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| A small mandala with acrylics |
I did this small 4 x 4 mandala in a couple of sittings. I realized that I overworked it somewhat as I liked it better one sitting previous. But it was fun to do, and I easily let go of the feeling that I ruined it by overworking. Maybe because I am creating so much I am less attached to each individual piece?
I really feel that work is flowing out of me. It feels like it is about the process, about the time doing it. Even though some mornings I don't feel like meditating, I always feel like creating artwork and the ideas come easily.
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| Mandala on Block Island Driftwood |
This larger mandala was inspired by the round mandala I did on the watercolor circle. I wanted to play with painting on driftwood and working with the acrylics so that they looked somewhat transparent but didn't run. I did have trouble with this when the paint was too thin and watery because the wood is so beat up and almost pulp-like on the surface. Anyway, very happy with this one. The wood is pretty too.
I know my friend Karen would really like this. She and I have been to the driftwood superstore on Block Island many times to collect big punches of driftwood that we have hauled out of there. Too funny. Good times.
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| South Dakota Highway |
This piece was a challenge that I have been wanting to face and finally did, and it made me happy. I watched a video on youtube about cloud painting and referred to two photos that I took on highway 90 in South Dakota to create this picture. I will definitely do more paintings of clouds, and will need to practice painting clouds. I really enjoyed painting the clouds and the painting felt quite successful.
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| Watercolor Birch Trees |
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This is a project that I give my 6th graders (ha!) but I decided to do it without using tape to mask the trees. I used some very nice watercolor paper that I had and it was easy to paint and blend colors. Sometimes the paper we give kids is crappy quality and therefore hard to work on. I don't think that is a good way to learn. They should have good materials. This was so much nicer. Anyway, it was pleasant to do and some of the thoughts in taking this further would be to add more trees behind that are in shadow and/or combine trees with many branches with the birch grove....
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| Acrylic & Collage with Caption |
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THIS piece I did this morning. I really like it. I painted the fox and then using the Heirloom Seed Catalog from Santa Rosa, collaged on top. I decided to make a blackboard type of word bubble and spent some time looking for quotes and even though this is a little less "fun" than I would want for pieces that are commercial, it was the phrase that spoke to me for this piece. This one is small, but I will do some larger ones for the Junior League Show. It came out cute as a button, and makes me happy.
My meditation is really starting to "stick" in the sense that I am able to focus on the breath and let go of my ruminations (especially negative) when they occur. My mood has overall been pretty good although I have had a couple of difficult days this week, I think I am past it.
I used the "Get More Headspace" guided meditations until 3 days ago. Andy gave me my money back, and I switched to a Sharon Salzberg guided meditation which I liked much better. It's just more my style. Simple, calm, soft. This morning I used no recording and just sat for 15 minutes. I think it's all working itself out.
