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.