
Flower Portrait No. 9: Red Tulip



© 2014, Theresa Mae Funk, all rights reserved.
We first noticed the hell fire cloud on Sunday, September 14th during our final round of the Gold Pan Open Disc Golf Tournament at Pioneer Park in Somerset, located approximately 15 miles to the south of Pollock Pines, California. The Sierra Nevada foothills are a tinder box of heavy timber and steep terrain, something that the jack-ass arsonist who deliberately set this fire knew would make containment nearly impossible. The latest update indicates that the 73, 184 acre fire is 10% contained.
As we made the 57 mile drive home to Sacramento County, I kept looking back at the huge plume of smoke, silently praying for a miracle deluge of rain that still, has not arrived.
Twenty minutes and 30 miles later, the hell fire cloud ominously looms over the landscape that inspires much of my original works on paper,
and I take one last passing shot of this day’s fiery grief.
© 2014, Theresa Mae Funk, all rights reserved.

Ascending the mountainside to reach hole 15 at the Zephyr Cove Disc Golf Course is a rewarding challenge. Hiking to an elevation of 6,348 feet above sea level with a 30 pound pack requires a steady pace of confident foot placement and intermittent stops for water and an intake of the views.
© 2014 Theresa Mae Funk. All rights reserved.

Stella works hard to keep the neighborhood vermin and feral cats away from our home and garden. She remains vigilant, even while sleeping.
©2014, Theresa Mae Funk. All rights reserved.

Every artist has a muse and every muse, an artist. Mine are dressed in yellow and green. Sunflowers continue to bloom this week in the garden with stunningly brilliant perfection.
©2014, Theresa Mae Funk, all rights reserved.

Vibrant yellow petals lure me to the garden’s edge. I measure the stalks and make note of nature’s brilliant accomplishment.
© 2014 Theresa Funk, all rights reserved.