Gold is so much more than a precious metal, something to be hoarded, stored away, and counted. This type of gold is one limited to a very few. It is because gold is so rare, we are told, that it is valuable.

But there is more to value than rarity, and indeed, those items and elements of true, intrinsic worth are frequently those we overlook because they are so "common" -- fresh air comes to mind, sunshine, blue skies, autumn leaves, and silence. These are gifts of the earth that are meant for all because they are so meaningful, and their value is increased, as opposed to diminished, when all have access to them.

The Value of True, Real Gold

True gold is a color glowing from the landscape as the sunlight dances through the leaves, brushes across the grass, and emanates from the sky above. Gold in this sense is available to all people around the world because it is a gift from God through nature. As recipients of this gift, we honor the giver by ensuring the skies stay clear, the air stays fresh, and the sunlight is not impeded in its journey from space to the land in which we live.

Like many gifts, the gold of nature frequently goes unopened because we are too busy to stop, look, wonder, reflect, and observe. But when we do take this time, we are rewarded by a glimpse of what light does to a landscape. In Gold Leaf, the original oil painting, a rural country landscape pulsates with golden glow, a glow that turns a meadow of grass and trees into a fantasy world, one magical in its appearance and allure.

Gold Leaf as Wall Art and Home Decor

Fine art belongs in all of our lives because it, like real gold, has an intrinsic value that celebrates beauty. In addition to the original oil painting, Gold Leaf is available as a print in many formats (framed, canvas, metal art, acrylic, wood, poster) at Steve Henderson Collections. Gold Leaf is also available as an image on products you use everyday -- coffee mugs, phone cases, tote bags, and even shower curtains and hoodies. Fine art takes the extraordinary in our lives and turns it into the extraordinary.

Click on the images below to learn more about the product and how you can add it to your life. All purchases from Steve Henderson Collections include a 30-day, money-back guarantee through Fine Art America. Products are shipped worldwide.

Children are cute -- no mistake about that.

The mistake we do make when it comes to children, however, is assuming that cute is all they are (when they're not being noisy, messy, or . . . childish. It's just as easy to romanticize children as it is to denigrate them).

"Cute" has a tendency to demean the importance of an idea, item, or person, encapsulating their entirety in one word. Kittens are cute, we universally agree; sometimes grown cats are -- but to limit their meaning and personality to sheer cuteness is to overlook the depth of what they are. (Tiger cubs, for example, are cute -- from a distance. Those who see them as nothing more will be in for a surprise if they get too close.)

Why Are We to Become Like Children?

As with tiger cubs, children embody a deeper sense of meaning and personality than we are prone to give them -- it is not for nothing that Christ advised His disciples to strive to be like children. Why would He say this?

The answer lies in being with children, watching them, listening what they say to us directly and to themselves as they're playing. Children, especially very young ones who have not been exposed to the schoolyard and to too much movie, TV, and social media, are uncomplicated, naturally living the simple life that we adults have to purchase magazines to figure out what it means.

Life to a child is a moment by moment thing. And while adults can easily grumble that, of course children don't have to worry because everything is taken care of for them, we might also reflect upon the great trust children put upon the adults in their lives, to take care of those things. Those of us who ascribe to a belief in God aver that He, ultimately, is the best and greatest parent, but all too often, we as His children do not exhibit the trust in Him that the average two-year-old places in his or her parents.

There is wisdom to be found here.

Original Painting, Wall Art, Home Decor, and Apparel

The Teal Umbrella is available as an original oil painting on the Steve Henderson Fine Art website, as well as a print in various formats (framed, canvas, acrylic, wood, metal, paper) at Steve Henderson Collections. The Teal Umbrella is also available, at Steve Henderson Collections, as an image on products you use everyday, such as the coffee mug, phone case, carryall makeup bag, t-shirt, and home decor throw pillow shown below.

(All of the images are clickable, and will take you to the page at Steve Henderson Collections where you can learn more about the product. Products from Steve Henderson Collections are shipped worldwide, and all come with a 30-day, money-back guarantee through Fine Art America.)

