Ancient Stones & The Sea

I have always been fascinated with the sea and old stones worn smooth by the tides,

 the hidden mysteries beneath the deep ocean and the folklore of mermaids.

Come away with me to a place of mystery, imagination and beauty.  ~rose

Seawater rushing across ancient stones…a remembered dream. ~rose

I am still creating traditional art work as well, but for now I am enjoying the freedom that

mobile photography has given me. The ability to create imaginative, photographic

images while traveling and exploring throughout beautiful Northern California.

Wishing all of you a beautiful, magical Spring! ~rose

 

I Dream Of Painting & Much More . . .

“I dream of painting and then I paint my dream.” ~ Vincent Van Gogh

Lately, I have been mesmerized by  crows and pomegranates. The painting below was inspired by the crows I see on my morning walk down by the creek . They are so very intelligent and I love their wickedly funny antics.

The Golden Pomegranate ~ Acrylic/ Mixed Media ~ 12 x 12 inches on canvas

Below is a sampling of the work currently on my easel. The first one is an experimental piece on 10 x20 canvas~Layers of texture built up with art tissue paper, plaster, fabric, mixed “Golden” gel mediums, Golden acrylics, charcoal, etc…

The Bone Mother Mask is another experimental piece on 24 x 36 inch canvas ~ Layers of plaster, gel mediums, sand, cheese cloth, pieces of tree bark, Golden acrylic washes, tea stains, etc…

My goal for this year is to dive into some projects that I’ve kept on the back burner for awhile. You know those ideas that always begin with the words “someday, I’m going to begin . . .

I am so tired of pushing my sculpting tools further and further back into our storage unit, all the while thinking I really need to start working with clay again. There is this deep need inside of me to experience the alchemy of fire, earth and  water. The feel and texture of clay in my hands that feeds the soul in some way.  And yes, there is an open studio near our home. So excited!

 

Until the veil of the unknown yields
And something original begins
To stir toward your senses
And grow stronger in your heart.
~John O’Donohue

Art & Life

Happy solstice everyone ~ wherever you are in the world! Summer has arrived and it’s been a sweltering hot day. Outside its 96 degrees.

However, I have been managing to stay nice and cool with a fan blowing, tucked away in my studio working. Here are a couple of projects I’ve been working on lately.

This ~ . . .

 

 

Then followed that beautiful season ~ Summer. Filled was the air with a
dreamy and magical light; and the landscape lay as if new created in all the
freshness of childhood.” ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

And This . . .

 

Now it is time to put away the mess on my table and clean my dirty brushes. I have finished dipping my brush into a soup in which bits of inspiration have been simmering for months or maybe years. The perfect word for today ~ Unfurling . . .

 

Here is one of my favorite poems by Mary Oliver

Something whispered something

that was not even a word.

It was more like a silence

that was understandable.

I was standing

at the edge of the pond.

Nothing living, what we call living,

was in sight.

And yet, the voice entered me,

my body-life,

with so much happiness.

And there was nothing there

but the water, the sky, the grass.

 

Creative Thursday

Creativity ~ Obvious  ~ Amazing  ~

This has happened to me many times. ~ Has it  happened to you?

Spring Has Returned

The beautiful spring came; and when Nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also. ~ Harriet Ann Jacobs

Spring is here! The season of renewal & rebirth is upon us.

I love everything about spring, especially watching mother nature constantly rearranging and changing the landscape. Splashes of vibrant color here and there mixed in with shades of varying green.

Even though Spring has arrived it’s still very cold and blustery. I  found myself puttering around the studio, drinking hot chocolate and day dreaming about the warm days ahead.

What I have been working on Lately

The Lady of Spring ~ sketch #1

I scanned it and used Painter 9 to develop the painting.

A work in progress . . .

Still working . . . . and  working . . .

quote for the day;

Spring ~ the birthday of the world

‘Tis like the birthday of the world,
When earth was born in bloom;
The light is made of many dyes,
The air is all perfume:
There’s crimson buds, and white and blue,
The very rainbow showers
Have turned to blossoms where they fell,
And sown the earth with flowers.

~Thomas Hood

Sunny and Warmer

What I have been working on lately . . .

This . . .

Golden Bamboo & Kwan Yin ~ 16 X 20 inches ~ Mixed Media on Canvas

and this . . .

Gathering ideas for my next collage project ~

and this sketch of a dream I had  . . .

I am going to sit with this for a while, before deciding whether to create a painting or just leave it in my journal. The dream was strange and I want to process the imagery more fully.

The sun has returned for a couple of days along with warmer weather, and I’m feeling the sap rise ~ as the sun kisses my face. A perfect day for a walk by my beloved creek . . .  xo

thought for the day:

“Participating in the creation of art is like being one element in a process of improvisation, where a brushstroke responds to a color, and a shape evokes a texture.” Eileen Ross

Nocturnal Journey

On these cold bleak days of January I find that my dreams intensify and are filled with colorful, surreal imagery. They are rich in detail, along with extended messages, visions and dream friends to help me traverse through this mysterious inner world.

