Rustic Happiness

This little group of crocus just made me smile. The sunlight was enveloping them making their petals open wide to take in all the warmth being offered today. Their yellow orange stamen smiling from inside just adding the right amount of color to make it such a happy scene. Combined with the natural elements of leaves, bark and their greenery surrounded them with a rustic attitude that thrilled me beyond belief. I do hope their little magical brings a smile to your face today!

April Snow?

This is not a winter scene, this is my yard on April 15th, I know, right?!* We were finally celebrating spring with the windows open, mowing, picking up sticks and 70's weather then this. After three gorgeous days, we awoke to this beautiful scene of winter with 6" of snow on the ground. It was so gorgeous, like a winter postcard! The pond dark and reflecting, the clouds in the bluest sky, the rich darkness of the trees and the winter white all around. Yep, nothing like Midwestern living this year, you just never know what you will awaken to!

Dreaming BIG in 2014!

2014 is here and I am going to dream BIG this year in many ways. I have chosen "freedom" as my word representation and couldn't be more excited! I want to play in the studio more and worry less about perfect art. I want to just enjoy the moment of today instead of always worrying about what is next on the list. I want to take more photographs, I missed being with nature capturing a delicate moment or two. I will read more, it enriches my soul and sends me to faraway places. I want to grow and expand this year heading into new markets and not letting resistance stand in my way. I want to reach beyond what I think I am capable and embrace any possibility that arises. And this year, I want to visit the place I have been dreaming of since I was in 8th grade, the magical world of Paris. As you can see, dreaming BIG in 2014 is exactly what I am doing. How are your dreams shaping up for the New Year?

Unexpected Beauty 17/30

This little visitor was at a rest stop along the highway. I just fell in love with the colors, the texture and all the interesting elements this little guy has on its body. Knobby antennae that almost look like twigs. A thick white patch of hair in the middle of its back. The elongated addition of tiny spikes all over. The sparkle of orange in the skin pattern mixed with a lovely shade of green. And let's not forget the wonderful terra coral of its colorful head. Mother Nature was at her easel smiling when she kept adding little touches of beauty to this tiny creature. What a smile it must have been! I don't know what kind of butterfly it turns in to but I can only imagine its beauty cannot compare to the tiny treasure beforehand.

Illumination 8/30

These are Resurrection Lilies and are a remarkable flower. Their leaves appear early spring, disappear then these clusters arrive on a tall spike of soft dirty pink in the fall. They always capture my attention because as you can see, they have a illuminating quality to their petals. The sunlight always seems to make them shine from within, like a miniature light bulb has been turned on for the mid afternoon. Brilliance, soft, serene, magical and mysterious are some of the words I would use to describe these lovely lilies. If you ever get a chance to attain some of these vintage flowers, say yes, you will not be disappointed!

Crab Apple Star

This is how the end of the branch looks on my prairie fire crab apple tree. I just loved the composition it shows off and wanted to share it with all of you so you can experience it's brilliance too! I love the way it starts as a long oval shape radiating out of the middle like a spiral creating a lovely firework of glorious color. It is the star of the yard at the moment and well, it really deserves the title wouldn't you agree? I love this tree!

Cherry Freeze

This is another shot of our brilliant cherry tree this year and yes, I have given it another dessert name, only this time in the form of a slushy LOL This photo happened by mistake, the wind was really blowing so I changed my setting to the "running man" camera speed and this captured beauty is the end result. Not bad really and luck was for sure on my side to have gotten this shot. I loved how it blurred the background but kept your focus on the delicate white and pastel pink blossoms really making your see all their wonderment. Enjoy today!

Yellow

I love forsythia bushes with all of their happy golden color. It is a welcome sight after the winter greys just seeing it sparkle in the sunlight makes me smile. I am very thankful this year that I finally remembered to take some photos of it. Usually they are on their way out and not as colorful when I try to take it. I loved how the one branch took center stage and stayed in position long enough for me to snap the shot. It is a beautiful color and I really wish it would stay that bright all year long instead it disappears into the background of elusive greenery only to wait for its special time in the spring limelight. Until next year dear friend, I will eagerly be waiting for your appearance!

Lichen, really?

Some thesaurus words for "texture" - arrangement, balance, being, character, coarseness, composition, consistency, disposition, essence, feeling, fiber, form, framework, grain, intermixture, make, nature, organization, pattern, quality, roughness, scheme, sense, smoothness, structure, surface, taste, touch, warp, weave, web.

