*waves* Hello! It's been a while. When we last spoke I was on my way to Valley Ridge. We had a terrific time - a full class of enthusiastic artists who painted and played for three whole days! It was rewarding on so many levels and filled my well for a long time. Love being in the studio and feeling the energy that gets generated when artists gather.
One of our assignments was to walk the gorgeous property in search of new shapes to inspire hand-crafted tools (stencils and stamps). It was a perfect break from the work, to take in the scenery, breath in the not-quite-fall-air, enjoy the sun, and observe all that was before us. I found my way to Katherine's garden - very much in hiberbation and decay, with amazing shapes. The once vibrant flowers and plants presenting themselves as dried pods and other interesting stages of non-life.
I later learned these were coneflowers - typically adorned with violet petals. My impression upon observing the dried evidence, was that the flower had possibly been a black-eyed susan, with golden petals. I am so glad I didn't know they were once purple, as the darker rustier color served as my inspiration for this painting. I used the river rocks stencil by Mary Beth, adding in a few larger stones to make it my own for the section of ground. I made my own stencils for the flowers, and included roots since my attempt at pulling a few to photograph came straight from the earth with entire stem and roots.
Some evidence of our walk around the perimeter of the VR property....Mom is there gathering weeds and avoiding coyotes. (Actually, we only hear them at night....haven't seen one there yet.)
Here is the group - thank you ladies! I loved seeing your individual perspectives, and your fabulous work. So much fun to see old friends and make new ones. I had a great time Raising the Bar with you :)
And just days after arriving home from Wisconsin we road tripped up to Canada. It's been a few years since we have been there and promised the kids a return visit to see our beloved friends, the orcas. You can read about our previous memorable visits in a past post HERE. It was so heavy with rain on the first day that the park was not even open. Drats. Luckily it cleared enough by the next day that we headed straight for Friendship Cove at Marineland, Niagara Falls, Ontario, to see Kiska and Ike. A happy ending.
