Tag: Susan Bradford

I Did It

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art

After many delays and a few false starts, I sat down and made seven garlic baskets in just a few days.  They are sweet and satisfying baskets to make.  Each one uses the exact same material, a lightweight rush often used in caning chairs.  The spokes in each basket are all cut to the same length, as is the one long weaver.  And yet each basket feels unique to me.  Each one develops its own personality as I work on it.  Some end up longer with a more narrow neck.  Some seem to want to be short and squat.  Each one has a mind of its own.  I just weave and listen.  They all bring me pleasure as I sit on the deck to weave, or talk with a friend, or watch a movie on Netflix late at night.

You’ll be able to see the results this Saturday, June 11th at the Cherry Valley Day Festival, held at the Josie Porter Farm from 10 am to 5 pm.garlic baskets All the beautiful items from the members of Mandala Design Works will be shown and Wellspring Holistic Center will be offering mini-treatments.

I love the idea of bringing them to a farm where beautiful, organic garlic is grown.  It seems like such a perfect match.  So when the garlic is ready to harvest this year, you’ll know where to go to fill your basket with the freshest, tastiest garlic around.

The event this Saturday is free!  And there will be music, crafts, educational demos, food and lots of fun.

Being a Tourist

by susanbradfordart, posted in Mandala Art

 

 

 

 

 

On Memorial Day, I met my cousins in Seattle.  In seven years, I’d only been to Pike’s Market once.  Now I’ve been there twice.  Had drinks for the first time at a well-known Seattle Irish pub called Kell’s.  Rode the Monorail.  First time.  And from there went to the top of the Space Needle.  All fun to do.  Being a tourist wasn’t so bad.  From the Space Needle, I could see the Olympic Mountains and it was comforting to know that my home lay beyond them to the North.

I took a ton of pictures from the top.  What interested me the most was to find a shape or a color that drew my attention from far so above, and then to zero in on it with my camera and to see what happened.  These two photos have not been cropped or edited.  Some of them feel like living mandalas or mandalas in the making.   We’ll see.

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.