I love all of the words because of their tactile nature. When I stumbled across these logs in our woods, I thought there were little white butterflies adorning the circle. Upon closer inspection, it is actually a thin white lichen that curls this way and that giving it remarkable character. I just love the look of it and spent about 30 minutes taking pictures of it on all the tree limbs laying on or near the ground. It must love our wooded area and get just the right amount of sunlight because we have these little butterfly jewels scattered throughout. Just makes me happy imagining them as a cluster of wings just waiting for the muse and the moonlight!

Winter Whites

Some Thesaurus words for "sanctuary" - asylum, conservation area, cover, defense, den, harbor, haven, hideaway, hole, oasis, port, protection, refuge, resort, retreat, screen, shelter, shield.

It is snowing here in the Midwest today, really snowing. I am grateful because it has been a mild winter so far but most of all, I truly love the snow! It just makes our property so darn beautiful that you really can't capture it on camera. There are layers upon layers of winter whites just clinging here and there in all the various foliage we have planted throughout the years. The birds are seeking refuge and we are making sure they have food available in the many feeders we have in the backyard. I am always amazed at how they cope with the extreme weather and just go on as if it is another day in the life. I guess that is what we all do, right, live day to day, moment to moment. I just hope you are treasuring those moments because that is what LIFE is all about!

Vivid Beauty

I love the iris flower and we have a wide variety planted throughout the garden. This one with its rich violet hue just makes me want to grab my paints immediately and immerse myself within its deepest shadows. The intensity and color range of this one iris would keep me painting for many days if not years trying to capture all of its deep intense glory. The final touch for me is that beautiful tiny fleck of golden brown of the bee body. I love that it let me capture it in such a great position of importance. With the wonderful yet subtle green in the background, it really pushes the beauty of the iris to the forefront helping you see all its gorgeous values up front and personal. Can't you just feel its silky texture and satin petals? I love when a photograph just makes you want to reach out and touch. That is the wonderful thing of being a creative artist, helping you see the array of everyday elegance just waiting to be discovered.

Radiance

Some Thesaurus words for bright: ablaze, aglow, alight, auroral, beaming, blazing, brilliant, dazzling, effulgent, flashing, glaring, gleaming, glistening, glittering, illuminated, incandescent, lighted, luminous, moonlit, phosphorescent, radiant, shimmering, shiny, sparkling, sunny, twinkling, vivid.

Could there be any better words for describing this amazing daffodil. I loved the way the light shines through at the edges. The intense yellows weeps onto the creamy white petals in a great reflection of color. Then there is the wondrous coral color of the daffodil cup. It is truly a remarkable specimen and I have the pleasure of watching them come up every Spring and spreading their brilliant palette throughout the gardens. Oh yeah, it is a luminous day when these beauties begin to open!



Word - Bright

It has been a while, a long while really since I have blogged and to tell you the truth, I have missed it tremendously. I just wasn't allowing myself the time to sit, look through my photos, choose one and let me get inspired by what I saw. Sad, really, that everything else came before me and what I wanted to do. So, that changes today. I will be posting regularly and if you haven't noticed, I have added a "follow by email" button so you will get an automatic update when I post. Do sign up, I love the little alerts that come for me letting me know my favorite blogs are ready to come and view! Are you ready, here we go...

The word for this week is bright.

Its adjective meaning - shining, radiant; illustrious, glorious; intelligent, clever, lively, cheerful.

This page was done in my art journal. It is a reflection of wanting something bright, cheerful and sunny to compensate for the dreary, greyed down layers of the wintery season here in the Midwest. So I gathered my favorite things - a card from a friend with a fantastic botanical image and of course the insects I so adore along with some odd pieces of ephemera. I worked in one color on the background creating interest and patterns to give your eye something wonderful to rest one. What you can't see is the wonderful dark pea soup color of the ribbon tying in all the lovely greens spattered throughout the page.

Thank you for checking in and I do hope you will become a "follower" so we can once again journey into the undiscovered world we live in together! Have a very warm and sunny day!

Bent Light

Some Thesaurus words for "brilliant" - ablaze, coruscating, dazzling, effulgent, flashy, gleaming, glittering, glossy, intense, luminous, lustrous, radiant, resplendent, scintillating, sparkling, vivid.

