Nifty Piks - Photos and Art

The tulip fields in Skagit Valley, north of Seattle, provide a colorful landscape for bike riding. This image was used as a wine label for NW Cellars 2006 Sauvignon Blanc as part of the bicycle wine series.

Lavender farms abound on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state. Low rainfall, mild weather and broad expanses make it ideal for lavender....and bike riding!

Seattle view from the Fauntleroy neighborhood overlooking the water, park and ferry dock

A view anyone from the Pacific Northwest would recognize: Mt Rainier

Ferry boat on the Puget Sound in the Pacific Northwest

Pike Place Market in Seattle offers colorful displays of fresh produce.

On Washington state's Olympic Peninsula, the city of Sequim has become well known for lavender farms. In mid-July, the fields are awash in purple and pink lavender plants.

An aerial view of geranium leaves - showing the infinite variety available.

The tulip fields of Skagit Valley, north of Seattle, create vibrant patterns in spring.

From the south of France in Provence comes this periwinkle blue door, the typical color for the shutters & doors of the region. This color harmonizes beautifully with the golden limestone that is the building material of this part of France.

Abundant displays of lavender are found at many of the lavender farms on the Olympic peninsula of Washington in mid-July.

North of Seattle, Washington, bulb growers plant large fields of tulips - creating vivid landscapes for all to see.

Tulip fields of Skagit Valley, north of Seattle, form colorful, quilt-like patterns

Here is a typically Pacific Northwest scene - a ferry transporting passengers to the many islands.

A friend's garden yielded these beautiful, floppy sunflowers. Their size and briliance light up a summer afternoon.

Seattle's old district

In downtown Seattle, Pike Place Market provides fresh fish, produce & other homemade items.

With the Olympic Mountains as a backdrop, the town of Sequim is well known for its lavender. This fragrant herb thrives in the rain shadow of the mountains and provides colorful vistas to all who visit.

The Conservatory at Volunteer Park in Seattle houses many exotic plants.

A bouquet of bright anemones in an old fashioned bottle focus the viewer's attention on their simplicity & color contrast.

From the Purple Haze Farm in Sequim, this view of lavender fields interspersed with yarrow makes a stunning landscape.

A very horizontal view of the pastures along side tulip fields of Skagit valley, Washington.

Farmhouses frame rows of tulips in the bulb-growing region of Skagit valley in the state of Washington.

Tulip fields create vivid stripes of color in the Skagit Valley, north of Seattle, Washington.

These Angel's trumpets (Brugmansia species) look so great against the blue wall in this fabulous Oklahoma garden. Photograph by Betty Mackey.

Callicarpa berries line up on a branch, from mature white to still-green clusters, looking so trim and composed. Nature will do that sometimes. Photograph by Betty Mackey.

In a country cutting garden, backlit with sunshine, this deep red Oklahoma sunflower glows . I used it for the cover of a new book on organic gardening, "Organic Gardening Down South." I'm the editor/publisher. The author is Nellie Neal.

An evocative layering of photos I took at the memorial for victims of the Oklahoma Federal Building bombing.

Summer ends and Autumn begins, so pumpkins appear to add a precious note to our homes and gardens. This photograph will print in all sizes up to ImageKind's "Grande" which in this case is 27 x 36 inches. These great pumpkins were featured in a decorator's garden in Oklahoma.

A bouquet for your wall, a rustic vase of sunflowers grown in Oklahoma's warm and sunny weather.

Garden art, a metal sculpture photographed near Oklahoma City. So cute for a card or for a child's room.

This warty blue pumpkin adorning an Oklahoma garden would make a nifty fall harvest for your restaurant or kitchen wall.

Cool off a bit in this handmade metal chair painted wine red and surrounded by shade-loving plants.

This is one super cowboy, stationed in front of the horses with a tin can for a hat and a bulletproof vest made of scrap metal. It's a handmade metal sculpture at the Stout ranch in Oklahoma. The horse is real.

This sweet potato pie at the farmer's market in Oklahoma City looks good to me.

So colorful it appears to be painted, the red and yellow sunflower in this photograph struts its stuff in a cutting garden, with the great blue Oklahoma sky for a background.

White chrysanthemums are beautiful flowers...not big, not expensive...but abundant and pretty...and a sure sign of fall. These mums were found at a farm store on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

Valley of the Mums, chrysanthemums that is.

Golden chrysanthemums rise against the clear blue sky of an autumn afternoon on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

Pumpkins on a Diagonal

Amazing Maize or Indian Corn. Maize is a popular decoration for autumn holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving. Colorful and long lasting, Indian Corn is sold by farm markets all over. These ears of Maize were shot at a farm store along Rout 50 on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

Got your goat? This young Billy Goat is keeping an eye on the photographer, but not because he is afraid of people. This Billy want to see if anyone is headed near the food dispenser, in hopes of getting a treat. He is a resident of an Eastern Shore farm in Maryland.

This Billy Goat Gruff just might be giving you the eye from a rocky crag atop the high Sierras in the Wild West. Either that or he's watching for treats from a platform at a Maryland Eastern Shore farm. We'll have to go with the farm animal scene. But he did get a treat - and I got the shot.

~for a special friend who shines with inner light~ Despite adverse conditions, this azalea brings us joy by blooming out of season.

These heart-shaped leaves and petals give color to any garden.

Azaleas and sunshine--this will make the perfect accent for your hallway.

The fragrance of a yellow rose is as delicate as its velvet petals. This photo will be beautiful with both contemporary and romantic decor.

In April this red azalea bush is a fiery mass of blooms from head to toe.

This is like a splash of sunshine on the wall. That green speck on the petal is not a blemish--it's a tiny beetle trying to be invisible.

Shy, or still asleep? This gerbera has velvety petals as soft as a baby's skin.

Little bursts of garden sun for your mouth, these are lots of fun to eat. My granddad called cherry tomatoes "tommy toes". Perfect for your eat-in kitchen.

Some afternoons are so hot that the pepper plant allows its leaves to droop until, refreshed by the morning dew, it straightens back up. This pimiento looks great with or without a mat.

White amaranth has a wonderful texture. They are striking against their deep green foliage. In this photo you can also see the tiny white blooms within the fuchsia flowers.

This was taken at dusk.

These cheerful flowers remind me of red clover.