Endless Summer in Sonoma and Napa Valley • Art of Leisure

Summer in Sonoma and Napa Valley is filled with warm days, cool evenings, and as much time spent lazily relaxing in the sun as possible.

This may be enjoyed at a lovely winery such as Bartholomew Estate Winery shown here, enjoying the grandeur of the ancient oaks and view.

Summer in Sonoma Valley — The crisp, white exterior of this historic winery building at Bartholomew Estate is so clean and fresh.

I just adore the turquoise painted entry and windows. This building houses an art gallery that is currently showing a few of my shelter pet paintings.

These work highlight three local animal shelters and were created to benefit shelter dogs. I have been painting these pets for a number of years and love seeing them all displayed together. Here we see the beginning of this installation this summer:

Dog portrait — Photograph by the very talented Mary Macey Butler as I painted a portrait of her darling dog.

Delivering completed animal portraits this summer; it’s always a joyous time to pack them up in my art studio and take to their new home.

These two sweet dogs, Lucille and Sandy, came to the Family Dog Rescue shelter in Sonoma early this summer. I painted their portraits soon after their arrival, and they were adopted within a few days of my sharing their paintings on social media; for me, their having found homes was truly the most meaningful part of my summer.

Sonoma summer fun — Woody, adopted at Family Dog Rescue

Dog adoption at Pets Lifeline — Baymax Adopted at Pets Lifeline in Sonoma.

Adopt a pet in Sonoma — Penelope at Wiley’s Wish Animal Rescue

The Fourth of July was very festive this year, with a parade and picnics at the Sonoma Plaza.

A quick dip in a lovely pool is always relaxing and rejuvenating, which brings me to the concept of equanimity that I was researching this year. It’s about extending love and compassion to all and keeping the cells in our body in balance.