Art Prints and Posters are Showing Up in Homes and Businesses

Not everyone can afford to buy original art. This has really upped the popularity of good Art Prints and Posters. In fact many people are now amassing collections of posters.

Beautifully done prints on canvas or on paper can make as big an impact in a room as an original work of art and at a much more affordable price.

Classical, Contemporary and Whimsical art prints are coming into their own as home owners and businesses begin to realize that they are good investments. Many decorators are leaning toward Art Prints and Posters for their cost conscious clients.

Posters that commemorate an event, such as a festival, with the date included in the text can increase in value in just a year or two. Limited edition posters can also be worth more than the original selling price when the edition is sold out. Other posters in open editions may not increase in value but are designed just to be enjoyed by the purchaser. For the most part however, Art Prints and Posters should just be bought because the customer likes the artwork, not for investment purposes.

Most posters contain some text that is incorporated into the overall design of the piece. This gives the work an edgy, sophisticated look that is very appealing. Many artists are choosing one or more of their most popular prints and turning them into posters by incorporating text into the overall design of the piece. An example of this can be found in two pieces by artist, Charlotte Cathey Holder who took her best selling prints, “Lab Results” and “Golden Nuggets” and turned them into posters. Now they are available both as Art Prints and Posters. Many artists are doing the same thing.

Find art that suits your personal taste and décor and check out the trend.

Rafting the Rio

Wild and Scenic describes the Rio Grande River of northern New Mexico. The Rio thunders in the depths of a precipitious gorge boxed in by sheer cliffs and has plenty of white knuckle rapids to excite and thrill rafters like us. If you are looking for an early morning rush (other than traffic) this is a great way to get your day started.

We went on a part of the Rio aptly named  “Racecourse”,

with big waves, fast water, and lots of action. That’s me, loving it, just in front of our guide (who is the only one in a black helmet).The setting was spectacular, about an hour north of Santa Fe in a sparsely inhabited area. It was a perfect day, warm and sunny. We knew we were going to get wet so we were grateful for the sunshine.

Our guide was a young guy working his way through college by taking adventure seekers through the rapids and moonlighting as a waiter. He had  a passion for rafting and made the trip all the more delightful. He shouted out paddling commands, many that were drowned out by the roar of the water. This was a first rafting experience for our two grandkids and such fun for us to share this thrilling experience with them.

If you’ve never been white water rafting, this is a wonderful place to try it out. The setting is stunningly beautiful, and there are places between the rapids where the river is fairly calm allowing you to really soak in the spectacular landscape, at least for a few seconds.  This part of the river is hemmed in by ancient lava flows to the north and quartzite cliffs of the Picuris Mountains to the south. Definately a sensory rush and a physical one as well.

When you survive the final and biggest rapid,

the legendary Souse Hole at the end of the trip, you come away exhillarated, exhausted, very wet  and ready for a really big breakfast.

Golfing with Coatimundies

We were in Mexico recently and had the occassion to play golf at a course  near Playa de Carmen. You never know what wildlife you may encounter on a golf course in Mexico. Always Iguanas,

but we have also seen alligators sunning on the edge of the water hazzard beside the fairway. That can be a little startling if you are not expecting it.

This day we were in for a really delightful surprise. The fairways and cart path are bordered by thick Mexican jungle that you can’t even see through.  Mike and my brother were in the first golf cart and my sister-in-law and I were driving behind them. At hole number two a small coatimundi  sat next to the cart path. Coatimundi are a cousin of the American raccoon, but they are much smaller with pencil-thin ringed tails that they carry straight up like a flag pole. We watched as my brother tossed him a potato chip.  Inquisitively, he reached for it with his tiny little hands, nibbled it and looked up shyly for another chip. Mike emptied the rest of the bag of chips on the ground and suddenly the jungle trembled with emerging coatimundies.

About twenty or so showed up for snacks. They were so gentle, no fighting among themselves over the goodies. We were able to get lots of photos of them before we ran out of food to offer.

I have a feeling they are used to being fed by golfers. And why not they are so cute that you can’t help but be charmed by the little beggars. They were the highlight of the day for me.

Swimming with Giants

Before last year, I had never heard of  Whale Sharks. They are the biggest fish on earth.  A true shark, it is nonetheless a harmless plankton-eating machine. They migrate through the Mexican Rivera during August- September as they head down to their breeding grounds in Belize. In the area near Cancun you can swim with them. The  poster for the Whale Shark encounter taunted “Do You Dare?”  Well, of course we did.

We started out with a caravan of small boats each holding six to ten passengers and a captain. There was a perfect blue sky, popcorn clouds and transparent water in shades of turquoise, aqua, seagreen and royal blue which fed my color-loving soul.

The boat sped twenty five miles out into the open water bouncing crazily over the formidable swells, sunlight tossing rainbows into the spray the boat kicked up. On the way pods of Dolphins often swam along side the boats leaping and playing as if this were just the most fun for them. They are wonderful to watch. The ocean herself is a living thing, I believe, and in her belly a second world of living creatures.

Our guide schooled us on what to expect when we at last got to these magnificent giants of the sea.  These behemouth fish are actually gentle. They swim with their huge mouths open scooping  up the plankton and small fish and expelling the water through their gills. We were soon to learn the difference between being a large fish in a small pond and being a small fish in a big pond. We were definately the small fish.

Our guide said we should become like the fish in the sea, just another animal at one with the ocean. He advised us to swim along side the shark rather than toward him. They tend to swim on the surface of the water so they are easy to spot. Their huge caudal fin and two dorsal fins stick high out of the water making them easy to spot from a distance.  Though we had been told that some might be a big as a school bus, we were still not prepared for how truly gigantic these creatures were. Our first sight of them was a thrill. I found them to be quite beautiful with lines of yellow and white spots running the lengh of their bodies. The spots between their pectoral fins are like a fingerprint, no two are the same. The image below is a stock photo because we did not have an underwater camera with us.

When we finally had the chance to get in the water with them we had to really work to keep up with them. They are very fast. The sea was thick with  plankton they feed on. We swam quite close beside one that was about  twentyfive feet long. I could see his eye and it seemed that he was looking back at me with curiosity, turning his head slightly toward me  before swimming away. Two tiny remora were attatched to his gills catching the leftovers.

Afterwards as we climbed back onto the boat happy and exhausted,  our Captain was stirring up a delicious Cerviche for us.  Boy, did that taste good.  The long ride back to shore was full of animated conversation about what we had experienced.

And what a truly amazing adventure it was. Awesome!

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