Category: Mandala Art

Today was the day…

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art

I had it all planned.  It was a cold and rainy Wednesday.  I was caught up with emails.  I had just finished sending out a mandala that someone had commissioned, and I had gone through the mail.  It was time for some more coffee and then I was going to settle down and whip out four garlic baskets this afternoon.  The material for them has been sitting out for days now, and every day I think that I’ll get to them and I don’t.  Every day is going to be the day

But the plan didn’t quite work out.  At 3 pm, Kaegan and Melody (Dennis’s son and his girlfriend) called to say that they were just about to get on the ferry.  Not that I wasn’t totally thrilled that they were on their way, but we thought that they were going to be staying in Seattle tonight and coming out tomorrow.

So instead of garlic baskets, I made bread, dusted, vacuumed, mopped, did laundry, changed sheets, picked flowers, and cooked dinner.  I also hugged and kissed, got hugged and kissed, talked, listened, laughed, shared and felt wonderfully joyful.

It’s now 2 am.

As for the garlic baskets, maybe tomorrow will be the day….

PS:  Happy Birthday, Anita!

What to Do?

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art

It’s that time of year again.  The days are getting incredibly long.  The sun is shining with splendid warmth.  The flowers are brilliant and vegetables are rapidly emerging from the ground.  All I want to do is be outside and get my hands into the dirt.  I want to plant and prune and pull weeds, and I want to bask in the results of my labor.  Such concrete and immediate results!  And there is so much to be done!  But there are also baskets to be made, bracelets to create, mandalas to design, and of course, paintings to emerge.  There are craft shows coming up and a group show in Pennsylvania in September.  There are unfinished paintings and new ones ready to start.  And I want to do it all.  I so love it all.  If only, there were more hours or I worked more quickly or I could split myself into two or more people.  If only…but for today… the sun is shining….

New Basket

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art

I just finished a two-day basket workshop, and this is the result.  The material used is willow bark, and it is amazing to work with.  Beautifully grown, harvested, and prepared by our teacher, Judy Zugish.  With eleven people making a variation of the same basket, no two were the same.   Such a great creative opportunity in such a nurturing environment.

One Red-ish Drawing

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art

After posting last week on my inability to handle red in my work, I decided to try to rise to my own challenge, and to work with red this week.  The results are here for you to see.  A circle, but not quite a mandala.  Not a terrible piece, but not quite red.  Only red-ish for now.  It’s a start.

Of Tulips and ipads

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art

I love all the color in this photo.  Especially all the red.  The brand new ipad with its special red cover was waiting for me when I got back from PA this time.   The vibrant red tulips and daffodils picked from our garden.  The ipad happened to get set down next to the flowers and it really hit my eye.  The promise of Spring and the challenge of learning about something new.  When I took the photo, I didn’t expect that the red-patterned cover on the bench in the background would show so much.

Why do I love red so much in the world, but not so much to wear and rarely to paint with?