This article is linked to Family Fun Friday.

The Grand Canyon is aptly named. What could be more descriptive of this mighty array of cliff formations set over such a vast space?

Many people, upon first viewing the Grand Canyon, whether from its North Rim or its South Rim at the National Park or the West Rim on the Hualapai Reservation, say nothing but simply stare. There is so much to visually and metaphysically take in. Silence is the most natural reaction.

Stillness, Steve Henderson's original oil painting, captures this sense of awe and wonder, in tandem with a reverence and honor toward nature's majesty. This latter sensation is one that we all too easily lose in the process of checking out the gift shop, or figuring out where we'll be eating lunch, or reviewing our travel schedule on the phone to see where next we are supposed to be.

It is a time and place to simply be still.

Supporting the Parks and Places of Natural Beauty

While the natural tendency of many human beings, when encountering a place of majestic beauty, is to stand quietly and view it, other people quite unfortunately think differently. Investment and financial acumen factor so strongly in their way of thinking that when they see pristine beauty their first thought is, "How can we develop this to make a profit off of it?"

Within the United States, the regional, state, and national park system is supposed to counteract the irreversible damage done by unfettered development for the profit of a few. Sadly, politics is more speech than action, but there are places -- like the Grand Canyon in the Southwest -- where pristine beauty has been preserved in some form for people to experience and enjoy.

Paint the Parks is a non-profit organization that encourages artists to paint these protected places of beauty, and encourages art lovers to purchase these works. In support of treasured natural beauty, Steve participates with Paint the Parks, donating 10 percent of the sale price of original paintings on his Supporting National, State, and Regional Parks page to the non-profit association or foundation connected to the park in which the image is captured.

Stillness is one of these paintings, with 10 percent of the sale price of the original painting designated toward the Grand Canyon National Park or the Hualapai Nation (the painting purchaser chooses which of the two) when it is purchased at this link.

No matter what time of year it is, Christmas is coming, and it's always good to have gift ideas in the back of one's mind, or wrapped and in the closet. At Steve Henderson Fine Art, we want to be part of your holidays, all year round, with original artwork, signed limited edition prints, open edition prints, books, artist teaching resources, and posters -- we do our best to span the price ranges so that art can be a part of your life.

Let's start out this week with the concept of spending money -- wisely -- and for that we recommend Carolyn's book, Live Happily on Less. This is not one of your standard, "Make a Million in Two Weeks" rags, nor will it scold you into living like a prince on $100 a week. Live Happily on Less is a friendly, engaging guide on how to customize your resources to your life.

We all work different jobs, make different amounts of money, and choose to spend that money in different ways, so a resource that demands we conform to living a certain way is not a resource that works for us -- and yet, that's what so many of those "Make a Million" books do. The limited information they actually offer -- beyond, "Reach out and GRAB Life!" and other feel-good platitudes that really offer nothing of actual pertinence -- frequently asks us to be someone we are not, to make decisions that do not seem right to us.

Live Happily on Less is a series of short, easy to read essays that explore life in our modern economy, and how we can fit our own lives into it. Steve and Carolyn raised a family of six on one modest income; they own their house, mortgage free, as well as their land; they paid cash for their car; and they have no creditors. You, too, can take the resources you have been given and use them to the best of your ability, in a way that fits the way you think and live.

So before we even start the Christmas shopping season, let's tackle the money issue, and with Live Happily on Less, maybe it won't be such a big issue after all. Available as a paperback, digital e-book, and for borrowing through Amazon Prime.

Recently I received an e-mail from a person wanting to purchase a product from Steve Henderson Fine Art --

"I don't want to give you my credit card number," the client wrote, "because I've never ordered from you before and I don't know you personally."

Fair enough. There are a lot of businesses out there, and one must be wise to ensure that you're working with a real one. To that end, let me answer some questions you may have (I would):

1) First and foremost, we use PayPal as our payment method, and this means that we do NOT see your credit card number, or any sensitive and personal financial information. That's the beauty of PayPal -- as a third party operator, it stores this information and processes the transaction, maintaining your privacy. As a merchant, all we see is your name and mailing address (so that we can mail you the product), and your e-mail address, so that we can contact you.

