Sonoma County Beauty

The other day I went out to Sonoma to bring some of my Mandala Pendant to the charming store "Sisters ", where they will be for sale.  

It was an absolutely stunningly beautiful autumn day and I was dazzled by the beauty all around me.

The sky was so dramatic, with dark storm clouds moving in and out of the sky, punctuated by intense white and  cerelean blue skies.  

 Luckily I had my camera with me and as I drove out there, frantically trying to be in time for an apt.

 I noticed different places along the road that I vowed to take photos of on my way home, when time wasn't and issue.

Now, for those of you who don't know Sonoma County, it is often called Wine Country, and Luther Burbank called it the Chosen spot in the world...as far as natural beauty is concerned.  Whenever, I go away from here, I come home like a tourist, re-enchanted with the place where I live.

 I become jaded to the beauty all around me, yet on this particular day, actually this past Friday, I was driving around in a state of wonder at the dramatic beauty all round me.

As I drove, I noticed cars parked along the side of Hiway 12, with people outside their cars, doing plein air painting, and some taking photographs.

 

Suddenly I realized that like Julia Cameron writes of in her book the "Artist's Way", I was on an Artists Date with myself, and I slowed down and began to take photographs of what drew my attention, all around me.  

 Pulling out of the traffic here and there, and thinking about the dark and light, the contrast of colors, and whether or not any of these images would work well as photo transfers for my encaustic paintings.

 This mountain is called Sugar Loaf and it is a very special state park right in my back yard almost, isn't it sweet?  What a perfect name for a mountain.

 Along the way I stopped at some fabulous thrift stores, and spent a little money on some delights as I made my way home to Santa Rosa.

 The photos turned out quite wonderfully and so in the spirit of show and tell, and like a proud mother to my wonderful home county, I am sharing them here with the world, or at least a tiny little slice of it.So I hope that you all enjoy these photos, they call out for taking  a deep breath.

  So, Ciao..... and

  happy autumn.... Until Next time, from the Valley of the Moon in Sonoma County.

Festa Italiana Collages

If you read my blog on a regular basis, you might know not only do I love collage, but am constantly making things, playing with images and doodling as well.  I recently made a series of collages for this Italian festa that I will be selling at, this coming Sunday Sept. 30th, in Santa Rosa.

 I just love how they turned out so I am posting them here as my show and tell for the month. ( Yes it seems like I am a monthly blogger) enough is enough, I do so many things on line that this is a monthly  commitment that is doable.

 After dribbling and playing with watercolors on really good paper, I rubber stamped, doodled and collaged all over the pages...

 Then I began to look for Italian phrases and words that called to me, and were recognizable to even non Italians.

 Pulling out my rubber stamps I stamped here and there on the large page of watercolor paper, first with the words and them with some of my favorite charming stamps.

 I then pulled out my large stash of various small collage images and began to glue papers and images here and there on the large paper that seemed to reflect either the meaning of the words or the Italian theme.

 One thing led to another, with this process being done in small stages of one step each time over a series of days. About 45 min each sitting.  Perfect art making time for my computer affected attention span these days.

 I then had a large sheet of paper with little vignettes all over it.  Each one small and flowing into the other.

                                                Just the perfect size for 5"x7" art cards.

 So I proceeded to cut them up into various sizes, finding the essence of each little picture story.

 And low and behold they were charming but  small, so I pulled out a lot of my beautiful art papers and began to glue them onto the papers, highlighting all the wonderful burnt sienna colors I love and that reflect the softly worn colors of the beauty of Italian towns.

              I next glued these onto the fronts of art card panels that I have in my stash of art supplies.

But too my delight, I found them soooo charming that I decided to put them in 8"x10 matts instead of just leave them as art cards.  And this is what I came up with. They look so perfect matted.  Although rather primitive, with the stampings smudged here  and there, they delight me and they are absolutely charming to my eye at least.

So this Sunday at the Festa Italiana at the Vets Building in Santa Rosa, I will have these little darlings for sale.  Come on by if you are in Santa Rosa and say Hello..and see not only these but my Italian themed art pendants, mandala pendants and some charming little encaustic paintings that I am selling, all with an Italian slant.  If you don't know by now, I am Italian American, my mom's family being from Bari and my dad having grown up in a little town in Sicilia called Strassati di Petrosina, which is near Marsala.
So selling at this fair, allows me to be close to all those old Italians again, warming my heart and filling my soul with italian music, food and sounds.   I wonder if anyone who reads this will stop by and say hello.  Who knows.  Ciao. Caterina

Still Enamored with SoulCollage®

Since it has been a while since I last posted, I decided to share  some photos that I recently took at two  of the different  SoulCollage® groups that I offer at my studio.

                       At my Soul Writing Group, which meets on the Fourth Friday of the Month....

