I'm In!!

I know I've shown this before but, it was just accepted in the Dupage County Forest Preserve's Centennial celebration art exhibit and I am so pleased!  I haven't been in much of a mandala making mood recently.   At least not larger ones like this.  I have done a few small ones. But this is one of my all-time favorites and, as I've looked at it quite a few times today, I'm starting to feel the urge to get back to work on some larger ones.  All of my mandalas are generally made with thoughts of life and growth and nature.  This one is absolutely filled with nature symbolism.  From the center, where there is water, without which life can't exist, we move to the dark blue band with stars suggesting the night sky and the universe.  Then the small plants that sprout on the forest floor and on to the petals of flowers and symbolic rays of sunshine.  The white swirls suggest the winds and clouds and, finally, the wild flowers and unfurling leaves that I love so much!  They always make me think of the way that life unfurls and we continue to grow (hopefully!). So, now you know!  It's not just a pretty mandala!  At least, not to me!

Two Blue Bears

As some of you may already know, I was given Flora Bowley's 5 week painting e-course, "Bloom True" as a thank you gift from Flora herself and I am sooooooo grateful for this opportunity! The 5 weeks are done and I have several large canvases that are "in progress". This was the first one I started on. Flora teaches "Brave, Intuitive Painting" and this is a real change from the very precise mandalas I have spent so much time on in recent years. I was really looking forward to the chance to loosen up and play and just see what happened! This blue bear wandered into my painting, painted almost entirely with my fingers! I didn't plan for him but once he was there I fell in love with him and decided he needed to stay. A few days after painting him I suddenly realized where my inspiration may have unconsciously come from! I HAVE a blue bear that sits on my bed everyday (along with other furry friends!). He thinks I painted his portrait and he is gloating! Sshhhh! Don't tell the others!! I think he may have popped up to remind me of an inspiration I have had for awhile to write and illustrate a children's book. It's percolating in my brain for now. In the meantime, I am looking forward to much more Brave, Intuitive Painting! Flora's class is WONDERFUL! So packed with content and inspiration and tips for letting go of fears and expectations. I highly recommend it to anyone....experienced painter or beginner!

Art With Heart

This is my most recent mandala-making effort. I made it specifically to donate to an auction to benefit the camp scholarship fund at The Center in Palos Park, IL. This is the third year that I have made something for their annual fundraiser and it's really a privilege to have the chance to help out by doing what I love! All of the money raised on this one evening will be used for scholarships for kids who wouldn't be able to go to camp otherwise. The Center is a most wonderful and unique place offering many programs in a wide variety of areas....everything from art classes to spirituality classes to a children's farm and nature based pre-school! And it seems very fitting that the woman who purchased this artwork is a member of the Sanders family----the family of the man who began to realize his dream of building a place like this over 75 years ago. She is going to give it to her grand-daughter whom I have been told is a really great person, goes to graduate school out in Wyoming and is studying Environmental Science. This all a bit synchronistic for me as I happen to LOVE Wyoming and I was once a college student studying Environmental Science! It all makes me feel as though this mandala is going to end up exactly where it is meant to be!

Getting Back in the Groove

I realized recently that I haven't made a mandala in quite awhile. Way toooo long! I want to do a somewhat larger one to donate to the annual fundraising auction at The Center so I thought I had better get "warmed up" a bit before I start on that one! I had no plan for this one. I just wanted to get used to the feel of the colored pencils and the gel pens and try and remember what color looks good as shading on another color. One of these days perhaps I should take some notes! Or not. It's kind of fun to have to experiment. I love blue, have a blue bedroom and I think that's where this one needs to end up. It's not very large....maybe 8" across. But it sure felt good to be creating this!

Thankful to "Be"!

There's a lot of sickness going around. My husband got sick a week ago....just a terrible sinus-y cold. I tried reeeeeeally hard not to catch it but....Monday night it came on full blast, no warning. Lots of plans had to be changed. Lots of things had to be "let go". And you know what? It wasn't the end of the world! It may have even been a "good thing" as a certain Martha likes to say. My Artist's Way group is reading a book on slowing down....making some room for your imagination to flourish and to enjoy the sights and sounds and smells all around you. This turned out to be a week (or at least a few days) of most definitely slowing down. I have spent a lot of time sitting or laying on the couch and looking out the window. The weather has been wonderful.....bright sunshine-y days. And the leaves on the trees right now are outstandingly beautiful! I don't know when we have had a fall that could compete with this one for color! So I sat. And I looked. And I noticed. And I observed. And I saw. And I daydreamed. Life will go on next week when everything is back to normal. But I am thankful for the time that I had this week to just "be". I didn't realize how much I needed this!!

Las Vegas Art Retreat

I'm not really on an art retreat. But I did have a lot of very quiet, uninterrupted time to myself while in Vegas taking care of a few necessites. I'm so glad I brought some art supplies with! I decided that I wanted to make a mandala for Ethan and so I went with colors that would fit in well in several areas of his place. I worked on it over the course of two days and am really pleased with the way it turned out. I'd been feeling a little bit "stuck" or bored with mandals recently. The last couple just felt like nothing "new" was happening. I started to think maybe I'd run the course with these. But then I started on this one. And while in many ways it's similar to many of my others, there were new ideas and inspiration popped up in the making. Nothing major but small details that felt like new and inspired ideas. I didn't bring any of the tempermental white gel pens with me so the outlines and details are all gold metallic. I love the way the photo that I took on an angle kind of shows the gleam of the gold. Need to remember this when taking photos in the future! So, just thought I would share as I want to make more of an effort to document what I make. Thanks for looking!

Its Been a LOOOOOOOONG Time!!!

Sorry for my extended absence! It was not intentional! I took a break and then....when I wanted to get back to blogging, I found I couldn't upload photos. And for me, without photos....what's the point??? I am all about the visuals! I think I have found a way around the problem! Mind you I said, "Think"! So anyway, I have been making mandalas. They seem to continue to evolve and grow and I find I am uncomfortable and embarrassed when I see the ones that I gave to people back near the beginning of my journey into mandala making! I need to get over that and just appreciate the fact that I am learning and growing and it's all part of the process! The above photo is the third mandala I have made that is intended for a 20" x 20" frame....the largest I have used so far. The first one was a wedding gift and the second one was donated for an auction to benefit a non-profit organization...The Center in Palos Park, IL. As the printer I use cannot copy things this large, they are gone forever....no prints available. Just photos to remember them by. The one I have just finished I THINK is going to be mine....forever! But I am going to look into getting giclee prints made. Much more expensive that way but, I have had so much positive feedback and encouragement, I'm slowly being convinced that it might be worth it! I also need to set up a web-site where people can see all the work in one place with prices and any other info that might be helpful. Always so much to do! And all I want to do it make art! Haha! Thank you for stopping by after my long absence! Hopefully this will work and you'll be hearing more from me!