2) While you are more than welcome to send us a check, and we do accept this method, it's really quicker, faster, and safer to use PayPal.

3) Who are we, anyway? Steve is an independent artist who sells directly through his website, which means that our prices are lower than if you purchased the work through a gallery, because we do not have to tack on the gallery commission charge. For more on this, please read Our Prices on this site. Steve shows and sells his work internationally, as original paintings, licensed open edition prints at retail and online stores, books, and artist DVDs. A former commercial illustrator, Steve has exhibited in numerous prestigious shows, and he has served as a judge and juror in various art exhibitions. You can learn more about Steve in the About the Artist section of the website.

4) Why can you trust us? Integrity, honesty, openness -- we run our business by these words. We have been paying members of Fine Art Studio Online (which provides our website) since 2008, and I, Carolyn, am a columnist for FASO's Fine Art Views. I am also a former writer for  BeliefNet with a blog called Commonsense Christianity.  My blog, This Woman Writes, has been a part of Forum Communication System's areavoices.com since 2011. Steve has been a juror for the Washington State Fair, the Wallowa Valley Festival of the Arts, Valley Art of Clarkston, the Salmon River National Show, and others.

Steve is licensed through Art Licensing, Vermont, one of the leading commercial licensing companies in the world, and published by Galaxy of Graphics.. He works with Wenaha Gallery of Dayton, WA, which sells originals and prints nationwide. He maintains excellent relationships with regional art associations such as The Larson Gallery of Yakima, WA; The Clymer Art Museum of Ellensburg, WA; the Western Art Association of Ellensburg, WA; The Valley Art Guild of Clarkston, WA; The Salmon River Art Guild of Riggins, ID; the Allied Arts Association of Richland, WA; The Wallowa Valley Arts Organization of Joseph, OR; and the Arts Alliance of Sandpoint, ID. We will willingly put you in touch with contact persons at any of these organizations to secure you a testimonial as to the integrity of Steve Henderson Fine Art.

5) We answer each and every website client contact and e-mail we receive, Monday-Friday. If there is a question about your order or a product, we will answer it; if there is an issue, we will solve it; if you want a purchase plan for a larger sale, we will set one up -- interest free. When you contact us, you reach a real person (generally Carolyn) and you are never shuffled off to an overseas calling center and bandied about.

So, this is who we are. Questions? You're always welcome to write [email protected] or use the Contact page on the website.

Wall art comes in all shapes, sizes, formats, and editions -- from an original painting to a print to a poster to a greeting card, and the prices vary accordingly.

In the world of prints, there are many factors, but one of the major differences lies between an open edition and limited edition print, although frankly, with the advent of quality print on demand businesses, limited edition prints are struggling to maintain their place in the marketplace.

A limited edition print is so named because its run -- the number of these prints that are created and sold -- is limited to a specific number, say, 200. Each run is determined by size and any other qualifying factors; for instance, you can have a limited edition run of an image in a 12 x 15 size on paper, another run of 16 x 20 on paper, a third run of 12 x 15 on canvas, and so on. If you purchase the 5th print sold in the 12 x 15 on paper run, then somewhere on the print will be written (generally in pencil, since this is difficult to forge) 5/200, which indicates that your print is the 5th piece out of a total of 200 to be created in this particular run.

The print may or may not be signed by the artist (if the artist is alive, it really should be), and if so, will be of increased value. It also may or may not include a Certificate of Authenticity, a piece of paper or form that lists out the run size, the number of your print in the run, and information on inks and paper, and the date that the print was created.

Technology Defined Limited Edition Prints

Limited edition prints came into being because in the earlier technology of printing, a truly limited number of images could be produced from the printing plate before the quality of the print was no longer high, and the plate was then struck, or destroyed. With these type of prints, the lower the number, the higher the quality of print, because this represented a fewer number of times that the plate had been used. As mentioned earlier in this article, because many prints are now being created digitally, this issue of truly limited editions is no longer in place. There is no limit to how many prints can be successfully printed digitally.

