Baha’i House of Worship

Tags

architecture, Baha'i House of Worship, Chicago, Door, Norm 2.0, Stone building, Stone church, Thursday Doors

On our way to Wisconsin last week we stopped at the Baha’i House of Worship in Chicago. I had wanted to go there for ages and I’m so glad we did.

Here is a photo with a robin and a security guard and a reflection in the fountain.

The details of the building are so beautiful. And so are the doorways.

If you want to see more beautiful and interesting doors, check out Thursday Doors at Norm 2.0.

I hope you have a beautiful day.

Mount Hood Simple Painting

Tags

acrylic paint, acrylic paintings, Altered books, Cee's Photo Challenge, landscape, landscapes, Mount Hood, painted dictionary page, painting

Thanks to Cee for the photo that inspired this painting! Here are links to both of her photography sites. She has provided a lot of inspiration for my art and encouraged my photography as well. Thanks Cee!

Her photo of Mount Hood reminded me of the simple landscapes I have been painting in my Simple Paintings series. The others are all from this book.

I am so happy to be able to apply what I have learned from this book into my painting so easily!

I hope you have a beautiful day.

Mom Turns 80: So Much Gratitude

Tags

acrylic paint, art, art journal, Art Journal Every Day, gel pens, mandalas, Naomi Novik, quote

We made the trip to Wisconsin and back to New Jersey this last week and there was so much to be grateful for! I’m really pleased with the impact my daily painting has had on the backgrounds of my art journal. I didn’t paint on the trip or yesterday, but I’m getting back to it today.

My Mom turned 80 and my oldest sister did a great job organizing a party. It was great to see family and friends. Our boys hadn’t seen each other in more than a year and the night before Mom’s party the four of us went out for dinner and a movie. Beauty and the Beast was beautiful and the boys loved the music. We also got to see quite a few friends we hadn’t seen in so long. The “happy birthday” on the journal page is from one of the napkins at the party. I drew little mandalas on the page while my mom and I talked and caught up in the days before the party.

The quote is from the Naomi Novik book “Uprooted” that Mike and I listened to on our drive out to WI.

“I was a glaring blot on the perfection. But I didn’t care: I didn’t feel I owed him beauty.”

I hope you have a beautiful day on this rainy, Spring day.

Vacation Mandala

Tags

100 Mandalas, flowers, gel pens, Mandala

I had planned to draw mandalas on my small paintings on the trip, but I started this in the car and time got totally away from me when we were there. We had a great 80th birthday party for my mom and I got to see a lot of friends and family from Wisconsin. I hope you enjoy mandala #36.

Community Mandala Update

Tags

100 Mandalas, collage, community art project, community mandala, Mandala, Sacred Geometry, torus mandala

I’m so happy to be able to update you on the status of the community mandala. All of the pieces are in! We had an art party at church today and finished all the pieces. Now I will need some time to assemble it. I will be away for the next week, but I hope to complete it soon.

The collaged gessoboard with the torus mandala drawn on it.

Our process today.

I hope you have a beautiful day.

 

Simple Paintings 9 & 10

Tags

acrylic paintings, dictionary page art, painted dictionary page, paintings, shadows, Simple Paintings, trees

This lesson is called “Light, shadow, and value outdoors” and I quite enjoyed it. The road turned out to be a weird band-aid color, but I enjoyed the shadow colors and how to blend them. It was interesting to me that they were not made from adding black to the previous color (which is how I would have done it) but rather mixing a darker version of the color using black and a base color. For the road shadows the author recommends adding burnt sienna.

This exercise was about layering over and underpainting and can I say that I’m really loving working with glazes! I’m not a fan of his tree silhouettes, but I may redo this one and the previous tree using reference photos for the tree shapes.

I hope you have a beautiful day!

Circles of Compassion and Mandala 35

Tags

acrylic paintings, Albert Einstein, art journal, Art Journal Every Day, compassion, gratitude, gratitude journal, quote, Theology, Unitarian

Here is my gratitude journal entry for the recent past. It includes my new dahlia stencil and circles cut from paintings my boys did in preschool. My husband has a hard time parting with memorabilia and this is one compromise that helps. Plus I really love how the colors and textures of their uninhibited painting come together. I had attached the circles from their art before I found the quote that is written on this page.

A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.
― Albert Einstein

I’m taking a class at my Unitarian Universalist Church called Building Your Own Theology and it is an exploration of what I believe. Part of our homework this week was to find a quote about human nature that resonated for us.This one really works for me.

I finished a new coloring page this week also. It is available for purchase in my Etsy shop.

Simple Paintings 8 & 9

Tags

abstract, acrylic paint, acrylic paintings, art, dictionary page, dictionary page art, painted dictionary page, Simple Paintings, trees

This painting was to work with increasingly opaque layers of paint. I struggled with it and am not thrilled with how it turned out. Maybe a mandala on top will help. In any case I will use it for mandala experimentation.

This painting uses more or less the reverse color order of my first abstract and I used modeling paste through a mandala stencil. It was a good learning experience. Again, I may use it for experimenting with layering a mandala on top.

It is seriously snowing here! I hope you have a safe and beautiful day.

Simple Paintings: 5, 6 & 7

Tags

abstract, acrylic paint, acrylic paintings, barn, painted book page, painted dictionary page, poppy, Simple Paintings

This painting was practice using tints and shades of Cadmium Red Med. I really love this color. I’m not hugely satisfied with this painting and I think I will do it again. It is finished with a glaze and that is a technique I really like.

I really love this kind of abstract painting and will definitely do some more along these lines. The lesson for this painting was textured layering. I think today I may do one using some modeling paste in a layer.

I’m so happy with how this turned out even though for years I have not liked paintings of barns. This painting started with a warm toned underpainting that is covered with cool colors. I really enjoyed some of the old and new color mixes. The trees in the background use the green made by combining Mars Black and Yellow Cadmium again. The grey of the roof is made by mixing unbleached Titanium and Mars Black – I really like both of these colors.

I’m also having fun making connections to the text on the dictionary pages. This last one is epiphany, which comes from a root word meaning to make an appearance. The flower is on the page for distress. I should have known it wouldn’t come out quite right. 😉

I hope you have a beautiful day.

Winter Wonderland: Patriot’s Path

Tags

bridge, Cee's Photo Challenge, CWWC, nature, Patriot Path, Photogrphs, snow

This morning we had such a lovely snow. I had the time and energy to walk to the Patriot’s Path, and I’m so glad I did!

Here is the view up the street where I walk.

This part of the street is a bridge over the Whippany River. Here are a few views of the river.

I turned off my music and just enjoyed the walk through Speedwell Park. The other end of the this section of the Patriot’s Path has a dam and a lovely bridge.

The view from the bridge at this end is so lovely with all the snow.

This sure seems like a great entry for Cee’s Which Way Challenge. For more photo adventures check out her fabulous blog.