art by cheryl ratcliff

Original Still Life Oil Painting of Old Teddy Bear and Toys

2011-12-21T12:56:00.000-08:00

"Bedtime Stories"

Oil on board

10.5"x11"

$100.00

My dad was a story teller. He could make a story out of anything. He lived an adventurous and passionate life. Every night when I was a little girl I went to sleep to the sound of his stories. At family gatherings, at Christmas one of my grown up joys was staying up late and hearing again the beloved stories that made me. These are my dad's old toys and a piece of the train set that he wanted for Christmas as a little boy. He couldn't read but he found a box under the bed and copied the letters and had his brother read them. The letters were 'TRAIN". He was very happy to know he was getting his train, but found it ruined the joy of surprise. Thank you Dad and Grandma for my rich heritage and giving me my love of stories.

Original Oil Still Life Painting of Christmas Ornaments

2011-12-11T16:05:00.000-08:00

"Finding Christmas"

5"x7"

Oil on gessoed board

$35.00

Original Still Life Original Oil Painting of Sunflowers, Fruit, Books, and Elephant

2011-12-06T21:56:00.000-08:00

"Sunflowers and Elephant"

Oil on stretched canvas

16"x20"

$120.00

"Wisdom ceases to be wisdom when it becomes too proud to weep, too grave to laugh, and too selfful to seek other than itself." - -- Khalil Gibran

Still Life Original Oil Painting of Teapot and Fruit by Cheryl Ratcliff

2011-11-20T12:49:00.000-08:00

"Simple Gifts"

Oil on canvas panel

8"x10"

$80.00

Autumn Teapot and Apple Still Life Oil Painting by Cheryl Ratcliff

2011-11-07T20:27:00.000-08:00

Tea and Apples

Oil on Canvas Panel

8"x10"

$80.00

Original Oil Painting Still Life by Cheryl Ratcliff of Pink Flowers, Pears and Nectarines

2011-10-25T22:11:00.000-07:00

"The Best of Times"

Oil on Stretched Canvas

16"x20"

$225.00

Email Me

Still Life Original Oil Painting of Fruit and Tea Cup by Cheryl Ratcliff

2011-10-09T18:25:00.000-07:00

"October Tea"

Oil on gallery wrapped canvas

6"x6"

$35.00

A Cup of Tea

When the world is all at odds

And the mind is all at sea

Then cease the useless tedium

And brew a cup of tea.

There is magic in its fragrance,

There is solace in its taste;

And the laden moments vanish

Somehow into space.

And the world becomes a lovely thing!

There's beauty as you'll see;

All because you briefly stopped

To brew a cup of tea.

Tea helps our head and heart.

Ted medicates most every part.

Tea rejuvenates the very old.

Tea warms the hands of those who're cold.

(J. Jonker, Amsterdam, c.1670)

Original Oil Still Life Painting of Tea Cup on Yellow by Cheryl Ratcliff

2011-09-24T15:13:00.000-07:00

"Tea Cup on Yellow"

Oil on gallery wrapped canvas

6"x6"

$35.00

Still Life Original Oil Painting of Copper Tea Pot and Apples by Cheryl Ratcliff

2011-09-12T20:38:00.000-07:00

"Tea Pot and Apples"

Oil on gessoed board

11"x16"

Original Oil Landscape of Lily Pads by Cheryl Ratcliff

2011-09-01T19:24:00.000-07:00

"Fernan Lily Pads"

Oil on canvas panel

5"x7"

$35.00

Original Still Life Oil Painting of Peony floral arrangement by Cheryl Ratcliff

2011-08-26T14:38:00.000-07:00

"Sweet Summer Peonies"

Oil on gessoed board

11 1/4" X 16"

$140.00

Plein air Landscape of Lake and Lilly Pads by Cheryl Ratcliff

2011-07-14T20:48:00.000-07:00

"Summer Morning"

Oil on Board

12"x9"
Sold

Plein air excursion with the Coeur d' Alene Art Association

Original Oil Painting of Lighthouse Seascape by Cheryl Ratcliff

2011-07-10T22:36:00.000-07:00

"Finding the Way"

Oil on Board

16"x11"

$120.00

Original Oil Landscape of Lighthouse on a Stormy Day by Cheryl Ratcliff

2011-06-20T14:02:00.001-07:00

"Storms"
Oil on board
16"x12"
145.00

Original Floral Oil Painting by Cheryl Ratcliff

2011-06-16T13:26:00.001-07:00

"Lilacs on White"
oil
11.5"x16"
$145.00

Original Oil Painting Still Life Painting of Radishes

2011-06-01T20:01:00.001-07:00

"Sweetness with a Bite"
Oil on stretched canvas
6"x6"
$35.00

May 12 Remembering My Dad

2011-05-12T08:29:00.000-07:00

"Where I Belong"

Oil on Canvas Panel

11"x14"

Dad, I still can't quite believe that you are really gone. I still sometimes hope for a phone call from you, and wish for one more hike or camping trip or late night talk and telling stories and dreaming dreams. I'll always be a little lost and broken without you, but I'll go on living for you. And even though you are not where I am, you are always with me in my heart. I will love little kids, and play games, tell stories and dream. I'll be passionate about loving people and the world, I'll learn to laugh again. I'll climb mountains and find those perfect flower filled meadows....for you. And always I'll be thankful that you are my Dad!!!!!

Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.

Matthew 5:3-9

Original Oil Still Life Painting of Mother's Day Boquet of Daffodils

2011-05-08T18:27:00.001-07:00

"Mother's Daffodils"
oil
12"x9"
$80.00

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mothers out there, especially my talented, hardworking, intelligent, and capable Mother.

Original Still Life Oil Painting, Simply Apples by Cheryl Ratcliff

2011-04-11T15:44:00.001-07:00

"Simply Apples"
oil
10"x8"
$80.00

Kindness

Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things,
feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.

Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,
you must travel where the Indian in a white poncho
lies dead by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you,
how he too was someone
who journeyed through the night with plans
and the simple breath that kept him alive.

Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.

Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day to mail letters and
purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
it is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you every where
like a shadow or a friend.

Naomi Shihab Nye
from The Words Under the Words: Selected Poems

I got this lovely poem from my cousins blog too sense

Workshop Class by Patsey Parsons Landscape

2011-03-23T20:39:00.001-07:00

"Workshop study"
oil
12"x9"

I enjoyed taking this workshop taught by Patsey Parsons with a friend. Taking a workshop is always a great way to become inspired!

Original Oil Painting of a Storybook House by Cheryl Ratcliff

2011-03-07T19:54:00.001-08:00

"Storybook House 2"
Oil on canvas panel
12"x9"
$120.00

Quotes from Pride and Predjudice

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

"For what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our turn?"
Mr. Bennet

"They walked on, without knowing in what direction. There was too much to be thought, and felt, and said, for attention to any other objects".

"She is tolerable, I suppose, but not handsome enough to tempt me; I am in no humour at present to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other men. You had better return to your partner and enjoy her smiles, for you are wasting your time with me." Mr Darcy

"Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us." Mary Bennet

"I have been meditating on the very great pleasure which a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty woman can bestow." Mr. Darcy

"Nothing is more deceitful," said Darcy, "than the appearance of humility. It is often only carelessness of opinion, and sometimes an indirect boast."

"My good opinion once lost, is lost forever." Mr. Darcy

Mr. Wickham is blessed with such happy manners as may ensure his making friends � whether he may be equally capable of retaining them, is less certain." Mr. Darcy

"An unhappy alternative is before you, Elizabeth. From this day you must be a stranger to one of your parents. Your mother will never see you again if you do not marry Mr. Collins, and I will never see you again if you do." Mr. Bennet

"Do not be afraid of my running into any excess, of my encroaching on your privilege of universal good will. You need not. There are few people whom I really love, and still fewer of whom I think well. The more I see of the world, the more am I dissatisfied with it; and every day confirms my belief of the inconsistency of all human characters, and of the little dependence that can be placed on the appearance of either merit or sense."
" Elizabeth Bennet

"I certainly have not the talent which some people possess," said Darcy, "of conversing easily with those I have never seen before. I cannot catch their tone of conversation, or appear interested in their concerns, as I often see done."
"My fingers," said Elizabeth, "do not move over this instrument in the masterly manner which I see so many women's do. They have not the same force or rapidity, and do not preoduce the same expression. But then I have always supposed it to be my own fault - because I would not take the trouble of practising."

"He is as fine a fellow," said Mr. Bennet, as soon as they were out of the house, "as ever I saw. He simpers, and smirks, and makes love to us all. I am prodigiously proud of him. I defy even Sir William Lucas himself, to produce a more valuable son-in-law."

"You mistake me my dear I have a high respect for your nerves. They are my old friends. I have heard you mention them with consideration these twenty years at least." Mr. Bennet

Original Oil Landscape Painting of a White House by Cheryl Ratcliff

2011-02-21T20:45:00.001-08:00

"Storybook House"
Oil on canvas panel
10"x8"
Sold

Quotes from Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea

"Tomorrow is always fresh with no mistakes in it."

"I'm afraid to speak for fear that all this wonderful beauty will just vanish...like a broken silence."

"There is a book of revelations in everyone's life"

"I don't want any of it to change. I wish I could hold on to these days forever."

"Good friends are always together in spirit"

Anne: "Fred is...extremely good."
Marrilla: "That is exactly what he should be! Would you want to marry a wicked Man?"
Anne: "Well I wouldn't marry anyone who was really wicked, but I think I'd like it if he could be wicked and wouldn't.

"It's all very well to read about sorrows and imagine yourself living through them heroically, but it's not so nice when you really come to have them is it?"

"Some people go through life trying to find out what the world holds for them only to find out too late that it's what they bring to the world that really counts."

Original Still Life of Fruit and Wine by Cheryl Ratcliff

2011-02-13T14:17:00.000-08:00

" The Sweetness of Time"
Oil on canvas panel
8"x10"
$80.00

"Love is patient,

Love is kind.

It does not envy,

it does not boast,

it is not proud.

It is not rude,

it is not self-seeking,

it is not easily angered,

it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil

but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects,

always trusts,

always hopes,

always perseveres.

Love never fails."

