There’s a folk belief that if you place the delicate, heart shaped leaf of a violet in each of your shoes you will walk in the ways of love everyday. We have a small koi pond at our house and when feeding them the other day I noticed these violets blooming where I’ve never seen them grow before. I took this as an encouraging sign. Love is popping up where we least expect it right now. Notice and exalt in these little moments. Maybe we all should put a couple violet leaves in our shoes right now and walk forever down a path of Love.... #loveistheanswer #spreadthelove #violets #violetflowers #heartshaped #volunteerplant #growinglove #lovecharm #magicofnature #naturesmagic #doctrineofsignatures #lovenature #delicatenature #walkwithlove #loveinmysteps #loveeachother #lovealways #loveunconditionally #loveallows #belove #loveall #naturesblessing #amazingnature #bloomingflowers #blessed #grateful #RobertCoury.com

Forgive the radio silence. The world has been a bit overwhelming the past few months... I find that when I get anxious and stressed, slowing down and being conscious with nature truly helps me put my thoughts into order. Like arranging these beautiful pigment stones from Tahoe into their own compartments, my mind benefits from separating and picking apart the various collections of anxiety and fears I’ve managed to accumulate. And currently, they are numerous... I hope everyone has been staying safe and healthy... #meditativemoments #arranging #stones #knolling #pigmentrocks #shadowbox #rainbowofcolor #earthtones #earthpigments #mineralpigments #earthcandy #lovenature #beautifulearth #rockhound #rockcollection #fromabove #collections #anxiousactivities #calmthemind #blessed #grateful #RobertCoury.com

I’m proud of my community. It’s not perfect by a long shot, but it’s trying. Last week, hundreds of people gathered in sweltering temperatures around the Sonoma square to peacefully protest, march, and hold space to listen to the voices of its Black community members both young and old. I feel blessed to have been able to record some of these voices, not only to share with you, but to rewatch on my own and drill into my understanding what Black Americans have been experiencing for ages. Now is the time to Listen to these voices that have been strangled for too long, ReEducate ourselves on the horrific history of this nation, Widen Our Perception Of Reality and stop blinding ourselves to the injustices of freedom taking place EVERY moment of every day. Black Lives Matter. Period. Let’s stop pretending that they don’t. #sayhisname #georgefloyd #blacklivesmatter #freedomforall #stopthehate #sonoma #sonomavalley #experiencesonomavalley #fightracism #peacefulprotest #weareone #loveisall #loveistheanswer #blessed #grateful #RobertCoury.com

We took a delightful afternoon stroll through the hardwoods of Burton Creek State Park, just outside Tahoe City. There, we picked our way through the evergreen sentinels, taking in the many shapes and textures of nature while reveling in the warm pine scent being baked off the earth by the afternoon sun. We encountered electric green wolf lichen growing on trees, snow plants poking their brilliant scarlet heads from out the ground, the lazy, nodding flowers of wooly mule’s ears, and some amazingly geometric pine cones! Mother Nature was really pulling out all the stops that day, that’s for sure... #lovenature #burtoncreekstatepark #laketahoe #letsgohiking #neverstopexploring #naturesbeauty #naturaltreasures #foundinnature #wildflowers #snowplant #wolflichen #woolymuleears #pinecone #geometricnature #pinehardwoods #colorsofnature #lovetahoe #downthetrail #exploringnature #californiastateparks #lovemothernature #texturesinnature #sierramountains #sierrawildflowers #blessed #grateful #RobertCoury.com

What an amazing weekend it was! Our friend’s cousin has a condo in Tahoe that wasn’t being used, so we got a very impromptu invite to stay for a few days, and I’m SO glad we did. It has been just absolutely gorgeous on the lake! And it didn’t hurt that this was our view when we woke up each morning! #thankyoufriends #visittahoe #laketahoe #weekendgetaway #memorialdayweekend #thisview #lakeviews #laketahoeviews #laketahoecalifornia #blueskies #gorgeousday #ihearttahoe #tahoecity #californialove #mountainview #snowcappedmountains #mountaingetaway #lovetraveling #neverstopexploring #naturesbeauty #blessed #grateful #RobertCoury.com

