Crows & Baubles

While I was in the garden this morning I noticed that some of the shiny baubles I had placed in a container were missing. It’s not the first time this has happened and the culprit is usually a crow.

Later when I went to take the garbage out, there was a crow with his “beak in the cookie jar” so to speak. I laughed as he hastily made off with his stolen prize.

Rune Master – Combined Media – 11 X 14 inches

Wednesday

Yellow Roses

“There is nothing more difficult for a truly creative painter than to paint a rose, because before he can do so he has first to forget all the roses that were ever painted.” – Henry Matisse

“The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious to the rose.”        – Kahlil Gibran

A Reverence for Trees

I’ve been working on a mixed media piece for a while and have played around with different versions of the original work which is still in progress. Here is a watercolor version.

I was inspired to create this painting after a trip to Mendocino located in Northern California. On the way there we drove through Montgomery Woods, a coastal redwood grove, and decided to take a break from driving and check out the area.

It was so beautiful as we stood there in silent communion beneath the ancient redwood trees, drinking in the splendor of Mother Natures living cathedral.

I felt enlivened and peaceful in the presence of these old trees, feeling reconnected with my deep ancestral roots in the forest.  They are the elders on this planet and for centuries were considered sacred, alive, and ensouled.

In the painting below the woman represents a ban-drui, ( a female druid).  She is a healer, priestess, storyteller and teacher who listens and learns from trees. She records and preserves their teachings which are passed down from one generation to the next. She teaches “balance in all things”.

A Reverence for Trees – Watercolor – 4 X 4 inches

“They are beautiful in their peace, they are wise in their silence. They will stand after we are dust. They teach us, and we tend them. – G. MacDunelmor

The Wind Across the Sky

After a rather hectic day I decided to take a walk to clear my head and change my attitude towards a rather frustrating situation. I also took my camera with me just in case I came across something I wanted to photograph.

Albert Einstein said, “No problem can be solved from the same consciousness that created it.

As the wind touched my face, eyelids, and hair, it soothed and calmed my mind and body. I felt a subtle shift inside me and simply let myself go wherever the wind blew me.

On my journey I came across …

Angel in the Garden

Squirrel Eating Nuts

“Sometimes I go about feeling sorry for myself and all the while I am being carried by the wind across the sky.” – Old Chippewa Saying

It’s October

Welcome October!

Mountain Home – Combined Media – 10 X 14 inches

“I know the year is dying,
Soon the summer will be dead.
I can trace it in the flying
Of the black crows overhead;
I can hear it in the rustle
Of the dead leaves as I pass,
And the south wind’s plaintive sighing
Through the dry and withered grass.

Ah, ’tis then I love to wander,
Wander idly and alone,
Listening to the solemn music
Of sweet nature’s undertone;
Wrapt in thoughts I cannot utter,
Dreams my tongue cannot express,
Dreams that match the autumn’s sadness
In their longing tenderness.”

–  Mortimer Crane Brown, Autumn Dreams