1 Cor. 13

For Andrew ♥ Happy Valentines Day! ♥

Original Oil Landscape of Winter Field and Trees

2011-01-31T19:45:00.000-08:00

"Winter Cold"

Oil on canvas panel

8"x10"

$80.00

Original Oil Painting Still Life of Old Brass Bells

2011-01-20T15:30:00.001-08:00

"Old Bells"

Oil on stretched canvs

6"x6"

$35.00

The Bells

Hear the sledges with the bells —
Silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
In the icy air of night!
While the stars that oversprinkle
All the heavens seem to twinkle
With a crystalline delight;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells
From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells —
From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.

II

Hear the mellow wedding bells —
Golden bells!
What a world of happiness their harmony foretells!
Through the balmy air of night
How they ring out their delight!
From the molten-golden notes,
And all in tune,
What a liquid ditty floats
To the turtle-dove that listens, while she gloats
On the moon!
Oh, from out the sounding cells
What a gush of euphony voluminously wells!
How it swells!
How it dwells
On the Future! — how it tells
Of the rapture that impels
To the swinging and the ringing
Of the bells, bells, bells,
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells —
To the rhyming and the chiming of the bells!

III

Hear the loud alarum bells —
Brazen bells!
What a tale of terror, now, their turbulency tells!
In the startled ear of night
How they scream out their affright!
Too much horrified to speak,
They can only shriek, shriek,
Out of tune,
In a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire,
In a mad expostulation with the deaf and frantic fire,
Leaping higher, higher, higher,
With a desperate desire,
And a resolute endeavor
Now — now to sit or never,
By the side of the pale-faced moon.
Oh, the bells, bells, bells!
What a tale their terror tells
Of Despair!
How they clang, and clash, and roar!
What a horror they outpour
On the bosom of the palpitating air!
Yet the ear it fully knows,
By the twanging
And the clanging,
How the danger ebbs and flows;
Yet the ear distinctly tells,
In the jangling
And the wrangling,
How the danger sinks and swells,
By the sinking or the swelling in the anger of the bells —
Of the bells,
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells —
In the clamor and the clangor of the bells!

IV

Hear the tolling of the bells —
Iron bells!
What a world of solemn thought their monody compels!
In the silence of the night,
How we shiver with affright
At the melancholy menace of their tone!
For every sound that floats
From the rust within their throats
Is a groan.
And the people — ah, the people —
They that dwell up in the steeple,
All alone,
And who tolling, tolling, tolling,
In that muffled monotone,
Feel a glory in so rolling
On the human heart a stone —
They are neither man nor woman —
They are neither brute nor human —
They are Ghouls:
And their king it is who tolls;
And he rolls, rolls, rolls,
Rolls
A paean from the bells!
And his merry bosom swells
With the paean of the bells!
And he dances, and he yells;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the paean of the bells,
Of the bells —
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the throbbing of the bells,
Of the bells, bells, bells —
To the sobbing of the bells;
Keeping time, time, time,
As he knells, knells, knells,
In a happy Runic rhyme,
To the rolling of the bells,
Of the bells, bells, bells —
To the tolling of the bells,
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells —
To the moaning and the groaning of the bells.

Edgar Allan Poe

Slide Show of My Oil Paintings

2011-01-17T17:58:00.000-08:00

Here is a link for a slide show of my paintings on youtube, with a flute accompaniment by my daughter Kristen.

Slideshow of my paintings

Original Landscape of Mountain Lake at Sunset

2011-01-09T14:04:00.000-08:00

"A Blessing"

Oil on canvas Panel

8"x10"

$80.00

Original Oil Still Life Painting of Brass Bell by Cheryl Ratcliff

2011-01-05T16:29:00.000-08:00

"Brass Bell"

Oil on canvas

6"x6"

35.00

Original Oil Still Life Painting of Bells by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-12-30T12:57:00.000-08:00

"Bells"

Oil on Canvas

6"x6"

"We work in the dark--we do what we can--we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion, and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art." Henry James

(Laurie I loved this quote so much I had to use it. Hope you don't mind.)

Original Oil Still Life of Broken Christmas Ornaments

2010-12-09T13:35:00.000-08:00

"Shattered"
Oil on Canvas Panel
8"x10"
Sold

Missing My Dad

2010-11-12T21:33:00.000-08:00

How have we gone on six months without you, how can we go farther still into days and years that you will never know? I miss you so very much, but I wouldn't trade any of my tears for all the joy we had with you while you were here.

Ascension

And if I go,

While you are still here…

Know that I live on,

Vibrating to a different measure

-behind a thin veil you cannot see through.

You will not see me,

So you must have faith.

I wait for the time when we can soar together again,

-both aware of each other.

Until then, live your life to its fullest.

And when you need me

Just whisper my name in your heart

…I will be there.

Coleen Corah Hitchcock

Luther Vandross The Impossible Dream

Celine Dion Dance with my father again

Original Still Life Oil Painting of Book and Coffee Cup

2010-11-11T20:30:00.000-08:00

"To Ponder"

Oil on canvas panel

8"x10"

$80.00

"I think that all artists, regardless of degree of talent, are a painful, paradoxical combination of certainty and uncertainty, of arrogance and humility, constantly in need of reassurance, and yet with a stubborn streak of faith in their validity, no mater what...And I think, too, and possibly most important, that there is a faith simply in the validity of art; when we talk about ourselves as being part of the company of such people as Mozart or van Gogh or Dostoevsky, it has nothing to do with comparisons, or pitting talent against talent; it has everything to do with a way of looking at the universe."