We were social distance visiting at a friend’s vineyard in Napa yesterday and I came across this heart shaped leaf. Loving the color and contrast, I took a photo and thought about captioning it with something like: “There’s love all around us” or “Love will reveal itself” or “The majesty of love will find you”..... Then the Inner Critic kicked in with “Whatever. It’s just a decaying, discarded leaf that happens to be in the shape of a heart. Why are you wasting my time? It proves nothing.” At which point another voice spoke up and pointed out, “Ah, but if it caused you to pause and consider all the Love actually surrounding you, then the leaf has done it’s job.” So I turned to my Inner Critic and said “HEY! How about you just sit right down, shut up, and start taking notes. Because THAT guy knows what he’s talking about.” #innerdialogue #voicesinmyhead #talkingtomyself #loveisallaround #loveiseverywhere #youarelove #youareloved #allweneedislove #heartsinnature #weareallone #onelove #lovenature #blessingsfromnature #heartleaf #lookingforlove #inalltherightplaces #followyourheart #itsthelittlethings #neverstopexploring #naturesbeauty #blessed #grateful #RobertCoury.com

“Only the childlike consciousness is capable of understanding all that is beautiful in life, all that is great in existence. And the whole existence is full of greatness, full of glories. This is the only existence there is; its beauty, its truth, is the only beauty and the only truth. But they are available only to the innocent people. Blessed are the innocent, for theirs is the kingdom of God.” -Rajneesh Amusing photo my husband took of me the other night looking on in wonder as the clouds above shifted color... May I never loose that fascination in the majesty and beauty surrounding me. Amen. (📸 by my Love) #lovenature #alwaysinawe #amazingnature #goldenhour #magicofnature #childlikewonder #sunsetselfie #selfie #self #sonomasunset #optoutside #beinnature #wondersofnature #pastelpalette #lovewhereyoulive #sonoma #sonomavalley #winecountry #countrylife #countryliving #lookup #alwayslookingup #blessed #grateful #RobertCoury.com

Sad Update: Unfortunately the Peregrine Falcon was not able to make it 😔 But, I wanted to take this moment to mention how much I feel so blessed to have made the connections I have made with y’all on here. Not just with all the encouragement and well wishes like I saw on my last post (Thank You All 🙏) but with the constant barrage of inspiration I receive when opening the Instagram app. Recently, I was so inspired that I attempted to paint a piece of @deerandbeard done in somewhat of a similar style to his art. I love practicing new artistic techniques and it was fun to use my own homemade paints (with the addition of some metallic gold) in the creation of this artwork. Thank you ALL for your never ending beauty, grace, and inspiration because it not only enhances my creative process but most importantly, it enriches my spirit. 🥰 #blessyou #thankyou #iheartinstagram #loveyou #instafriends #thisonesforyou #myart #paintthisinyourstyle #inspiredart #inspiredcreation #makearteveryday #neverstopcreating #supportotherartists #mineralpigments #makepaint #homemadepaint #redochre #watercolorillustration #artistsofinstagram #maninnature #redroses #roseart #ilovecreating #watercolorart #paintyourfriends #blessed #grateful #RobertCoury.com

I mean... maybe I AM a gay Disney Princess? 🤷‍♂️😅 (Don’t swipe photos if you’re squeamish) So, we had friends over last night for a social distancing bonfire (BYOEverything) and somehow @ryan_lely managed to spot a severely injured peregrine falcon hunkered down on the wood pile. It’s wing was broken pretty badly... like bad, bad... and of course I was instantly distressed. Not wanting to just do nothing, I got ahold of a vet friend in town. He instructed me on catching it and keeping it warm and safe overnight and today I’ll take it to see what (if anything) can be done to help save its life. How crazy though! Right?! A freaking peregrine falcon! SOOO beautiful! I’ve always loved them, even as a kid, and to be holding the FASTEST animal on the planet in my hands was pretty mind blowing. I’m not going to get my hopes up too much (because that leads to heartbreak) but I am keeping my fingers crossed this one pulls through.🤞 Also, forgive the silly selfie but I didn’t wanna force a bloody bird on your eyeballs 😆😅 #gaydisneyprincess #disneyprincesswannabe #selfie #self #selfportrait #gaysinhats #beardoweirdo #beardedgay #gayman #natureboy #beinnature #peregrinefalcon #falcon #injuredbird #wildbirdrehab #raptor #birdofprey #fastestbird #fastestanimal #injuredanimal #lovenature #helpthewild #savethebirds #wildnature #earthstewards #amazingnature #fingerscrossed #blessed #grateful #RobertCoury.com