I have recorded these dreams in journals along with sketches and key words so as to help me recapture the essence, feelings and characters who show up in my dreams. Dreams have always been a rich resource for my writing and paintings and the image below is representative of one such dream.

Here is a peek at what I’m currently working on.

Nocturnal Journey ~ Digital Painting ~ 5 x7 inches. Digital Painting ~ using Corel Painter 7 ~ soft charcoal variant of dry media.

Nocturnal Journey in progress #4

The inspiration for this painting came from several recurring dreams that I have been having over the past few weeks. Strange landscapes and a woman’s face which keeps hovering at the edges of my vision. She is always there as if waiting just beyond the bend of my awareness…waiting… waiting there just long enough  for me to capture a glimpse or a scent of her essence. I never see her whole face because half of her face is always hidden or lost in shadow. However, there is always an overwhelming sense of peace when she enters the dream.

“Dreams are illustrations… from the book your soul is writing about you.” ~ Marsha Norman

The Forest ~ Magic & Mystery

Lately,  I have been obsessed with all things related to Puzzlewood, in the Forest Dean. Forest Dean  is located in the western part of the county of Gloucestershire, England. I watched a video awhile back and was inspired by it’s beauty, magic and mystery.

I would love to spend a few months living there, sketching, painting and mostly drinking in the sheer beauty of this forest, but for now I am satisfied with the inspiration and burst of creativity the video stirred up in me.

From a dream;  A young woman walking in the forest with a crescent moon suspended in the sky where trees dream and owls fly overhead. She loved the play of moonlight on the leaves ~ shadow and light. The wind playing with her hair ~ the sweet smell of the damp earth beneath her feet, Mother Earth whispered “Child of the forest reach out and touch your wild nature for therein lies your power.” To be continued….

Forest Spirit ~ Digital Painting ~ 11 x 15 inches

This is as far as I got on the painting today. I’m not sure about the background. The crescent moon will stay but the rest may change. The forest floor in my dream sparkled with shades of purple, muted greens and browns with silver moonbeams thrown in. The forest  bejeweled in moonlight.

I was able to capture the forest floor part of the dream in a necklace that I created last week. I have only three of these ceramic goddesses left ~ one of a kind ~ each one different from the other.

I chose this Goddess pendant because it reminds me of  an ancient goddess relic with the soft muted moss colored glaze and rich earth colors sprinkled about. The piece is signed and will soon be available at http://www.rosearizmendi.com/shop/

To learn more about Puzzlewood located  in the Forest Dean click here

If you love owls ~ You will love this beautiful Video!

Collage & Change

I spent the morning creating the collage above from photographs I have taken over the years.

I love this time of the year, the slant of light and the lengthening shadows  ~  such beauty ~ so delicious this golden light that spills through the tree branches just outside my window, turning the leaves into shimmering liquid gold.

During the fall, I find myself longing for the haystacks of my youth. The heavenly smell of  hay mixed with the dampness of the earth. The early morning mist kissing my face and the exuberance of youth.

Over the years I find that I have come to value the fall of the year more and more ~  the day by day changes.  The mellow richness and different textures that hone and shape us as we age. The laughter, the tears and everything else in between that makes each one of us unique and beautiful.

So I breathe in the ripeness of the world around me and embrace this inevitable change. The waxing and waning  of the year.

Collage Monday

The Opened Heart – Mixed Media

The mixed media piece above is a combination of digital & Traditional painting. The center is a Mixed Medium/Acrylic/Watercolor/Ink  8 x 10 inch painting on canvas that I decided to play around with using Corel Painter 7 and Photoshop. For the background I used scanned papers, fabrics, vintage ledgers and anything else I could think of. Wow, did I have fun!

Later, when I went to the market they had pumpkins and gourds  stacked on bales of hay reminding us that change has come and sweet autumn is here. It all made me feel so grateful for being a part of the eternal dance of life from one season to the next.

thought for the day:

In the deep fall don’t you imagine the leaves think how
comfortable it will be to touch
the earth instead of the
nothingness of air and the endless
freshets of wind? And don’t you think
the trees themselves, especially those with mossy,
warm caves, begin to think

of the birds that will come…six, a dozen…to sleep
inside their bodies? And don’t you hear
the goldenrod whispering goodbye,
the everlasting being crowned with the first
tuffets of snow? The pond vanishes, and the white field
over which the fox runs so quickly brings out
its blue shadows. And the wind pumps its
bellows. And at evening especially,
the piled firewood shifts a little,
longing to be on its way.
– Mary Oliver