Lughnasa

I started out my morning with my usual daily warm up exercises. Instead of working with traditional mediums today, I did my morning warm ups using Corel Painter IX. 5.

My inspiration for the day came from the word “Lughnasa,” which is one of the four main festivals of the Medieval Irish Calendar, celebrating the beginning of the Harvest season.

It’s that time of the year when blackberry bushes are heavy with ripened fruit, and there are subtle changes in the light, a golden haze that seems to wrap itself around everything.

I love this time of the year even though there is a lingering sadness as summer comes to an end.

Lughnasa – Digital Painting – Oils – 4 x 5 – on heavy hand made paper

quote for the day;

“Whilst August yet wears her golden crown,
Ripening fields lush- bright with promise;
Summer waxes long, then wanes, quietly passing
Her fading green glory on to riotous Autumn.”
–  Michelle L. Thieme, August’s Crown

Creative Play

Creative playtime is often one of the most important activities we can engage in as artists. I believe taking the time to play with new ideas, new mediums and color palettes, keeps us in touch with our creative child. After all, our child just wants to have some fun. Taking risks and experimenting is key to our growth and makes us feel alive, and rejuvenated.

We all know that it’s fun to create and make things, and yet we tend to go straight from the idea to the finished painting, without giving ourselves some precious creative goofing around time in the studio.

You know what I mean, maybe your a water-colorist or oil painter, and those pastels you bought way back when, has never been opened . The time for trying something new is now, for later seems to never come.

Go ahead, give yourself permission to goof around with something you have always wanted to try, but never did.

Just Breathe, let go, and flow!

 

 

Busy Day

It’s been a very busy day and I am exhausted. I spent most of the afternoon finishing up this painting, and it feels good to be finally done.

Later, my husband and I watched a movie, and now I’m going to go to bed and get a good nights rest.

Woman Dreaming -Digital Charcoal/Oil – Combined Media – 12 X 12 inches

She dreams and weaves together the strands of her life, the past, present, and future. The woman sleeps serenely within the circle, the ancient symbol of the goddess, the womb, wholeness, unity, and infinity. While in the dream world; she builds a bridge between the earthly and mystical realms to heal the earth and her children. – Rose Arizmendi

Crows Everywhere

This morning I awoke to a calliope of sound coming from our front yard. As I peered out our bedroom window to see what all the ruckus was about, I saw a dozen or so American Crows perched on our sycamore trees. Above the trees a small hawk was being chased by some rather angry crows.

To say the least, the crows were very upset. Over the years I have learned to pay attention whenever I hear crows making a scene, and without question there’s usually something out of the norm happening.

Finally after 20 minutes or so everything returned to normal, and peace & quiet returned to our sleepy little neighborhood.

Communion – Combined Media – 10 X 10 inches

• The common American crow is one of the most intelligent of all birds. It is one of only a few species of bird that has been observed modifying and using tools to obtain food.
• It can communicate warning, threat, taunting, and cheer to other crows by varying the “caw” sound it makes.
• Its cries of warning are specific enough that some animals other than crows are also able to use them as signals of dangerous predators.

The Tibetans believe the crow so sacred that watching their actions can predict an outcome in your life.

The Lenape Indians of Delaware also believed in a Many Colored Crow or Rainbow Crow who selflessly brought fire to all the woodland creatures and he is black from burning himself on the trip.

Many of the Celtic goddesses were linked with the crow or raven; Badb, Macha, Nemain, Nantosuelta, and Tethra.

Collecting Owls

I began my love affair with owls many years ago when I was a child. Over the years I have collected, sketched and painted owls.

Recently, my neighbor passed away. She was 101 years old and also happened to be an avid collector of owls. I was pleasantly surprised to find out she was a fellow owl lover.

We will miss you Pauline. Thank you for all those wonderful conversations over the garden fence.

The Owl & The Moon- Pastel- Combined Media – 9 X 12 inches

“The crow wished everything was black, the owl, that every thing was white.” – William Blake

“In the Native American tradition, the owl is the totem for people born during the time of the Popping Trees Moon – the period between November 11th and December 10th. The time of year when owls may be often seen silently hunting at dusk, making use of their keen sight and excellent hearing. The deepening winter time is regarded as the time of coming into wisdom – a time for telling of experiences, storing memories and learning – hence its association with the owl – the bird of wisdom.” – Unknown