If the limited print is still being created "the old fashioned way," by etching, lithograph, letterpress, or other such methods, then the "limited" term truly does mean something, and there is added value to the work by virtue of its number being limited.

Whether or not the limited edition print is digitally or traditionally produced, one that is signed, on archival quality paper using archival quality inks, and accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity will likely cost more than an open edition print (but significantly less than the original painting), simply because it has been in more direct contact with the artist. Sometimes, people buy limited edition prints with an idea that they are an investment, but as with many items, their worth is subject to many things, not the least of which is limited availability, as well the exigencies of the market. There is no guarantee that a limited edition print will be worth as much, or more, as what was paid for it, simply because it is a limited edition print, in the same way that there is no guarantee that an original painting will be worth as much, or more, as what was paid for it.

As with any artwork, if you are going to buy a limited edition print, make sure that it's because you like the artwork, first. To learn more about buying artwork, check out our article, 5 Super Easy Tips for Choosing the Right Artwork for Your Home.

Open Edition Prints Are Affordable

If you opt to purchase an open edition print, you are in good company, and the options for what you can buy are increasing. Open edition prints are a terrific way for people of all budgets to add art to their walls and lives, and it is a major reason why Steve licenses his work to be created as wall art home decor, and why we offer it on our website in our Prints, Gifts, and Cards page and at Steve Henderson Collections. Art belongs in all of our lives, regardless of  income, and open edition prints make fine art a reality for more people. Open edition prints are often  printed on paper or canvas, and the quality of the substrate depends upon the manufacturer creating the print. This is one of those Buyer Beware things, as not all businesses will produce the same quality of product. Look for a reputable company (like Fine Art America, which produces Steve's prints and products), and don't hesitate to contact customer service with questions or concerns.

You can look through, and shop for, Steve's prints, gifts, and cards available through Fine Art America below:

Buying art directly from the artist isn't such an unusual thing. In these days of galleries and exhibitions and professional art organizations and non-profit art cooperatives, we've been trained into thinking that we can't deal with, talk to, or see the artist directly, but really, this is one of the best ways to purchase art.

Why? First and foremost, when an artist doesn't need to compensate for a gallery commission, he doesn't need to raise his prices to adjust for it. That's definitely a winning factor for the purchaser.

Just as importantly, the purchaser learns more about the painting and the painter, adding even more interest to the artwork.

Now when you live in the same town, or near to, the artist in question, you can frequently call to make a studio visit, and thereby view the artwork in person. When you live across the country, or even on another continent, this is more difficult, but as we purchase more and more items over the Internet, buying art online opens up wider vistas of possibilities for our walls.

At Steve Henderson Fine Art, we encourage people to look through the website and enjoy the images of Steve's various works. On each page, an artwork will be identified by its medium (oil, watercolor), size of the painting itself -- unframed -- in inches, whether or not it is framed, price, and availability. When a client finds a piece in which he or she is interested, we encourage them to read about Our Prices, which gives an overview of why Steve's works are priced the way they are.

Anyone who has looked for original fine art quickly learns that artwork has no hard or fast rule for how it is priced, and some really dreadful work out there is priced very, very high. Our Prices seeks to demystify some of this process, and further you along in your art purchasing education. Fine art, skillfully executed, is the result of an artist's passion and expertise, and producing a beautiful painting takes time and ability.

Once a potential client finds an artwork in which he or she is interested, the next step is to contact the artist. We have a Contact form on our site -- it's easy to fill out, and if a form isn't your thing, we provide a direct e-mail to Carolyn, the manager of Steve Henderson Fine Art ([email protected]). We also chat with clients over the phone or via Skype, and this communication process is designed to answer clients' questions and provide more information about the artwork and how it will fit into the space that the client has designed for it.