Madeleine L'Engle

"What You Are" Jewel

Original Still Life Oil Painting of White Pitcher and Yellow Apple by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-11-03T20:11:00.000-07:00

" Still"

Oil on stretched canvas

6"x6"

$35.00

Finally found a little time to paint. I love my job, but miss uninterrupted time for art.

Original Landscape Study in Oil of Trees and Pink Sky

2010-10-18T16:23:00.000-07:00

"Twilight Study"

Oil on Canvas panel

8"x10"

NFS

The Thing Is
by Ellen Bass

to love life, to love it even
when you have no stomach for it
and everything you've held dear
crumbles like burnt paper in your hands,
your throat filled with the silt of it.
When grief sits with you, its tropical heat
thickening the air, heavy as water
more fit for gills than lungs;
when grief weights you like your own flesh
only more of it, an obesity of grief,
you think, How can a body withstand this?
Then you hold life like a face
between your palms, a plain face,
no charming smile, no violet eyes,
and you say, yes, I will take you
I will love you, again.

Oil Painting Still Life Original of Yellow Apples by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-10-10T17:54:00.001-07:00

“Golden Apples”

Oil on stretched canvas

6”x6”

$35.00

Sweet Summer Days

by Dennis Caraher

The summer sun is nearly done
Frost will follow soon
Asters and chrysanthemums
Light up the afternoon

The dew is on long after dawn
Mornings are a haze
One swallow's song is holding on
In these fading sweet summer days.

We flew across the ocean
Some fell into the sea
God will choose what we will lose
Though we may disagree

We come here to be mended
That we may find our way
We pray that there's redemption
In these fading sweet summer days

Summer months comfort us
The sun comes with sustenance
We live for its lingering light

Days slip away from us
Katydids and crickets hush
We drift into lengthening night.

We were once our children
Too soon they will be us
All they ask, a simple task:
"Remember how it was".

We hold them close, we let them go
We watch them fly away
And if we trust, they'll come to us
In these fading sweet summer days

Stars they are innumerable
We'll never know them all
But nature's not immutable
Every star will fall

And one day, I'll return to thee
And all that will remain
Is the beauty and the certainty
of these fading sweet summer days

Original Still Life of Winter Squash by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-09-27T14:33:00.000-07:00

"The Beauty of Harvest"

Oil on canvas panel

8"x10"

$80.00

I just got a new job working as a reading paraprofessional in my local school district. I love the job, but it is now a challenge to find enough time for painting. I fit it in here and there when I can.

Original Oil Landscape of Road Through Rolling Hills

2010-09-20T16:01:00.000-07:00

" The Journey"

Oil on canvas panel

8"x10"

$80.00

"You would measure time the measureless and the immeasurable.

You would adjust your conduct and even direct the course of your spirit according to hours and seasons.

Of time you would make a stream upon whose bank you would sit and watch its flowing.

Yet the timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness,

And knows that yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream.

And that that which sings and contemplates in you is still dwelling within the bounds of that first moment which scatered the stars into space.

Who among you does not feel that his power to love is boundless?

And yet who does not feel that very love, though boundless, emcompassed within the center of his being, and moving not from love thought to love thought, nor for love deeds to other love deeds?

And is not time even as love is, undivideded and spaceless?

But if in your thought you must measure time into seasons, let each season encircle all the other seasons,

And let today embrace the past with remembrance and the future with longing."

Excerpt from The prophet by Kahlil Gibran

Original Oil Painting Plein Air Landscape of Purple Flowers and Fields by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-09-06T11:17:00.000-07:00

"In The Moment"

Oil on canvas panel

8"x10"

"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough."

Rabindranath Tagore

Original Oil Plein Air Landscape of Grasses, Building, and Water Reflection

2010-08-31T20:23:00.000-07:00

"Deep Reflections"

Oil on canvas panel

8"x10"

$80.00

Original Landscape Oil Plein Air Painting of Broken Fence and Water Reflection

2010-08-24T20:47:00.000-07:00

"Light Through the Broken Places"

Oil on canvas

Plein air painting

5"x7"

$35.00

Joy is your sorrow unmasked.

And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?

The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.

Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter's oven?

And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?

When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.

Kahlil Gibran from The Prophet

Original Landscape Oil Plein Air Painting of Mountain Lake and Rocks by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-08-17T15:03:00.000-07:00

"Seeking Hope"

Oil on canvas panel

8"x10"

$80.00

Plein air Oil Landscape of Cabin and Lake by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-08-11T14:49:00.000-07:00

"Retreat"

Oil on canvas panel

8"x10"

$80.00

This is another painting I did with the plein air group from the Coeur d' Alene Art Association.

