More Mandala's from Workshop

Here are a few more photos from the Fall Illuminated Mandala Workshop.   

Fall Equinox Mandala Workshop

Last Sunday, we facilitated another Illuminated Mandala workshop at my studio.  This is a photo of the outside of my studio.   I love doing these mandala retreat days.  The process is so healing, I get to set intentions for the new season and witness what comes through for the participants.  



Here are some of the mandalas created in the group that Patricia and I taught.  

You can see the begining scale of light drawings as well as the begining of each mandala in black and and a progression of some of them.  

The work that every one did was beautiful.  We spent the day focusing on the harvest and all the gifts of abundance in our lives that we have harvested.  

It was a lovely day. 

New Encaustic - Just added to my etsy store..

The Star Gazers

6"x8" on cigar box

I rarely promote or talk about my etsy shop here...but I thought I would start...Here is a sweet, enchanting encaustic that I did on the back of a cigar box.  It includes rice paper, appropriated imagery, gold leaf and encaustic paint... I think it is enchanting.  So, from now I will ocasionally highlight some of the artwork I have in my etsy shop Soularteeclectica on my blog. 

Here is the link to it on my etsy site.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id+14765350

Encaustic Tree Series - All of six them......

I have finally completed my summer time encaustic vision....photographing  trees and doing encaustic paintings and  phototransfers of the tree images on top of the paintings.  

I have learned alot in this process.  Working with the encaustics in a new way, exploring color, line and form...as well as developing a finer eye.  I have been noticing and photographing trees for months now and began to look at trees as individuals with unique personalities, flaws and idosyncracies....as if they were people.  Here is the completed series.

I found myself looking for the perfect tree.  What were my criteria, unique tunk, branches that stood out, no background to divert attention and alot of sky showing through the branches.  Then I began to think about standards of beauty, in not only trees but people.  What is beauty, what makes imagery stand out.  Each tree had flaws, the branches were changed by life and wind, and trauma.... again and again the parallels with people began to emerge.  This has been a very powerful and evocative process for me.  

My final tree in this process, is the most subtle and evocative.  I am ready to move onto another series...I am all fired up with the possiblities.  My work with encaustics has taken another turn.  I am looking forward to more exploration of this new direction

Encaustic Process- Hummingbird Tree evolution

I have continued to do my tree series using photo transfers of tree's I have been photographing around Sonoma County.  This first attempt of a Eucalyptus tree seemed to have a far to dark and distracting background...although interesting in itself.  

so I decided to change the background to a lighter color...But once done, it didn't work and looked rather pasted together.   

So I wound up scratching the photo transfer off of the wax and using another tree image transfer.  I am learning learning learning...
Although the blue is more muted in this final piece, I like its dreamlike qualities.  I added the hummingbird and more foilage around the base of the tree.  

This is a new way of working for me with the encaustic medium.  The finish on these are smooth and glossy. I am having fun.  I am not sure where I will go next with this process, but I am appreciating the inclusion of these photo transfers as a beginning place as well as playing with the heat gun...fusing and blending the hot wax.   later I will post the entire series..

Tree Encaustic #3- Fire on the Mountain

I have created another Tree Encaustic...using photo transfers of photos I am taking all around Sonoma County...for this series.  This one so looks like the mountain is on fire in the background.  

This tree is in the Cazadero Hills of Sonoma County, in the coastal range, on the Gualala Ranch. 

It  is not very far from where the Creighton Ridge Fire started in 1978.  With the hot dry weather and all of the fires all over NOrthern California...this piece is rather poignant.

 I am looking forward to what comes through next....

I Dreamed of Gratitude - Altered Book-Counting Blessings

Counting Blessings...an ongoing altered book process.  

I am so grateful for so many things........

       "If the Only prayer you said in your whole life was "thank you"  that would suffice."

                                                                         Meister Ekhart

About three weeks ago I dreamed about creating a Gratitude Book and the cover appearing in my dream.   It was called " Counting Blessings"

And so I have been slowly working in it over time...

  I have decided to post what I have done so far...

I am working on placing as much attention as possible 

in my life on what I am grateful for.  

I am grateful for so many things....

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.  It turns what we have into enough, and more.  It turns denial in acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity...It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow".                                            Melody Beattie