Autumn Flowers

It's raining now.  Autumn flowers bloom and brighten the darker days.  Thank goodness for the dahlias, roses and zinnias.  My weather gram for the Autumn Equinox - morning dew touches flowerbed webs.

Lake Cavanaugh Sketch

Here's the view from Mary's Quilting Cabin at Eagle Point on Lake Cavanaugh. My Seattle and Vancouver BC friends met here for a retreat. We enjoyed the view, ate well and spent time art journaling, stitching, sketching, reading and relaxing.  It's blessing to have wonderful friends.

Plaster, Paint and Wax

Playing with plaster for texture, paint and added wax, I created these pieces on wood. Based on a workshop taught by Dayna Collins and Stephanie Brockway, I really enjoyed the process. The mandala below is 6x6 inches.

 

Here's a much more abstract interpretation.  I really like the texture created with the plaster. This piece is 8x8 inches.

My favorite is this wooden box. It's five inches square.

Abstract Painting

Cleaning my studio out over Labor Day weekend, I came across some abstract practice paintings from an online workshop I took with Jane Davies called "Sketchbook Practice". I painted large sheets of paper with black and white paint.  From these, I used a view finder to select sections that I liked and cut them out. Later, I added color to a few. It's very freeing to make marks with no intended purpose. Seeing these paintings encourages me to do more.

Hughes Water Garden Sketch

Today, we sketched at  Hughes Water Gardens.  I played with a Tombow ABT duel brush pen. I like the watery-look and looseness of the drawing.

Cosmos - What is art?

I'm interested in how geometry influences works of art and our universe. Check out this video by Myron Barnstorm on how he answers the question-  "What is art?"  Is this apple drawing by Ellsworth Kelly in the video an intuitive expression of the artist or is it planned?

Scattered by the Wind Prayer Flag

Dayna Collins started her Scattered by the Wind Prayer Flag project to help fund art programs at Hillcrest Youth Correctional Facility.  She sells each flag for $10.  It's a wonderful idea and she's getting lots of response. Contact her if you want to participate.  I made this flag with my Indian rug fabric strips.  you can see how I got these scraps HERE.