Do not be shy about this communication process -- purchasing art is, indeed, a process, and an artist's happiest clients are those who have had all their questions answered and feel confident about the artwork they are purchasing -- they know its colors and subject matter, and how those elements will fit into the environment they have set up for it; they measure out its size on the wall to get an idea of how it will hang there; they are conversant with the artist and know more about the painting they are looking at; they are comfortable with the final price and have worked out with the artist a means of paying for it (we frequently set up no-interest payment plans).

Of course, hitting the PayPal Buy Now button is always an option, and many people who purchase signed, limited edition prints and posters do so with the same confidence that they download an e-book, but always, the option to contact the artist and get those questions answered is a valid one.

Don't be shy.

Thank you for visiting Steve Henderson Fine Art, and if you have found an original painting, signed limited edition print, or poster that you want to make part of your collection, this is a step by step guide to success:

1) Do you have questions about the piece? Please contact us directly at [email protected] and ask. Especially if you are talking about an original, which costs a bit more than a poster, you will want to ensure that you know as much as you can about the work, the artist, and what is involved in getting it to you.

If your purchase is more than $99, we will work with you directly to set up a payment plan, either through PayPal's Buy Now Later Program (generally for purchases of $500 or less); through us directly, or through a combination of the two.

The beauty of PayPal is that you get the item instantly, because your payment situation is processed through your credit card or payment option of choice. When you set up a customized, interest-free payment plan directly through Steve Henderson Fine Art, we accept your regular payments by check or PayPal direct pay via e-mail and hold your painting in the studio until payments are complete.

2) For smaller purchases, or when you are ready to complete the transaction via PayPal and do not need a customized payment plan through our studio, hit the Buy Now Button to take you to PayPal's secure site. You do not need to be a regular user of PayPal to do this -- the site will walk you through your payment options.

3) If, for any reason, you hit the Buy Now Button and you are not taken to a payment option, please contact us at [email protected] and let us know. We do our best to ensure that all the buttons work seamlessly, but we have been known to make mistakes.

4) If you are buying more than one poster, and want us to adjust shipping (because it really doesn't cost much more to ship ten posters than it does 1), please contact us and we will adjust shipping.

5) Shipping on prints and originals is free. Original paintings are sent via UPS 2-day air. Signed limited edition prints are sent UPS ground. Posters are shipped USPS. All items are securely packaged to arrive safe, sound, and in pristine condition. If they're not, let us know and we'll make it right.

6) We do not have a shopping cart option at this time. Clients make individual purchases, and they show up in our records as such. We do, however, ship them together to your central address.

Always remember that you can reach us at [email protected] to answer any question that you may have. Write us, write us, write us. We will not nag you; we will not put you on any mailing list; but we will answer your questions.

Buying Fine Art Directly from the Artist is becoming more prevalent these days, but as with any changes, it takes time for people to figure out how to do it. Five years ago, we never imagined that we would purchase a refrigerator over the Internet, but we found an excellent site with a superior product, and the refrigerator is now in the kitchen, quietly doing its job.

Yes, fine art is different from a household appliance, but in some ways the online purchase process over the Internet is the same: if you're in the market for a refrigerator, you're in the market for a refrigerator, and you have in mind what it is you're looking to buy: a certain style, size, price range, brand, and guarantee.

If you're looking for fine art, you also are considering these factors:

1) A certain style: People who land on and review Steve's website are interested in the type of work he produces -- representational as opposed to abstract, colorful as opposed to somber hued or neutral. They are drawn to certain images again and again because something inside them reacts to those images. Increasingly, people are looking for artwork that generate this visceral feeling, as opposed to the neutral "office ware" that was in vogue in the 20th century. As poople become more confident in expressing who and what they are, they surround themselves with products -- like fine art or refrigerators -- that they like and take pleasure in.

2) Size: Houses and offices come in all shapes and sizes, as do the walls that accommodate the artwork people put there. When you look at a painting on this site, you will find the size, in inches, listed to the left of the image. For example, Grace is 20 x 16 on panel, which is the size of the painting alone, without the frame. Paintings on panel at Steve Henderson Fine Art are always framed, and you can add an estimated 3 inches each side, top and bottom, to make a final size of 26 x 22. Gallery wrapped paintings are ready to hang as is, and they are the size listed. To get an idea of what kind of wall space the painting you're interested in will take up, cut a piece of cardboard or butcher paper to that size and set it on the wall. Remember that the painting will have a depth -- think 2 inches -- that adds to its presence.