For me this bleeding hearth branch captured my creative attention right away. Who could resist that beautiful curve with the brilliantly lit leaves on top. This scene seems to sparkle and glow in the sunlight just waiting for someone to take notice. Would you have seen it or just passed right by? I hope it would have stopped you in your tracks letting you bask in its luminous glory and appreciate its beauty. Stop. Look. See what treasures are awaiting you today. Enjoy them!

O

My sister treated my mom and I to Cirque du Soleil O tickets on our last night in Las Vegas and oh, what a treat that was. I was so excited I could barely stand it and when it started, my artistic spirit just went crazy. The photo shows my favorite part where the artists dangled off of large hoops and did the most amazing tricks high above us all suspended over water and sparkling by the dazzling light arrangements. The staging of water and land was so impressive that you just sit there with your mouth hanging open because it happens so quick and smooth that you are like what just happened? There is so much going on at one time that to take it all in would take several showings and I bet you would still overlook something. The beauty and talent and creative genius should not be missed. If you get the chance, go, go, go - you will be dreaming about it for days afterwards with a large smile on your face. Thanks Dawn for the most amazing gift!


PHOTO SOURCE
http://www.mylasvegasentertainment.com/las-vegas-shows/top-10-las-vegas-shows/top-10-las-vegas-show-cirque-du-soleil-o.htm

Iced Over

We had a quick, wet snow that left everything glistening and enchantingly covered in white. I love looking out at this wonderland sight while listening to the trees creak with the weight of the icy snow. It left me with imaginative dreams of fairytale proportions, but it could have been the influence of watching Narnia just before bedtime also :D Either way, it let my creativity delve into a place I rarely go and I'm very appreciative of that. So what does this scene make you think of? Hopefully something deliciously charming to dream about all day long!

R U Nutz?

The title of my latest Colored Pencil of the Month Club project came from how I went about getting the reference shot. Picture me, camera around my neck, holding an armful of stuffed things (a bird, squirrel and a couple hearts) walking around the neighborhood. Oh yeah, the neighbors probably think I'm crazy because I was sticking these items in the branches, on tree limbs, our wooden swing, even a couple of rocks. But the kicker, to get the shot I really wanted, I actually had to lay on the ground for the interesting perspective you see in this photo. The squirrel was too heavy for the tiny sunlit branches so I was the thing that had to change position. To make it even funnier, I started laughing out loud, imagining the neighbors looking out and seeing this picture wondering what that crazy artist girl was up to now. So, you see why I titled this as I did, I was the nutty one, imagine that :)

If you are interested in more information about the Colored Pencil of the Month Club please visit http://www.kellyhoernig.com/.

Word - Glow

The word for this week is glow.

Its verb meaning: to shine with or as if with intense heat; to have a rich warm ruddy color; flush, blush; to feel hot; to show exuberance or elation.

Its noun meaning: brightness or warmth of color; redness; warmth of feeling or emotion; a sensation of warmth; light such as is emitted from a heated substance.

Don't you agree that I couldn't have found a better picture for this word? The sun was setting and casting such a great glow on these sassafras leaves that it just made my job easy. There was no bad photo, just a cropping that showed off all the gloriousness of the warm light. I also love the color range from the palest of pink to the deepest red orange. Who knew one set of leaves could give you so much personality and a myriad of hues to explore? I'm so glad we have a lot of these trees along the woodline, I can't wait to see what they have in store for me this season!

Word - Pink

The word for this week is pink.

Its noun meaning: a light tint of red; any of a genus of plants with narrow leaves often grown for their showy flowers; the highest degree; height.

Its adjective meaning: of the color pink; holding socialistic views.

Its verb meaning: to perforate in an ornamental pattern; pierce, stab; to cut a saw-toothed edge on.

Did you have a clue there were so many definitions for pink? Me either. I picked it for the color because right now our garden is ablaze with multi-faceted views of pink in all of its glorious hues. It is a wonder of brightness and when the light hits it, it makes the garden just magical. I know Venus is sure enjoying the spectacular vision she is privy to in her spot of this mini oasis.

Blue Gaze

My circle theme continues on and here is another great piece from my Mom's garden. Can you see me? I'm sure I am there somewhere LOL

I fell in love with all the reflections not to mention the intensely vibrant overlapping colors - just spectacular! I really need to get a couple of these for my yard, of course with all the weeds, would I even be able to find it after a season? We'll see, it might be a fun game of hide and seek :)