Like smoke curling from a magic lamp, the clouds in Phyllis Shafer?s artful skies cue the viewer that these are no ordinary landscapes. Here is nature through a lens of stylized wonder. Intensely perceived and painted plein air, her self-described ?torqued perspectives? are fueled by observation and introspection, the result being her experience of nature divine. Under Shafer?s brush, wind whistles through semi-abstracted tree branches, and the Sierra Nevada vibrates with color and energy. This calendar?s 12 paths, waterways, and mountain vistas lead the eye to the mysterious unknown, and each month is an adventure in seeing.
