Hansa Arts

Garden rewards

Its a specially nice day if you go out in the garden and are rewarded by a site of a hummingbird couple sitting side by side chatting away on the clothesline. They were actually still and talking. Of course they left the moment I returned back to the scene with my camera. 

Soon, one came back and got some dinner from the pink sage.

Poem

Have you ever read a poem that reaches out to you and shows the way to be an artist?  

Here is a wonderful one I discovered recently. You can even hear the poet read it.

The Flaw by Molly Peacock

The best thing about a hand-made pattern
is the flaw.
Sooner or later in a hand-loomed rug,
among the squares and flattened triangles,
a little red nub might soar above a blue field,
or a purple cross might sneak in between
the neat ochre teeth of the border.
The flaw we live by, the wrong color floss,
now wreathes among the uniform strands
and, because it does not match,
makes a red bird fly,
turning blue field into sky.
It is almost, after long silence, a word
spoken aloud, a hand saying through the flaw,
I’m alive, discovered by your eye.

Open a window # 2

Starting a new cut paper series with lots of color, shadows and windows.

The phrase itself - 'Open a window' - opens up all kinds of possibilities. 

We open windows to let the world in.  We open windows to open up ourselves.  We open windows of our minds and souls when we learn something new. 

Bay window

My hubby helped me build a paper bay window using a single sheet of paper. There is geometry involved and Pythagoras came to our rescue. The drawing, scoring, folding, cutting, gluing all have to happen accurately and by the time it was over I was so relieved that it worked that I immediately wrote down all the steps. 

These vey basic instructions will show up larger on clicking the image. 

Happy Mothers day

For my mom - who raised us to be responsible and loving and who continues to do what she can for us even if some of us are so far away.  From learning the computer to make skype calls to telepathically guiding us in all our endeavors, she is communicating with us in her own special way.

Happy Mother's day MOM!

Modern Woman # 14

Yes! i am still working on this series every now and then.  Specially when new ideas come and I just have to create another woman.

22"x30", Cut paper, April 2012

Detail 1

Detail 2

Quick

Sometimes its a relief to do something fun and quick. I did a cut paper self-portrait lesson with a bunch of little girls - cutting simple shapes with odd colors and putting them together. You can see the girls' sweet ones here.

She cut paper in the 18th century

Her name was Mary Delany. She was born in England in 1700. At the age of 72, she started painting paper and cutting it to make flower mosaiks.  She made 985 of them!!! 

A book about her called 'The paper garden' by Molly Peacock is a wonderful journey into her process and how she came to do her life's work documenting and creating, combining science and art to leave behind a story rich with meaning and inspiration. A must read.

In printed pictures, these flowers first look painted, and then you look closer and closer - you start to see the layered paper.  Some papers seem opaque and some are almost translucent allowing the entire flower to glow.

We also found this book at the library - Mary Delany and her circle at our local library - its full of interesting details and many many amazing examples of her flower mosaiks. 

O I would have liked to meet her and work with her.  And touch her tools and see her flowers.

Couple in red

A friend commissioned me to make a gift for friends who she hadn't seen for a long time. This opportunity came at the moment when I was wanting to work in color to do a romantic portrait. This was so much fun to work on - to create a feeling of intimacy and to surround it with beauty.

Garden's pride

A perfect hazy sunlight day for photographing the blooming plants and flying creatures in the garden.

Pink showy desert penstemon

Spanish lavender

Lemon Verbena

Greek Oregano

Blue jay