Steve and I embarked, briefly, on Tahoe's extraordinary self-guided art tour event that occurs each year on the last weekend of July and the first weekend in August. With numerous open studios to visit, this could be a several day art adventure, but we only had a little bit of time so we only visited one studio- Phyllis Shafer's.

We have been fans of Phyllis' whimsical works for years and to visit her in her new studio was a real treat.





I'm going to let this talented artist's own words describe her work, "Nature, in its various manifestations, has always provided the raw material for my artistic investigations. Over the years I have explored a variety of styles and media - always with the natural environment as the focal point. As I have matured personally, my artistic sensibilities have similarly matured and evolved into an ever-deepening realization of my own private vision."
"I believe that a kind of transcendental essence lies at the heart of all natural forms and objects. There is a concept in Zen Buddhist painting known as kiin-seido, meaning living moment or the immediate, intuitive expression of a subject's essential nature. While I am not a practitioner of Zen Buddhism, I am interested in this concept as it relates to our experience of landscape. My artistic goal is, through the process of painting, to distill and crystallize that essence and the vital rhythms that animate it."
What I love most about her work is that it makes one smile. Her landscapes evoke happiness. How very, very cool.

Karen, Phyllis & Me