Apparently, the woman who designed the house my husband bought so many years ago was quite the.... character. There are some of the most random nooks and crannies peppered about the place but the one thing she did that I applaud immensely are all the windows installed throughout. The natural light in our house is one of my favorite things about the place and I have spent whole days chasing it from window to window to skylight. If you’ve followed me on here long enough you’re probably familiar with the round window at the top of the house that looks out into the Sonoma vineyards here. But I don’t think I’ve ever shared the arched eyebrow-like windows we have with just about the same view! May I introduce the Three Sisters 😁 And with the clouds the way they’ve been lately, I find myself looking out into the world through them much more often.... #threesistersview #archedwindows #windowtotheworld #myview #vineyardviews #viewfromthetop #lovewhereyoulive #winecountry #sonoma #sonomavalley #napa #napavalley #thisview #allthewindows #naturallight #ilovenaturallight #cleanandclear #springview #windowlove #tryptic #threeinarow #lovemyview #blessed #grateful #RobertCoury.com

I recently had an Instagram friend equate me to a gay Disney princess on account of all the wild animals I come into close contact with on a somewhat regular basis 😆 I think I literally laughed out loud when I read that! While I wish I could say “Yes, yes I am a Disney princess and it’s due to the delightful sound of my voice that ALL the creatures are attracted to me”, the truth is, I just live in a very rural location. 😅 Now, there are a few things I do that help increase these chance meetings though… For example, I’m ALWAYS looking. Any time I step out the door I try to make it a point to look around at everything… light, color, pattern, etc. Start to think like an animal and keep an eye out for signs of where they might have traveled or congregated (game trails, scat, food remains, etc). BE QUIET! Animals are most freaked out by the human voice. That’s why they say “bear bells” don’t work, they sound too much like birdsong. The human voice scares off most anything. Lastly, if I see any animals around me I’m instantly still and not moving. If I’m not moving, I don’t pose a threat, and I get to leave it up to the animal as to how close they come to me. Like this jackrabbit. I saw it hopping up the driveway before it saw me, so I froze and watched as it explored the area all around me before disappearing up the drive. Start integrating these concepts into your forays in nature and soon enough you too can become a gay Disney princess! 🤣 Oh, and for goodness sake, ALWAYS carry a camera! #stoplooklisten #animalcontact #Disneyprincess #animalwatching #letthemcometoyou #alwayscarryacamera #chanceencounter #atpeaceinnature #lovenature #natureencounters #hare #jackrabbit #blacktailedjackrabbit #animalmedicne #animalencounters #backyardnature #neverstopexploring #naturesbeauty #bestill #watchingnature #lovewhereyoulive #nationalgeographicmoment #experiencenature #optoutside #bunnylove #blessed #grateful #RobertCoury.com

Happy Mother’s Day to ALL the mothers out there, but of course to the most important mother (to me)... the one who gave me life! @kcoury524 😘 Sending love and blessings to all of you! #loveyoumom! #happymothersday #mothersday2020 #loveyourmother #blessthemothers #mothersareamazing #lovetomothers #Goddesses #divinefeminine #mothersdayflowers #californiapoppy #poppyflowers #watercolorpainting #myart #watercolorflowers #flowerstudy #naturestudy #earthart #flowerpainting #poppypainting #makeart #neverstopcreating #lovenature #blessed #grateful #RobertCoury.com

I’ve become such a sucker for spring sunsets here in Sonoma. In the summer the skies can be devoid of clouds for months, in the winter it may be weeks before the sun peaks its head out, and for the past few years the only clouds we’ve seen in fall have been smoke clouds. So I find myself at this time of year, as the rains let up and the grasses begin their transition from green to gold, really holding on to every evening that the heavens showcase a cloud filled expanse painted with the light of a rainbow sunset..... #ilovespring #springsunsets #beltane2020 #lovewhereyoulive #sunsetinsonoma #shiftingseasons #goldenhourlight #countryviews #countryliving #countrylife #watchingtheseasonschange #lovenature #rainbowofcolor #beinnature #neverstopexploring #naturesbeauty #oaktree #pastoralviews #sonoma #sonomavalley #napa #napavalley #winecountry #blessed #grateful #RobertCoury.com

Blessed Beltane to all who celebrate! We got to enjoy the holiday yesterday evening with friends who came to walk around our little valley! 🥰 It was a lovely first foray into social distancing in real life after a month and a half of not really being in the presence of friends. We got to laugh, spend time with the wildflowers in bloom, and really enjoy a perfect evening. I hope you too are getting the opportunity to enjoy some special spring moments this season! #beltane #blessedbeltane #springevenings #socialdistancingwithfriends #lovewhereyoulive #countryviews #countrylife #countryliving #ourvalley #sonoma #sonomavalley #napa #napavalley #winecountry #vineyardviews #funwithfriends #countrysunset #pastoralviews #eveningwalk #thisview #springinsonoma #blessed #grateful #RobertCoury.com