Original Landscape of Idaho Palouse, Distant Rolling Hills and Red Barn by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-08-09T19:53:00.000-07:00

"In the Distance"

Oil on canvas panel

8"x10"

$80.00

Oil Paintings in Coeur d' Alene Art on the Green Juried Show

2010-08-01T19:21:00.000-07:00

"Tenacious Pines"

Oil on canvas panel

9"x12"

$145.00

Oil on gallery wrapped canvas

9"x9" framed

$75.00

Surrealist Painting of A Starry Night by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-07-14T20:31:00.000-07:00

"My Starry Night"

Oil on Canvas panel

9"x12"

This was an experiment much more surrealist than my usual style. It is completely from memory with no visual reference. It doesn't nearly live up to the real thing. It is one of my happiest memories--the place I go to find peace. One night on a camping trip at Priest Lake with my family, we stayed up late playing games, giddy and silly. Then the night became so still and my Dad, sisters, kids and I walked down to the lake where there were stars like you've never seen before all reflected in the water. We lay on the beach in awe, feeling so small, yet so connected.

Vincent Van Gogh Starry Starry Night slideshow

Plein Air Landscape Painting of Trees and Pond by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-07-12T20:57:00.000-07:00

"Emerald Landscape"

Oil on canvas Panel

9"x12"

$120.00

This was my first time out Plein Air Painting with the Coeur d' Alene art Association. It was a lot of fun, and I was happy that my first attempt went okay. I enjoyed the nice company and great advice.

Landscape Original Oil of Hillside With Wildflowers, Poppies and Bachelor Buttons by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-07-06T08:42:00.000-07:00

"Enlightened Moment"

Oil on canvas panel

9"x12"

$120.00

Excerpt from The Dry Salvages by T.S. Eliot

For most of us, there is only the unattended

Moment, the moment in and out of time,

The distraction fit, lost in a shaft of sunlight,

The wild thyme unseen, or the winter lightining

Or the waterfall, or the music heard so deeply

That it is not heard at all, but you are the music

While the music lasts.

Original Oil Painting Still life of Pink Peonies by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-06-25T22:02:00.001-07:00

“Small Pleasures”

Oil on canvas panel

9” x 12”

$120.00

One of the Butterflies

The trouble with pleasure is the timing
it can overtake me without warning
and be gone before I know it is here
it can stand facing me unrecognized
while I am remembering somewhere else
in another age or someone not seen
for years and never to be seen again
in this world and it seems that I cherish
only now a joy I was not aware of
when it was here although it remains
out of reach and will not be caught or named
or called back and if I could make it stay
as I want to it would turn into pain

W. S. Merwin

Remembering My Dad This Father's Day

2010-06-17T20:53:00.000-07:00

"Dad's Footsteps"

Oil on canvas panel

9"x12"

Bryan Adams "This is Where I Belong"

Original Abstract Expressionist Painting by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-06-08T19:22:00.000-07:00

"Why"

Oil on canvas panel

9"x12"

This is something I've never even tried before. I finally felt ready to paint today, but not happy things. Thanks, Penny, for the encouragement to keep painting.

Oil Landscape of Lake and Mountains in Glacier National Park by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-05-31T17:41:00.000-07:00

"Mountain Tops"
Oil on stretched canvas
16"x20"

This is an older picture that I have never posted. It is from a camping trip I took with my parents in Glacier National Park. Now that I've lost my Dad, I'm thinking a lot about those happy days.

You would know the secret of death?

But how shall you find it
unless you seek it in the heart of life?

The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day
cannot unveil the mystery of light.

If you would indeed behold the spirit of death,
open your heart wide unto the body of life.

For life and death are one,
even as the river and the sea are one.
In the depth of your hopes and desires
lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;

And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow
your heart dreams of spring.

Trust the dreams,
for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.

Your fear of death is but the trembling of the shepherd
when he stands before the king
whose hand is to be laid upon him in honor.

Is the shepherd not joyful beneath his trembling,
that he shall wear the mark of the king?

Yet is he not more mindful of his trembling?

For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind
and to melt into the sun?

And what is to cease breathing,
but to free the breath from its restless tides,
that it may rise and expand
and seek God unencumbered?

Only when you drink from the river of silence
shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top,
then you shall begin to climb.

And when the earth shall claim your limbs,
then shall you truly dance.

Excerpt from The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran

Happy Birthday Dad

2010-05-27T21:05:00.000-07:00

"When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight." --- Kahlil Gibran

Happy Birthday Dad. We sent you balloon messages this evening at Point-No-Point.

Happy birthday! I love You. From, Kristen

I miss you. Happy Birthday! Love, Brandon

Love from Oscar, Sneaky, Max, Alex and Lucky

We miss you. Happy Birthday Grandpa. With Love Nathan

Happy Birthday Grandpa. I love you. Love Carrie

Jerry, Happy Trails. Love Andrew

From Cheryl

The Dream Keeper

Bring me all of your Dreams

You dreamers

Bring me all of your

heart melodies

That I may wrap them

in blue cloud-cloth

Away from the too rough fingers

of the world.

Langston Hughes

Dad, happy birthday. I was one of the luckiest daughters in the world to have had
you for my Dad. I'll miss you you forever and love you with all my heart. Love, Cheryl

From Carol

If tears could build a stairway,

and memories a lane

I'd walk right up to heaven

and bring you home again!