3) Price Range: When you buy an appliance, you start at a low, low end, where generally most of us don't stay, and can work up to several thousand dollars. Most of us find a happy place in the middle. In the fine art world, you can get beyond several thousand dollars remarkably quickly, and you don't necessarily get what you pay for. Buy fine art because you like it -- not because you think that you can sell it for 10 times its value 10 years from now, which, quite honestly, most regular people with ordinary looking disposable incomes, generally don't do. We offer our artwork as originals, prints, and posters, so that we can meet various price ranges, and unlike an inexpensive refrigerator, all of our products are of high quality. Our Prices talks about how we price Steve's paintings, and why.

4) Brand: Steve's paintings are Steve's, and his brand is Emotional Realism -- the color that so many people rave about, the emotion generated from that color, his skill with rendering and the ability to capture the human figure, his control of light and shadow, the very subjects he chooses to paint. When you look at one of Steve's paintings, you walk away with a sense of hope, encouragement, inspiration, even joy. That is Steve's brand, as unique as he is.

5) Guarantee: We did not hit the Buy Now Button lightly for our refrigerator, without ensuring that, if it didn't work properly, we would be able to secure immediate customer service and a solution to any problem we encountered. The same goes for fine art -- you want to make sure that the painting arrives on time, in superb condition because it was packaged well, and looking like what you expected to receive. While an image on the screen will never 100 percent replicate the original, and while individual screens do vary, we on our part do everything to ensure that the colors and form of the painting are accurately reproduced, and there are no unpleasant surprises when you unpack your purchase. We work with you before, during, and after the transaction, and we make sure that you're happy with your purchase.

We're always ready to answer your questions, and we encourage you to not hesitate to contact us at [email protected].

I don't know about you, but ten years ago I had difficulty buying anything but a book over the Internet. I mean, what if I bought socks and they didn't fit? (This problem was solved when I started knitting my own socks.) Or shoes? 

And then I started buying things. I started with tea -- I found a reputable tea dealer (Upton Tea, for those of you who are interested), and was ecstatic to find that their product -- in addition to being something I couldn't find locally -- was superb, and their customer service was unparalleled.

From tea we went to all sorts of products, and now, a significant amount of our monthly purchases are made through the Internet.

So what about fine art? Can you successfully purchase it over the Internet?

Given that we sell Steve's paintings over the Internet, I would say, "Yes, definitely, depending from whom you are purchasing." In the same way that I was ecstatic over my tea purveyor's selection, quality, and customer service, we at Steve Henderson Fine Art take seriously these same elements: 

1) We have a wide selection of artwork, in various prices, from which to choose. From originals to limited edition prints to posters, we span the price range and meet any budget.

2) The quality of Steve's work -- both of the actual artwork and the materials upon which it rests -- is superb.

3) We stand behind everything we sell, from a PDF Article Booklet to an original painting.

4) We work as closely with our clients as they wish -- each and every purchase made through the Buy Now Button is inidividually acknowledged, and clients are given detailed information as to when and how their product will be shipped. Many of our clients who purchase originals or limited edition prints communicate with us back and forth via e-mail or phone (and we now have the option to Skype), and we ensure that their questions are answered to their satisfaction -- before, during, and after the sale.

5) For those people who wonder, "Who are you, anyway? How do I know it's safe to buy through the individual artist as opposed to a 'real' gallery?" we willingly provide business and character references. You will not offend us by asking.

As you will see by reading Our Prices, one of the best things about buying directly from the artist -- at least this artist -- is that you do not pay the extra price to cover the gallery's commission, which is frequently 50 percent of the painting's sale price. Buying direct, in this case, really does save money.

Please feel free to contact us anytime at [email protected].