(Sound On!) Have you ever gotten instantly excited and instantly terrified at the same time? Because I totally had that experience yesterday. Bit of a back story: So I’ve been joking with my husband that we should get a cat or dog (and by “joking with” I mean harassing). He wants outdoor animals and I want indoor animals, so needless to say, we don’t have pets. This past weekend I jokingly asked him “Would you want an indoor cat or an outdoor dog?” (He’s the cat person, I’m the dog person) and he said “Outdoor dog”. “Great!” I said, “Maybe I’ll find a coyote pup to adopt around here!” Fast forward to our evening walk around the valley yesterday. As we got closer to our property we saw a coyote in the field that I’d notice hanging around lately. Then it dawned on me... A bunch of times this past week I’ve seen people walking their dogs and each dog has stopped at our driveway culvert. I walked over, crouched down at the pipe’s entrance... and heard a whimper! This is where I got instantly excited and instantly terrified. Excited because, I mean, coyote puppies!! But terrified because of how close they are to the road were more people are coming and walking their dogs since the parks have closed. Roping it off would bring attention to it and I’ll be damned if anyone tries to eradicate them. I plan on keeping a good eye on the area and after seeing how big the pups were in the video I got, hoping that mamma coyote will be moving them out of there shortly.... But, c’mon y’all... BABY COYOTES!! 🥰 I’m squealing! Also, be careful what you wish for kids, because you’ll most likely manifest it!

I’ve always wanted to be one of those people that writes in a journal every day or keeps an extensive field sketchbook. Yet, sadly I find I get distracted by other projects and these books/journals always seem to fall to the wayside. Recently, though, @helencorrell inspired me with her own sketchbooks and helped me think about art journaling in a different way. In the past, for me, I always felt the need to fill and finish each page as if it were a final art piece. I would get frustrated if it wasn’t turning out how I envisioned and give up most of the time... Helen’s suggestion, which she did in her own field sketchbooks was “just do one plant at a time, once a week or so, and in the end you’ll have a portrait of the month”. So taking this idea, I’m going to attempt to do a sketchbook page a week with notes and doodles that slowly fill the page, one day at a time. That way, come next Monday, I’ll have a full portrait of my week on a page! This is my first page started last week on 4/20 and ending Sunday 4/26. Thanks Helen for being such an inspiration!!!! 🎨🥰🎨 #artistinspired #sketchbookpage #dailysketchbook #neverstopcreating #makeart #makearteveryday #sketching #dailypractice #journaling #artjournal #notesinnature #documentyourlife #loveart #inspired #inspireothers #weeklysnapshot #myweekinart #stayhome #quarantineproject #painteveryday #homemadepaint #mineralpigments #earthart #mineralpaint #blessed #grateful #RobertCoury.com

I find myself waking with the sun lately... With my body naturally getting me up at a quarter to seven, just in time to see the sun crest the hillside and cascade through the bathroom window. Sometimes I slip outside, while my husband still sleeps, and greet the morning sun with a meditation. Today I opened “Tomorrow’s God” by Neale Donald Walsch and this passage stood out to me: “Humanity’s future depends on what humanity thinks about itself. It depends on what humanity thinks about God, and about Life. From your thought springs your reality. From your ideas your future emerges. Thus, your beliefs create your behaviors, and your behaviors create your experience. What you believe, therefore, becomes a most important thing.” #letsgrowtogether #tomorrowsgod #nealedonaldwalsch #conversationswithgod #mediation #morninglight #sacredspace #weareone #spirituallonging #loveeachother #lovenatute #blesseachother #bekind #lovelife #quietmoments #sunrise #lovewhereyoulive #blessed #grateful #RobertCoury.com

It seems I missed posting for Earth Day because I was too busy out in nature playing with the Earth! 😅 This recent new moon in Taurus has got me experimenting with projects, making mistakes, learning new things, and excitedly starting over again. It’s also caused me to go back through my photos and realize I still have so many images from the Galapagos that I have yet to share! So for my belated Earth Day post (which is every day for me, if you couldn’t tell) I put together some found and photographed treasures from the trip we took this time last year. I’m an avid collector of all things nature, so it was killing me that I couldn’t take shells, rocks, etc home with me, but it is a highly protected area and felt good to leave them in their natural habitat. Plus they are far more special this way, showcased in a photograph, instead of in a box somewhere in my studio.... #giftsfromnature #takeonlypictures #lensball #lensballphotography #earthday #earthday2020 #galapagos #galapagosislands #found #foundtreasure #seatreasure #fromthesea #seashells #whatimholding #inmyhand #naturestreasure #seahorse #knolling #arrangement #curios #naturesbounty #neverstopexploring #naturesbeauty #amazingnature #beinnature #wildernesscollective #blessed #grateful #RobertCoury.com