Happy birthday to the very best Dad! I was lucky to have you for my dad!!!
You will always have the most special place in my heart. I love you! Love, Carol

From Jenny

Oh Praise the Lord

How good it is to sing psalms to our God!

How pleasant to praise him!

The Lord is rebuilding Jerusalem;

he gathers in the scattered sons of Isreal

It is he who heals the broken in spirit

and binds up their wounds.

he who numbers the stars one by one and calls them each by name.

Psalm 147

Happy birthday Dad! I love you more than words can say. See you in heaven. Love, Jenny

From Helen

You're in my heart forever Love you, Helen

Someday soon together forever!

Good bye to My Dad

2010-05-14T10:59:00.000-07:00

May 27, 1941-May 12, 2010

You will live forever in our hearts!

Oh, how we love you.

The bustle in a house

The morning after death

Is solemnest of industries

Enacted upon earth,--

The sweeping up the heart,

And putting love away

We shall not want to use again

Until eternity.

Emily Dickinson

A poor torn heart, a tattered heart,

That sat it down to rest,

Nor noticed that the ebbing day

Flowed silver to the west,

Nor noticed night did soft descend

Nor constellation burn,

Intent upon the vision

Of latitudes unknown.

The angels, happening that way,

This dusty heart espied:

Tenderly took it up from toil and carried it to God.

There,--sandals for the barefoot;

There,--gathered from the gales,

Do the blue havens by the hand

Lead the wandering sails.

Emily Dickinson

A Prayer

When I am dying, let me know

That I loved the the blowing snow

Although it stung like whips;

That I loved all lovely things

And I tried to take their stings

With gay unembittered lips;

That I loved with all my strengh

To my soul's full depth and length,

Careless if my heart must break,

That I sang as children sing

Fitting tunes to everything

Loving life for its own sake.

Sara Teasdale

Skyscape with Clouds, Mountains, Trees, and Marsh Original Landscape by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-05-12T09:51:00.000-07:00

"A Vast Heaven"

Oil on canvas panel

9"x12"

$120.00

Oil Painting Still Life Original of Avacados on Blue Background By Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-05-08T17:04:00.000-07:00

"Avacado's on Blue"

Oil on canvas panel

6"x6"

$35.00

Original Oil Still Life of Avacados By Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-05-04T10:52:00.000-07:00

"Avacados"

Oil on canvas panel

6"x6"

Sold

Original Landscape Oil Painting of Marsh Area, Mountain, and Trees by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-04-30T15:42:00.000-07:00

"Finding a Haven" study

Oil on canvas panel

9"x12"

$120.00

Original Landscape Oil Painting of Cloudy Day, Lake, and Mountains by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-04-28T13:14:00.000-07:00

"Break Through"

Oil on canvas panel

9"x12"

$120.00

Original Oil Landscape of Sunset Glow on Mountain Peaks and Lake by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-04-26T11:22:00.000-07:00

"The Last Light"

Oil on canvas panel

8"x10"

$80.00

Original Still Life Oil Painting of Red Pears by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-04-22T09:46:00.000-07:00

"Red Elegance"

Oil on canvas panel

5"x7"

Sold

I recently opened a new etsy shop to feature my landscape paintings. Check it out at http://www.Landscapemuse.etsy.com/

Original Still Life Oil Painting of Kiwi Fruit by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-04-19T15:55:00.000-07:00

"Kiwi"

Oil on canvas panel

6"x6"

$35.00

Original Landscape Oil Painting of Lake and Mountains in Early Spring by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-04-15T16:11:00.000-07:00

"Awakening"

Oil on canvas panel

8"x10"

$80.00

Here is another painting that I did at my workshop. I'm finding the personal instruction and critique so helpful. Sometimes with just a smudge of a hard line or adding the right color or composition suggestions, my instructor is really helping me refine my work.

Here's an excerpt from my one of my all time favorite poems.

Renascence

Edna St. Vincent Millay

....

God, I can push the grass apart

And lay my finger on Thy heart!

The world stands out on either side

No wider than the heart is wide

Above the world is stretched the sky,--

No higher than the soul is high.

The heart can push the sea and land

Farther away on either hand;

The soul can split the sky in two,

And let the face of God shine through.

But East and West will pinch the heart

That can not keep them pushed apart;

And he whose soul is flat--the sky

Will cave in on him by and by.

Original Oil Landscape Painting of Pond and Marsh Grasses and Trees by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-04-10T09:17:00.000-07:00

"Stillness"

Oil on canvas panel

5"x7"

$35

Original Landscape Oil Painting of Pond and Marsh Grass by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-04-08T15:42:00.000-07:00

"Renewal"

Oil on canvas panel

5"x7"

$35

Original Still Life Oil Painting of Eggplants by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-04-06T11:32:00.000-07:00

"Pair of Eggplants"

Oil on canvas panel

5"x7"

Sold

Original Oil Landscape of Old Red Barn by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-04-01T16:49:00.000-07:00

"Red Barn"

Oil on canvas panel

8"x10"

$80

Original Oil Still Life of Pineapple by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-03-29T13:05:00.000-07:00

"Pineapple"

9"x12"

Oil on canvas panel

$120

Oil Landscape Study of Workshop Lesson

2010-03-26T11:28:00.000-07:00

"River Study"

Oil on canvas panel

5"X7"

NFS

This is another study from my workshop. We were painting off pictures of Patsey's. She had a black and white version that she wanted us to use more than the color picture to practice our values.

