Writing Season One

Let's do a quick art lesson or exercise

No pain, no gain as "they" say in the exercise world. This is true in any world including the art world. Exercise is good for the brain, good for the muscles, good for the blood and good for the creative soul. Sometimes exercise is all about getting out of your comfort zone - doing something you're not accustomed to or something you are not especially good at or competent in. It forces you to reach and stretch and dig within yourself for untapped...or rarely tapped...resources. Let's use physical exercise as example. If you are a bicyclist, why not choose as... Read more →

An Artist's Thanksgiving

I'll be honest, November is speeding by and catching me by surprise. Thanksgiving is but three days away. November is always busy in my family because there are birthdays this week also. My younger daughter celebrates today, one son-in-law tomorrow. This year I'm cooking a big dinner three times! I did this past Sunday to celebrate the aforementioned daughter's birthday and celebrate Thanksgiving with her and her husband. Then my husband and I are hosting some of his family at our house on Thanksgiving day. Then the other daughter, with husband and our grandson are spending this coming Saturday with... Read more →

**update June 2014: in doing link checking, I lost the image that originally went with this post! I know there hasn't been a new post lately to Mosaic Mandalas but honestly I've been busy working! On what you say? Well, new digital art, a bit of mosaic-ing, and doing some scrap-booking. Is scrap-booking "art?" you ask? I think so and it's taking me forever! I know I owe my readers more looks into studios from Lynne Perrella's book and I have a great idea for a philosophical treatise on "is it a giclee or isn't it?" Thanksgiving is next week... Read more →

Making a Mosaic - An Artist at Work

The title of this post is also the title of a new video. The final event for me for this year's art season was an in-shop demonstration of my mosaic techniques at Studio 7 Fine Arts in downtown Pleasanton, CA. I like doing public demonstrations of art. It's a wonderful opportunity to share what you do and talk to people about your work. I find that folks really are interested in the creative process. My demo at Studio 7 Fine Arts took place on Saturday October 30 - it was during Pleasanton's downtown Farmers' Market and there was also a... Read more →

Is it a kaleidoscope or a mandala? It's both.

A Mandala is a circular art structure. Through human artistic history this art structure has often been used to express spirituality through color, symbol and form. As I've written previously in Mosaic Mandalas I view the mandala as an exciting, even challenging, art structure. My purpose is to express my love of color and form and I let the viewer imbue the image with their own meanings. "Art," after all, speaks differently to each and every one of us. A Kaleidoscope is a series of patterns which depend upon the "raw materials" used. The original instrument was invented by Scottish... Read more →

New video-Let Your Eyes do the Dancing

Introducing a new video "Let Your Eyes do the Dancing." Read more →

The Joy of finding something New-Kind Over Matter

"Soft Blues" photo by author. **post updated to fix links June 2014 I love finding things that are new to me. This variety of flower, when I found it along a street of shops in the seaside community of Half Moon Bay a couple years ago, was new to me. I thought it so lovely that I took this photo I title "Soft Blues." I like it so much I've used it as the raw material for a mandala design I've titled, "Soft Blue Circle." Nature provides us with such beauty and I love to share that through my work.... Read more →