Tag: nature

It’s That Time of Year Again

by Stan Stewart - muz4now, posted in Mandala Art

This is the third Spring that we have lived in this house, the third Spring that I have seen the clematis in bloom, and the third Spring that I am getting to watch it engulf more and more of the house.  There is something so spectacular about this expanse of pink spreading out over the porch on the main floor and spreading up to the small deck that is off our second floor bedroom.  It almost takes my breath away.  And each year I eagerly wait for it because for me, it signifies the true beginning of the abundance of green and color that is yet to come.  I means that it’s time to wake up!

As time goes by, I am getting more and more in rhythm with this property that we are renting.  I know what to expect now that the daffodils and tulips are gone.  The lilacs are already in bloom.  The heather kept blooming throughout the winter.  Soon there will be irises, another happy moment.  It is the rhythm of Spring and the awakening of my body and my brain.  I await the lilies and the peonies and the hollyhocks as the prospect of summer entices me on these lovely sunny days.

I create in the early evening while it is still light out, and my back tells me that I’ve done enough gardening for the day.  Then I can be in my studio and allow the experiences of the day to inform what I paint or what I weave or what I draw or what I read.  All one.

Still a bit cool, especially at night.  I move in that rhythm as well.  The cool evenings invite soup or stews or casseroles, and some red wine.  I allow myself to rest and am delighted that I can sleep with a down comforter on these cool nights.

The mornings are for greeting the day and the clematis!!

Flying Home

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art

I flew home from PA yesterday across the country to WA. The plane flew low enough and the day was clear enough that I could see the scenery passing by. Low hills, flat plains, the Rockies, more flatness, and finally the Cascades. I was hoping for a good view of Mt. Ranier, but by the time we hit the coast, it was cloudy and gray. I was home, indeed!

So this view of the Eastern Cascades will have to do!

While on the plane and taking pictures with my iPad, I was feeling so thankful for my life. For the continued opportunity to return to the Poconos for work, play, and friendship. And for the beauty of my home on Orcas, and the love that is always waiting for me there.  It all sounds so corny, but still it is how I feel.


Perfect Mandalas

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art

 

These are called Romanesca Broccoli and I think that they are stupendously beautiful.  We started them from seed last summer, and in early August transplanted about 20 of them from pots into the ground.  We had such a cool summer that they didn’t really take off.  But summer was followed by a pretty mild winter, and look at them now!

They are perfectly wonderful mandalas.  They have a central focus, then spread out in a seemingly limitless fashion.  They hold the promise of the universe in the intensity of their color, the great variety of their surface, and the depth of their rounded form.  If we choose, we can read many meanings into them, and they can speak to our souls.

But most important, did I mention that they are utterly delicious?  Sauté them, or steam them.  Or prepare them in my favorite way.  Roast them with just a little olive oil and salt.  425 degrees, for twelve minutes (or thirteen).

Yummy!  Perfect!


how can this be?

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art
Iris Shoots, February 2, 2012

I look forward to winter for many reasons. And one of the main things I look forward to is the opportunity to have everything stop for a while. And even though I recognize that this is a total illusion, I pretend anyway. Winter seems to give me more time to still my busy mind, to spend lovely days at home, listening to the rain and the wind, letting the beautiful gray tones of the Northwest sky wash over me. In this stillness, I feel that my creativity and my spirituality are being renewed. And in anticipation of this special time, I decided to make a Stillness mandala as my next project. To commemorate the coming around of this wonderful time of year.

But something is going terribly wrong this year. True we had a little snow two weeks ago. But where are the wonderful winter rain storms? Where is the intensity, the opportunity for cleansing, the chance to stay at home, and to snuggle up inside and be warm. To read books, to make soup, to work on mandalas.

Aside from the huge implications for Global Climate Change, how can I be still when the sun is shining?  How can I pretend that things will stop long enough for me to have my winter experience when I go outside my door and see things like the photo I took this morning.  On February 2nd, no less.

 

At home, at last

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art

After being on the road for forty five hours, I am finally home. You’d think that I had been somewhere truly exotic, for all that travel time. But a combination of cancelled flights and late flights and no late ferries made this a two-day voyage from Delaware Water Gap to Orcas Island.  And oh, it feels so good to be here in the beauty and the quiet that is Orcas, and to breathe into the idea that I won’t be going anywhere (at least not on a plane) for the next three months.  I’m sinking into that with joy and gratitude.  So happy to see Dennis and the cats!!  I’m already planning the many projects I want to do in the stillness and grayness of winter.  Hoping that I get at least some them crossed off the eternally long list of things I want to do in the studio, for the house and outside in the garden.  More mandalas.  Work on half-finished baskets.  Learn more beading techniques.  Paint a lot.  Organize my office.  Clean up the garden.  Make beautiful winter comfort food.   And exercise to counter act all that.  My work is clearly cut out for me.

For today, I’ll unpack, do some laundry, go through the mail and rest a bit.  The projects can wait.  And so can I.  But not for too long.