Study of Winter Landscape in Oil by Cheryl Ratlcliff

2010-03-24T15:21:00.000-07:00

"Winter Landscape Study"

8"x10"

Oil on canvas panel

NFS

Here is another workshop painting. I did this one off a picture of Patsey's. We were working on our pattern of lights and darks and using a limited palette.

Original Oil Still Life of Pink Tulips in Green Vase by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-03-21T14:26:00.000-07:00

"Pink Tulips"

Oil on gallery wrapped canvas

6"x6"

$ 35.00

Color Studies in Oil by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-03-17T12:59:00.000-07:00

Orange and Blue Study

Purple and Yellow Study
Red and Green Study

These are color studies that I did at the workshop I'm taking with instructor Patsey Parsons. We were practicing mixing greys with complimentary colors. Each one is done with the two compliments plus white. Complimentary colors, opposite each other on the color wheel, make such a variety of beautiful colors. Maybe it's a little like life and people. We are all so different, but together what a masterpiece we make.

Original Oil Still Life of Pink Tulips on Yellow Cloth by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-03-15T16:32:00.000-07:00

"Pink Tulips on Yellow Cloth"

Oil on gallery wrapped canvas

16"x20"

$220.00

Original Oil Still Life of Teacup and White Cloth by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-03-09T09:22:00.000-08:00

"Favorite Things"

Oil on stretched canvas

6"x6"

Sold

Original Oil Still Life of Tangerines and White Cloth by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-03-05T11:38:00.000-08:00

"Tangerines on White"

6"x6"

Oil on gallery wrapped canvas

Original Oil Still life of Purple Onions by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-03-03T15:14:00.000-08:00

"Purple Onion Trio"

6"x6"

Oil on gallery wrapped canvas

$35.00

Original Oil Still LIfe of Red and Yellow Apples by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-03-01T15:31:00.000-08:00

"Red and Yellow Apples"

6"x6"

Oil on gallery wrapped canvas

Sold

Original Oil Still Life of Red Apple and Blue and White Pitcher by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-02-25T15:11:00.000-08:00

"Apple with Blue and White Pitcher"

Oil on gallery wrapped canvas

6"x6"

Sold

"That best portion of a good man's life--

His little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love."

William Wordsworth

Original Oil Landscape of Clouds, Mountains and Lake by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-02-22T16:31:00.000-08:00

"Cloudy Day"

Oil on canvas panel

9"x12"

$120.00

This is another painting from my art class. I haven't painted since I took the class and am feeling very rusty. Andrew injured his hand at work and had to have surgery so that took all my time last week.

Original Oil Landscape of Spring Marsh land and Mountains by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-02-12T16:31:00.000-08:00

"Spring Marsh Land"

Oil on canvas panel

9"x12"

$120

Original Oil Landscape of River Reflection and Trees in Spring by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-02-10T15:40:00.000-08:00

"Spring Reflections"

9"x12"

Oil on canvas panel

$120

Leisure

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.
No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.
No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.
No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.
No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.
No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.
A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

William Henry Davies

Original Oil Landscape of Mountains and Marsh in Spring by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-02-07T19:20:00.000-08:00

"Hoping for Spring"

Oil on Canvas Panel

9"x12"

$120.00

I'm taking a wonderful painting class by Patsey Parson's and this is last week's attempt to assimilate lots of information. One of the big pointers I've gotten is to soften hard edges more.

Original Oil Landscape of High Mountains at Twilight with Wildflowers by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-02-01T10:41:00.000-08:00

"High Mountain Twilight"

Oil on gallery wrapped canvas

18"x24"

$280.00

This is another big painting of an earlier study. The thing about painting is that it sometimes seems that the more you know the harder it becomes. There are so many techniques and principles that are important to the success of a painting, color theory, composition, perspective, brushwork, selective rendering, style. It can be daunting with all these swimming around in your head along with ideas of the perfect picture you want to create. The best paintings happen for me when I do some preliminary planning including all this knowledge that I'm trying to absorb, sketches, color planning, value studies, etc., and then go to my canvas free of ideas of perfection and lose myself in the joy of the colors and ideas and places that made me feel like they were worth trying to capture in the first place. Then it seems that even though there might be plenty to critique in my work, it has more life in it than when I'm too absorbed in not making mistakes. Now if only I can learn to live the rest of my life that way...

"The important thing is this, to be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become."

Charles De Bos

Original Oil Still Life of Glass of Water by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-01-25T19:58:00.000-08:00

"Enough"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

6"x6"

Sold

Enough

too easily forgotten
simple

Abundance

more than enough
all around us

Abundance

too easily overlooked
as we grasp so much

our
arms too full
eyes too dazzled
hearts too empty
to understand
simple

Abundance

more than enough
all around us.

