The Selby garden in Sarasota, Florida, in the yard and home of friends, in my own collection from travels to Thailand and Laos, from a store in Sedona, and from a poster.

These tiles can be produced in the dimensions 4x4, 6x6, and 8x8 and can be used for trivets, coasters, wall hangings, and back splashes in the bathroom or kitchen.

San Francisco Tea Garden

While taking a tour of San Francisco, I stopped at the lovely Tea Garden tucked into the Golden Gate Park.  The garden was gorgeous, with azaleas in bloom, winding trails, secret gardens, ponds with creative rock gardens, and the serenity that takes one away from the hustle and bustle of city life.  Hidden in a back pathway was a gorgeous statue of a Buddha.  I photographed the Buddha and made a new montage with lotus.  Notice that the bronze Buddha is sitting on an open lotus flower.

Moosewood Art show

I just hung a show at the Moosewood Restaurant in Ithaca, NY. It contains a variety of subjects, including the lotus and flower montages, flower and Buddha montages, some Cornell University building and sculpture transparency studies, and the Manhattan Bridge and other scenes from NYC. The images will be on display for the month of April.

Giclee art

Giclee is a term that refers to the use of archival ink for printing photographic art. These prints will last for a long time!

I began my retirement career in photographic art in 2006 by taking courses at a local community college. The Photoshop courses introduced me to a whole new world of manipulating digital photographs and I have enjoyed the years of experimenting ever since. My first subject was the lotus flower that grows in a pond behind my home. A few plants reproduced to what is now about 500 plants that bloom over a two month period.

I am a member of the Greater Ithaca Art Trail (http://www.arttrail.com/), with open studio events on the weekends of October 10th and 17th. I also maintain an active website at which anyone can purchase prints using Pay Pal. Please check it out. www.nancyridenourartist.com

Buddhism is the major religion in Laos, where I lived for five years in the 60's, so I have incorporated Buddha images in my artwork as shown here.