 We each put all of our cards out on the tables, then walk around looking at all of them, "A Gallery Crawl"....  I am always amazed at their diversity and uniqueness.  We  then choose from our cards, the ones we want to use as writing prompts for that day.  Although at other times we do it differently. Each group is unique.  These photos are from that group.  Aren't they amazing?

 The following photos are some shots I took as I set up my studio for group last Friday.

As well as  taken in process during group, in order to give a visual picture of the process.

 After making cards, we spend time dialoguing with a partner.  

Doing the "I am the One Who" process with at least one of our cards.  

 It is a wonderful process of witnessing and being heard....as the intuitive wisdom of our

 soul's are revealed. 

The following images are of some of my most recent cards. 

 It  always seems like the last card I make is my most favorite, but as I go through them, they are like old dear friends come to visit once again.

These pictures speak a thousand words, so I will let them gently reveal their stories to you 

without words this time.  

I just love this process, and now I am planning a SoulCollage® Cruise for sometime next year.

More about that next time.  Until then.

Ciao. Caterina

Cycling Back into Circles...Mandala Magic

After quite a long while I finally came back to drawing some mandalas.  

Begining

Here is the beginning of one that I started a while ago and decided to work on to get myself back into the groove so to speak.

Finding a direction

Since I love drawing them and rarely set the time aside to do them when not leading a workshop

adding color

I decided to see if I could get a once a month mandala group going in my studio, which would be an opportunity for me to dive into the process regularly as well as provide the time and space for others as well.  .

Completion...this is about getting some energy moving in my life, while balancing my many interests.

So on the Second Sunday of each monthly I am now offering an Sunday Morning Mandala Circle at my studio.  If you are interested in joining me and a small group of other Mandala lovers...please do get in touch...

Flowering from my Essence
Completed mandala from the Flowering Workshop

                                                    and....  On another mandala note.......

Supplies

Last Sunday the Northern California (NorCATA) art therapists gathered at Linda Chapmans studio, Art Therapy Insitute of the Redwoods,  in Calpella in Mendocino County, just outside of Ukiah.

Altar to Patricia Waters

                                             We gathered to honor the passing of my dear friend Patricia, and her contribution to the field of art therapy. had the honor of holding the circle and sharing the Illuminated Mandala Process that we both facilitated together for many years with the group.
                                             Here are some photos from that day..

We did a Thank you for this Moment Mandala...to honor our lives and what is precious and meaningful to us.

At the end of the circle we placed our mandalas in a larger mandala on the floor of the studio, to circle, honor and witness them and our process.  Once again, I felt enlivened and blessed to be doing this work, and hope to continue sharing it with others.  

Making Encaustics again...

Whenever I finally get back to cranking up the hot plate and waxing some panels 

with encaustic medium, I am so happy.  

  It seems I work in cycles, and put aside one media for another, and then resurrect it based on what inspires me, or if I have a specific idea or goal to work on.

 I wanted to create a series of wine themed encaustic paintings, to have available for a Trade Show for the wineries represented by an organization called The Wine Road, here in Sonoma County. I live in Wine Country if you don't already know that.

  So I resurrected a series of images of wine themed encaustic paintings that I did and sold when I was represented by a gallery called ARt and All the Jazz in Healdsburg several years ago.

 I have my art and my Art pendants at a store called Made Local, here in Santa Rosa, and they are hosting this trade show at the beginning of August.  I decided to take advantage of the opportunity.

 I made high quality prints of my original pieces, and then saturated the images in encaustic medium, adhering them to the 6"x6" panels I had.

 After fusing them, I added more medium and painted over and around them with encaustic paints

 some more so than others, and walla they turned out exquisite....at least to me they did.  Each one of the pieces in these series are charming, rather folksy looking and some of my favorite pieces I have done. The beauty of this medium is that I can make them anew, revise them, add on to them and bring these originals back to life in new pieces.    Now the question arose from someone, are these true encaustics... and my answer is yes they are encaustic collages, in a way, from my own original art.  So rather than sell prints, I can sell actual pieces of my favorites.  We shall see if anyone is interested in these sweet little paintings.

The last piece that I did  during this time frame, was this  encaustic. I did a photo transfer of a photo  of a  winery landscape that I took a while back.  Then I painted over the transfer with encaustic paints, bringing it to life with color and more depth. (12"x12" cradled hardboard).  Subtle but successful, letting the unique quality of this medium and the beauty of the landscape around here, be the  emphasis of this encaustic painting.  I think I took this photo on a road in Alexander Valley.

I intend to create more encaustics of the Sonoma County Landscape soon. We shall see if I get any of my pieces in any winery tasting room gifts shops or not, I hope so, but we shall see.  By the way, I also created a line of pendants using the  my La Dolce Vino imagery as well. I will post some of those photos soon.   Now I have reason to get out into the country side to take more photos of the beauty all around me.  There are those, who lament the mono culture of vineyards that have taken over Sonoma county, but I love the repeating pattern of the fields of grape vineyards, and taking photos of them.
Ciao.