Original Winter Landscape Oil Painting of Tree by Lake by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-01-21T20:18:00.000-08:00

"Alone"

Oil on canvas panel

9"x12"

120.00

Leaves

One by one, like leaves from a tree,
All my faiths have forsaken me;
But the stars above my head
Burn in white and delicate red,
And beneath my feet the earth
Brings the sturdy grass to birth.
I who was content to be
But a silken-singing tree,
But a rustle of delight
In the wistful heart of night,
I have lost the leaves that knew
Touch of rain and weight of dew.
Blinded by a leafy crown
I looked neither up nor down—
But the little leaves that die
Have left me room to see the sky;
Now for the first time I know
Stars above and earth below.

Sara Teasdale

Original Oil Still Life of Yellow Onions by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-01-16T13:49:00.000-08:00

"More Onions"

6"x6"

Oil on gallery wrapped canvas

Sold

A big thank you to to Kelly for featuring my art work on her blog, highstreet market!

Original Oil Still Life of Garlic and Brown Pitcher by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-01-14T16:08:00.000-08:00

"Garlic and Brown Pitcher"

6"x6"

Oil on gallery wrapped canvas

Sold

Original Oil Landscape of High Mountains and Wildflowers by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-01-12T19:36:00.000-08:00

"Goat Rock Wildflowers"

Oil on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

18"x24"

$280.00

This is a big painting of an earlier study that I did of a favorite camping spot in the Goat Rock area. I haven't painted big in a long time and this felt enormous.

Original Winter Landscape of Sunset Over a Lake by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-01-08T19:39:00.000-08:00

"Coeur d' Alene December"

Oil on canvas panel

9"x12"

Northwest Mountain Landscape Of Olympic Mountains by Cheryl Ratcliff

2010-01-05T19:45:00.000-08:00

"Majestic Olympics"

Oil on canvas panel

9"x12"

$120.00

Original Still Life of Books and Candle by Cheryl Ratcliff

2009-12-30T20:21:00.000-08:00

"Solitary Pleasure"

Oil on canvas panel

9"x12"

Sold

"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers." ~Charles W. Eliot

Happy New Year!

Original Oil Landscape of Church by Cheryl Ratcliff

2009-12-28T18:21:00.000-08:00

"Refuge"

Oil on Canvas Panel

9"x12"

$120.00

"Faith is not knowledge of what the mystery of the universe is, but the conviction that there is a mystery, and that it is greater than us."
- Rabbi David Wolpe

Original Oil of Christmas Still Life by Cheryl Ratcliff

2009-12-23T15:28:00.000-08:00

"Holiday Arrangement"

Oil on gallery wrapped canvas

5"x7"

$35.00

Do you remember me
I sat upon your knee
I wrote to you with childhood fantasies

Well I'm all grown-up now
And still need help somehow
I'm not a child
But my heart still can dream

So here's my lifelong wish
My grown-up Christmas list
Not for myself
But for a world in need

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
Everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end
This is my grown-up Christmas list

As children we believed
The grandest sight to see
Was something lovely
Wrapped beneath our tree

Well heaven surely knows
That packages and bows
Can never heal a hurting human soul

What is this illusion called
The innocence of youth
Maybe only in our blind belief
Can we ever find the truth

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
Everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end
This is my grown- up christmas list

Amy Grant

Still Life Original Oil Painting of Food, Oranges on a Blue Background

2009-12-21T16:17:00.000-08:00

"Oranges on Blue"

6"x6"

Oil on gallery wrapped canvas

$35.00

Original Oil Landscape of the Olympic Mountains by Cheryl Ratcliff

2009-12-17T19:36:00.000-08:00

"Olympic View"

Oil on canvas panel

9"x12"

$120.00

Origianl Oil Painting of Eggs, bowl, and Milk Bottle on a Red and White Cloth By Cheryl Ratcliff

2009-12-11T09:55:00.000-08:00

"Baking Time"

Oil on Canvas Panel

9"x12"

$120.00

Original Oil Still Life of Green Pears by Cheryl Ratcliff

2009-12-09T11:22:00.000-08:00

"Pair of Pears"

6"x6"

Oil on gallery wrapped canvas

Sold

Original Oil Still Life of Sugar Bowl and Apples by Cheryl Ratcliff

2009-12-07T19:34:00.000-08:00

"Grandma's Sugar Bowl"

Oil on gallery wrapped canvas

6"x6"

$35.00

Original Oil Northwest Landscape of Mountain Sunset by Cheryl Ratcliff

2009-11-25T15:03:00.000-08:00

"Wallowa Sunset"

Oil on canvas panel

9"x12"

$120.00

For the beauty of the earth

For the beauty of the sky,
For the love which from our birth

Over and around us lies.

Lord of all, to thee we raise,

This our hymn of grateful praise.

Folliot S. Pierpoint

Original Oil Painting of Fountain, Garden, and Girls by Cheryl Ratcilff

2009-11-23T09:45:00.000-08:00

"Wishing"

Oil on canvas panel

9"x12"

$120.00

Still Life Original Oil Painting of Yellow Apples by Cheryl Ratcliff

2009-11-20T13:07:00.000-08:00

"Golden Apples"

Oil on canvas panel

6"x6"

Sold