Art that invokes the outdoors, or nature art, may seem like an odd topic for the middle of our long New England winter. Snow, ice, frigid temperatures – the outdoors isn’t very alluring right now. But I think paintings that depict nature are exactly the right antidote to being cooped up inside.

A therapeutic dose of sunny skies, shimmering green leaves and bonny spring flowers is just what we need to chase away the winter doldrums.

It’s hard to go anywhere in the Northeast right now without hearing one of those classic winter songs. “Dashing through the snow, I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, or Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!”

OK, we get it. Cold weather is on its way and it’s time to dig out those winter wraps.

During the holiday season, our dining tables take center stage. It’s time for steaming bowls of stuffing, salads overflowing with winter greens, and mouth-watering pies with vanilla ice cream. Part of the fun of hosting (or attending) a festive dinner is deciding how to present all these yummy dishes. What won’t do is that old Melamine salad bowl or Aunt Ida`s chipped vegetable dish.

We live in a world of lightning speed technological change and mass production of everything from our clothing to our food supply. In our day-to-day lives, many of us yearn for the homemade, the handmade, things that were built with care by a real person. This post highlights Paradise City artists who use hands-on techniques to craft one-of-a-kind pieces which reflect their own personal stories.

New to Paradise City this fall is Nigerian-born sculptor Nnamdi Okonkwo, who creates simplified and stylized sculptures of the human body. Nnamdi was born in eastern Nigeria, where he earned a degree in painting. At 6’9” tall, he took up basketball at age 17 and was recruited by BYU-Hawaii where he played from 1989-1993. Having earned a BFA and MFA in Sculpture, Nnamdi now lives in Fayetteville, Georgia.

Nnamdi’s work ranges in size from under 10 inches to life-size and monumental.